• course Info
  • Content
  • Ce Approvals

Nancy McWilliams Teaches: Diagnosis and First Sessions

CE Hours 1

About this course

Legendary psychotherapist, teacher, and historian Nancy McWilliams offers a practical introduction to psychodynamic diagnosis and the first clinical encounters. Rather than treating diagnosis as a matter of labeling symptoms, this course shows clinicians how to understand personality style, level of functioning, defensive organization, subjective experience, and relational patterns. McWilliams discusses major personality configurations and levels of personality organization, and explains how these distinctions inform treatment planning, therapeutic stance, and intervention. The course also addresses the beginning phase of treatment, including how to establish an initial alliance, clarify the frame and boundaries, and notice early signs of transference and recurring interpersonal themes.

Learning Objectives

  • Differentiate between major personality configurations (e.g., depressive, paranoid, schizoid, narcissistic) in terms of their underlying psychological themes and interpersonal dynamics.
  • Assess the clinical implications of levels of personality organization (neurotic, borderline, psychotic) for treatment planning, therapeutic stance, and intervention selection.
  • Apply a psychodynamic framework to assess how patients’ subjective experiences (e.g., anxiety, depression, relational expectations) influence diagnosis and guide therapeutic technique.
  • Formulate an approach to initial clinical encounters that incorporates assessment of personality organization, establishes a therapeutic alliance, clarifies treatment frame and boundaries, and identifies early indicators of transference and relational patterns.

Learning Levels

  • Beginner
  • Intermediate

Course Instructor(s)

  • Nancy McWilliams, PhD, ABPP

    Nancy McWilliams, PhD, ABPP

    Nancy McWilliams is one of the most widely read and influential teachers of psychodynamic diagnosis and psychotherapy. She is Visiting Professor Emerita at Rutgers University, past president of Division 39 of the American Psychological Association, and author of several major clinical texts, including Psychoanalytic Diagnosis, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, Psychoanalytic Case Formulation, and Psychoanalytic Supervision.

    Her book Psychoanalytic Diagnosis is a bestselling and widely adopted clinical guide, with more than 125,000 copies in print according to Guilford Press, and it helped make personality structure and its treatment implications accessible to generations of clinicians. The second edition received the Canadian Psychological Association’s Goethe Award for psychoanalytic and psychodynamic scholarship.

Disclosure

DISCLOSURE OF RELEVANT FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIPS CE Learning Systems adheres to the ACCME’s Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Medical Education. Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity ― including faculty, planners, reviewers, or others ― are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities (formerly known as commercial interests). The following relevant financial relationships have been disclosed by this activity’s planners, faculty, and the reviewer: PLANNERS AND REVIEWER The planners of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships. FACULTY The faculty of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.

References

  • Lingiardi, V., & McWilliams, N. (2025). The Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual, (PDM‐3). World Psychiatry, 24(3), 442. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.21361
  • McWilliams, N. (2022). An overdetermined life in psychoanalysis. In C. J. Hopwood (Ed.), The evolution of personality assessment in the 21st: Century understanding the people who understand people (pp. 170–192). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003036302-9
  • McWilliams, N. (2023). Diagnosis and its discontents: Reflections on our current dilemma. In L. L. Michaels, T. Wooldridge, N. Burke, & J. R. Muhr (Eds.), Advancing psychotherapy for the next generation: Humanizing mental health policy and practice (pp. 162–181). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003325512-12
  • McWilliams, N., & Lingiardi, V. (2025). Introduzione alla terza edizione del Manuale Diagnostico Psicodinamico (PDM-3). Psicoterapia e Scienze Umane, 59(4), 649-674. http://digital.casalini.it/10.3280/PU2025-004005
  • Mirabella, M., Muzi, L., Franco, A., Urgese, A., Rugo, M. A., Mazzeschi, C., Speranza, A. M., McWilliams, N., & Lingiardi, V. (2023). From symptoms to subjective and bodily experiences: The contribution of the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual (PDM-2) to diagnosis and treatment monitoring in eating disorders. Eating and Weight Disorders, 28(1), 35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-023-01562-3

CE Process Info

Content

  • Nancy McWilliams Diagnosis and First Sessions
    1 parts
    • Part 1
  • Part 2
    1 parts
    • Part 2
  • Part 3.1
    1 parts
    • End
  • PDF
    1 parts
    • Course PDF
  • Joint Accreditation

    Joint Accreditation (JA)

    In support of improving patient care, CE Learning Systems is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

  • American Psychological Association (APA)

    Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs.

  • Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB)

    As a Jointly Accredited Organization, CE Learning Systems is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. Social workers completing this course receive up to 1 clinical continuing education credits.

  • New York Education Department's State Board for Social Work (NYEDSW)

    CE Learning Systems, LLC  (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #0060.

  • New York Education Department Board of Creative Arts Therapy (NYSEDCAT)

    CE Learning Systems, LLC  (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board of Creative Arts Therapy as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #CAT-0008

  • New York Education Department for Licensed Mental Health Counselors (NYSEDLMHC)

    CE Learning Systems, LLC  (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0072.

  • New York Education Department Board for Licensed Psychoanalysts (NYSEDLP)

    CE Learning Systems, LLC  (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychoanalysts as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #P-0031.

  • New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology (NYEDPSY)

    CE Learning Systems, LLC  (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #PSY-0016.

  • New York Education Department's State Board for Marriage and Family Therapy (NYEDMFT)

    CE Learning Systems, LLC  (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Marriage and Family Therapy as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MFT-0045.

Nancy McWilliams Teaches: Diagnosis and First Sessions
You Have Completed This course
$115
You are enrolled
  • CE Hours
    1
  • Type
    Self-Paced
  • Publication Date
    May 14th, 2026

Reset password


Reset your password by providing your email below





Next

We sent a reset password link to the email address you provided.


{{reset.email}}


If you do not see the email, try checking your junk or spam folder.


If you don't receive a link in the email you provided, please click the button below to resend the verification email.

Resend

Please wait {{timer}} seconds to resend



Next

Sign in


Enter your email to get started.




Next

Sign in


Good news! Your email is associated with an account. Enter your password or click here to reset it




Login

Thanks for signing up!


We sent an verification email to the address you provided. Please check your email to verify your email address.


{{signup.email}}


If you do not see the email, try checking your junk or spam folder.


If you don't receive a link in the email you provided, please click the button below to resend the verification email.



Resend

Please wait {{timer}} seconds to resend

Sign up




Sign up

Shopping Cart


Items
Price
Remove

  • {{ item.name }} ({{ item.courses.length }} courses)

    {{ item.credit_hours }} Credits
    {{ item.coupons.map((c)=> c.code).join(', ') }}
    ${{ item.totals.price }}
    ${{ item.totals.total_price }}
Apply


Cart is empty

${{ $store.state.profile.data.totals?.price }}
Total ${{ $store.state.profile.data.totals?.total_price }}
Continue Shopping Checkout

Thank you for your purchase


To access the course content, click the button below. Enrolled courses may be accessed at any time by going to your Account and clicking Courses


Go to Course

Thank you for your purchase

To access your courses, please click the button below. Enrolled courses may be accessed at any time by going to your Account and clicking either Events or Courses


My Account

Payment

{{$store.state.payment.paymentErrorMessage }}
Pay now