While it is not surprising that in today's world avoidance (or distancing) has become so widespread that people assign greater importance to their possessions than their relationships, what is surprising is the extent to which avoidance has been overlooked, misunderstood, and/or downplayed. This book provides an in-depth look at avoidance and Avoidant Personality disorder (APD). The author studies the avoidant in the real world and habitat and evolves a dedicated, eclectic, action-oriented therapeutic approach. Kantor believes it is important to move away from individual components of avoidance, such as fear of rejection or low self-esteem, and to study and treat the avoidant gestalt for which the proper treatment is avoidance reduction. Components of the psychoanalytic, cognitive behavioral, interpersonal, and supportive approaches that involve doing or action, are emphasized.
Martin Kantor, MD is a Harvard psychiatrist who has been in full private practice in Boston and New York City, and active in residency training programs at several hospitals, including Massachusetts General and Beth Israel in New York. He also served as Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai Medical School and as Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey―New Jersey Medical School. He is currently a full-time medical author, the author of more than a dozen other books, including Homophobia, Second Edition (Praeger 2009); Uncle Sam’s Shame: Inside the Veteran’s Administration (Praeger 2008); Lifting the Weight: Understanding Depression in Men: Its Causes and Solutions (Praeger 2007); The Psychopathy of Everyday Life: How Antisocial Personality Disorder Affects All of Us (Praeger, 2006); Understanding Paranoia: A Guide for Professional, Families, and Sufferers (Praeger 2004); Distancing: Avoidant Personality Disorder, Revised and Expanded (Praeger, 2003), Passive-Aggression: A Guide for the Therapist, the Patient, and the Victim (Praeger, 2002), Treating Emotional Disorder in Gay Men (Praeger, 1999), and Homophobia (Praeger, 1998).