Nancy McWilliams

Researcher

Psychotherapist, Rutgers teacher, and former president of the American Psychological Association's Division 39. She helped write the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual.

McWilliams is a therapist and teacher. She began to teach at Rutgers in 1981. Her held book says she also had a private practice. [1] [2]

Her Rutgers classes led her to write Psychoanalytic Diagnosis. She later became a lead author of the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual. She wrote its adult personality section and edited its clinical sections. [2]

McWilliams also led the part of the American Psychological Association that deals with her field. [1] That role and the manual show trust from peers, not just readers.

Her evidence comes from therapy and clinical teaching, not firms. A boss is not a therapist. Treat her work as a clinical lens, not leave to diagnose staff. [1] [2]

1
Nancy McWilliams, Psychoanalytic Diagnosis: Understanding Personality Structure in the Clinical Process, 2nd ed. (New York: Guilford Press, 2011).
2
Rutgers University, “Psychotherapist Nancy McWilliams Discusses the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual,” accessed September 2, 2026.
https://www.rutgers.edu/news/nancy-mcwilliams