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Sample pages Chapter 12 "Don't Ever Leave Me" - PDF (300 KB)

We all have people in our lives who hurt, frustrate or annoy us. Consider those who claim 'I'm always right!', workplace bullies, or obsessive personality types. Most of us occasionally hurt others, too.

Four years in the writing, Difficult Personalities is a reassuring and approachable guide to help us deal with the difficult personalities we encounter each day, as well with as our own. It offers strategies such as anger and conflict management, means of achieving empathy, optimism and assertion, and how to make decisions about difficult relationships. In addition to their own research, the authors have based their categorisation of personality types on the well-respected Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edition. With this foundation they cover frustrating, confusing and damaging personalities, as well as the anxious and bossy types.

They also identify the 'successful sociopaths'. These can be charming, often highly successful people who are serial liars with no conscience. They can lead serial lives, sexually and workwise, and 'con' everyone they come in contact with. Until those around them realise there is a pattern! Difficult Personalities explains how to identify that pattern, and shows that these 'con artists' are not uncommon.

• By the authors of Friends: a practical guide to understanding relationships (CHOICE Books, 1999)
• Written for general reader and also helpful for the practitioner
• Gives practical advice about dealing with difficult personalities in the workplace and the home
• Media interest in the chapters on the 'Successful Sociopath', in particular
• Avoids 'Pop' psychology and instead uses research based on the DSM-1V psychiatric manual
• Gives straightforward checklists and typical case studies.