ABSTRACT
Like some clinicians, I have worked with a large number of lying and deceitful clients and patients over the past 30 years. Whether it is accurate or not, I have come to think of myself as less likely to be conned than most therapists. Maybe it is because much of my research, publications, and clinical experience has been working with clients or consulting on cases with severe personality disorders, particularly the psychopathic and antisocial personality disorder. More likely it is because I seem to have a sixth sense and a skeptical mindset about certain individuals and situations. Typically, my chest tightens when someone is a bit too charming or too quick to respond with plausible-but later to be found to be deceitful-explanations. The reality is that I too have been duped, but I believe I have learned much from those relatively few situations. Needless to say, my awareness and appreciation for highly successful and masterfully deceitful individuals peaked during my involvement with the case of Jeffrey Dahmer, a serial killer notorious for cannibalizing, that is, eating, many of his victims. In 1992, I became involved with the Dahmer trial at the request
of the chair of the department of psychiatry at the medical school where I was a tenured full professor.
