Invalidating Environments

Invalidating Environments

Although there are many examples of invalidating environments, all share three characteristics: (1) individual behaviors and communications are rejected as invalid; (2) emotional displays and painful behaviors are met with punishment that is erratically administered and intermittently reinforcing; (3) the environment oversimplifies the ease with which problems may be solved and needs met. Most of us have encountered such environments at some point in our lives and we commonly deal with them by changing our behavior to meet expectations, or by changing the environment so that it is no longer invalidating, or, ultimately, by simply leaving the environment. The dilemma for the borderline patient occurs when the individual is unable to meet expectations, cannot change the environment or cannot leave, thus experiencing what has been called a “double bind.”