I'm not a clinical psychologist -- I only play one online. No, actually I'm a different kind of psychologist (research, developmental, or social), the kind without a license to do
therapy. But I've had therapy, and I've read about therapy, and I sometimes attempt to "diagnose" my friends. Pretty harmless. But when I come up with characters for my fiction, I want them to be realer than real.
For insight into writing about characters in stories, clinical psychologist Carolyn Kaufman, Psy.D., has published The Writer's Guide to Psychology: How to Write Accurately About Psychological Disorders, Clinical Treatment and Human Behavior.
Kaufman is a writer herself, as well as a writing coach with her own blog, Psychology for Writers.
While many therapists use a combination of styles, some adhere to a particular orientation. If your character seeks counseling, he or she may decide (or be limited by insurance) to see a cognitive-behavioral therapist, for example. Such an orientation doesn't typically seek to figure out where a client got his way of thinking and acting, but works with the client on changing present patterns.
Kaufman devotes several pages to each of five therapeutic orientations, with especially helpful advice on understanding your fictional characters via each method.
And if you want to focus in on the specifics of a diagnosis--say your character's therapist is discussing her with a colleague--you'll benefit from Kaufman's section called "Making It Official: How Real Diagnoses Look."
A large section of the book examines common disorders, everything from mood disorders to posttraumatic stress disorder. You'll read that borderline personality disorder, for instance, involves over-the-top unregulated emotions, is tough to treat, is diagnosed much more often in females, and causes genuine suffering. Kaufman offers examples from popular films and TV.
While you needn't apply overt diagnoses to your characters, The Writer's Guide to Psychology is a very readable reference tool to help you bring them to consistent and believable life. See Kaufman's website.
(c) Copyright 2011 by Susan K. Perry, Ph.D.
