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Understanding Borderline Personality Disorder from WHYY
By her own admission, Talya Lewis was a strange child – as early as kindergarten: Lewis: Like I remember one day I came in with white sticky tape wrapped all around my arm, and I told everyone that it was a cast and I had broken my arm. Desperate for attention, she convinced her mother she couldn’t see, and got prescription glasses. By age 8 – her behaviors were self-destructive: Lewis: I had a game, and I called it TP, and TP actually stood for taking pills. I would rummage in my parents’ medicine chest and I would take their pills. This was only the beginning. Over the next years,…
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Baby You Can Drive My Car
Or what driving can teach us about living mindfully and effectively. The other day right after I got this tire size calculator after my last stop-on-request, my teen-age daughter asked me: “How do you drive a car?” It was an interesting question for me, because I have been driving so long that I don’t even think about it and was really unable to explain this complex, yet conditioned set of skills to her. Of course in a few years, she will have to learn and integrate those skills. Yesterday, in the ATSTP group, we were discussing DBT and mindfulness. One of the guidelines for mindfulness according to DBT is part…
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Are bloggers and authors about BPD biased?
I don’t usually like to defend myself. In fact, in my book, I have a tool that says “Don’t Defend”. Interestingly, in the Essential Family Guide to BPD, Randi Kreger has the same tool. Yet, I am feeling the need to correct something that Randi has said over at her Psychology Today “Stop Walking on Eggshells” blog. In her new post “Take Some Experts and Bloggers with Agendas With a Grain of Salt” she says: Splitting is not just for people with borderline personality disorder. Some (but not all) people who have expertise with high conflict personalities and borderline personality disorder (BPD) also think in black and white. In my…
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Attention: Seattle Area Family Members of those with BPD
Behavioral Research and Therapy Clinics (BRTC) on the University of Washington campus is accepting applications for a Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Family & Friends Skills Group. Here is some information from their webpage: The BRTC is primarily a research clinic, offering treatment to members of the community as part of our clinical trials. We are not currently recruiting for any clinical trials, but we periodically have openings for new clients in our Treatment Development Clinic (TDC). Through TDC, clients receive Dialectical Behavior Therapy from doctoral students under the supervision of licensed psychologists. TDC is currently accepting new clients in our FRIENDS AND FAMILY DBT Skills group. This group is designed for family members,…
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Book Review: Overcoming Borderline Personality Disorder
Overcoming Borderline Personality Disorder by Valerie Porr is perhaps the most up-to-date and complete book for family members of people with BPD published to date. When I read the book, I couldn’t help but think that Ms. Porr had the therapists and mental health professional more in mind than the family members. It appears as though she is trying to dispel many myths about BPD that exist not only in the family environment but also in the mental health community. This book is steeped in scientific research, including research involving the biological under-pinnings of BPD. It includes many skills for family members from both DBT and mentalization based therapy (MBT).…
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The power of “When you do this, I feel that”
Recently, in the ATSTP group we discussed the power of saying “when you do [whatever], I feel [whatever else].” This formulation of words is very powerful when dealing with an emotional person. It does a couple of things that are important. First, it lets the other person know that you have feelings as well. Sometimes someone with BPD will feel that they are the only one in the world with feelings to be hurt. DBT actually “encourages” this way of thinking IMO. Since DBT is all about the client’s emotions and behaviors, the “other’s” (the therapist) feelings and behaviors are not often taken into account. This situation is not really…