Cognitive schema theory and modes of operation * Transition to personality disorder * Genesis and maintenance of schemas and modes of operation * Systems of meaning attribution * Mechanism of therapeutic change * Therapeutic process and design * Therapeutic relationship * Neuropsychological basis of the therapeutic alliance * Transference, countertransference, and resistance * Specificities of the therapeutic relationship for individual disorders * Diagnostic issues * Evolution of diagnostic categories * Clinical picture and differential diagnosis * Cognitive profile and models of understanding disorders * Specific therapeutic approaches * First session * Termination and relapse prevention * Tables of beliefs and strategies * Dialectical behavior therapy * Schema therapy * Applications of mindfulness * Learning theories * Techniques of identification and restructuring: cognitive, behavioral, and experiential * Cognitive continuum * Historical test * Schema diaries * Letter to significant others * Reliving past experiences * Chair technique * Pharmacotherapy * Case studies: paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal, narcissistic, histrionic, avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive, passive-aggressive, and depressive disorder