The two main reasons, we suspect, why most health professionals shy away from assessing personality status is that it is considered both too complicated and too risky. The risky aspect is discussed in Chapter 9 in dealing with stigma. In this chapter, the process of assessment is taken in stages in a form that everybody can appreciate without prior knowledge of the subject. Throughout the book we will be putting the main focus on the new ICD-11 classification of personality disorder, but the general principles of assessment apply to all ways of looking at personality disorder.