Treatment Strategies for Borderline Personality Disorder

This video answers the questions: What are some treatment strategies we see for borderline personality disorder? When we talk about borderline personality disorder we're talking about a cluster B personality disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. We know that treatment of borderline personality disorder can be particularly challenging due to some of the properties and characteristics associated with the disorder. Some of the symptoms of borderline personality disorder typically include impulsivity, suicidal gestures, identity disturbance, interpersonal difficulties, frantic efforts to avoid abandonment, and other factors that could interfere with the delivery of effective treatment. We know with borderline personality disorder that individual talk therapy treatment psychotherapy can be effective in a number of instances but no single modality has really stood out as being more effective than other modalities. It's important when we review strategies that we know where those strategies are going to work in terms of modality placement. When we think of factors that are common across many modalities, of course, one of the first things we think of is the therapeutic relationship. A lot of times when we talk about the therapeutic relationship, we are specifically talking about the therapeutic alliance, which is how the client and the therapist rate the quality of that therapeutic relationship. A strong therapeutic alliance is a good predictor of treatment outcomes and of retention in therapy. The treatment alliance accounts for more variance in the outcome of treating borderline personality disorder than any other single variable. Many strategies are designed to enhance the therapeutic alliance. The first strategy is cultivating emotional awareness. This is an increase in awareness and acceptance of the client and the client’s feelings. The second strategy is structuring treatment. This is really structuring the treatment overall, not the type of structuring that would be specific to certain types of cognitive behavioral therapy, for example, where each session is structured. The third strategy is therapist responsiveness. This really has to do with the communication style and the attitude of the clinician. The fourth strategy is supervision and team involvement. The last strategy is exploring ruptures.

McMain, S. F., Boritz, T. Z., & Leybman, M. J. (2015). Common strategies for cultivating a positive therapy relationship in the treatment of borderline personality disorder. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 25(1), 20-29. doi:10.1037/a0038768

Видео Treatment Strategies for Borderline Personality Disorder канала Dr. Todd Grande