ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Withers is a psychologist who reduces the knowledge gap between
what clients and practitioners know regarding personality and how
it shapes lives. Reducing this divide increases adaptive potential
and affiliated reasoning skills. It also enhances treatment efficacy.
Understanding the predictable dynamics of maladaptive personality
helps individuals understand declining relationships and divorce.
Abusing the institution of marriage parallels questionable motives
found in divorce, family values, politics, religion and biased journalism.
Dr. Withers has been a private practitioner for over twenty four
years. He has been a consultant for IBM in Austin, Texas and the
Family Practice Department at the University of Texas Medical Branch
in Galveston, Texas. As a doctoral student, Dr. Withers researched
variations in marital satisfaction. (B.A., The University of Texas
at Austin - Ph.D., Texas A&M University)
Dr. Withers helps lay and professional readers understand how personality
works. He integrates sound principles from psychodynamic, developmental,
interpersonal, ego and abnormal psychology.
This site does not provide psychological counseling. One should
always consult a licensed provider when seeking mental health advice.
Contact the Author
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My mother, Frances Withers, was a teacher who loved English and
American classical literature. Her academic passions made it easy
to accept the premise that recurring themes in human nature spill
over into every generation. My father, Henry W. Withers, M.D., was
a general practitioner. I was always impressed with his compassion
for families suffering from devastating social and medical misfortunes.
While growing up, he helped me appreciate scientific reasoning and
the role of mystery in medicine’s evolution.
My parents appreciated having the opportunity to express their
altruistic traits in their careers. They survived evolutionary threats
such as living without antibiotics, the Great Depression and World
War II as young parents. They balanced history by emphasizing the
stability of ulterior motives that challenge hope and dignity. Meaning
in life was enhanced when I listened to them talk about friends,
students and patients who matured beyond painfully mysterious losses
and overwhelming circumstances.
After receiving my doctorate, Harvard’s Department of Psychiatry
Continuing Education Program increased my fund of information regarding
maladaptive personality and refined my clinical curiosities. Over
my career, I have worked with A. Nelson Avery, M.D., Professor of
Occupational Medicine and Toxicology at the University of Texas
Medical Branch. He graciously consulted on this book. And I may
never have finished without Rebecca Adrian, a dear colleague who
kept me on course with her invaluable editorial and technical support.
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