In treating personality disorders, a goal involves transforming ego-syntonic traits into ego-alien traits. Which option reflects this aim?

In treating personality disorders, a goal involves transforming ego-syntonic traits into ego-alien traits. Which option reflects this aim?

• A. Make the ego-syntonic trait ego-alien.
• B. Increase ego-syntonic traits.
• C. Preserve ego-syntonic traits.
• D. Ignore ego-syntonic traits.

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is that in personality disorders, many troublesome traits feel like part of who the person is. Those traits are ego-syntonic: they fit the person’s self-image and don’t cause distress, so the person often doesn’t see them as a problem. Treatment aims to create a shift so these traits feel ego-alien, or foreign to the self, which helps the person recognize them as problematic and become motivated to change. Transforming an ego-syntonic trait into an ego-alien one makes the trait no longer just part of the patient’s identity but something that feels dissonant with their self-concept, opening the door to insight and behavior change. That’s why the correct choice is to make the ego-syntonic trait ego-alien. Increasing, preserving, or ignoring ego-syntonic traits would leave the pattern unchanged and unlikely to promote the change therapy seeks.

The main idea here is that in personality disorders, many troublesome traits feel like part of who the person is. Those traits are ego-syntonic: they fit the person’s self-image and don’t cause distress, so the person often doesn’t see them as a problem. Treatment aims to create a shift so these traits feel ego-alien, or foreign to the self, which helps the person recognize them as problematic and become motivated to change. Transforming an ego-syntonic trait into an ego-alien one makes the trait no longer just part of the patient’s identity but something that feels dissonant with their self-concept, opening the door to insight and behavior change. That’s why the correct choice is to make the ego-syntonic trait ego-alien. Increasing, preserving, or ignoring ego-syntonic traits would leave the pattern unchanged and unlikely to promote the change therapy seeks.