Borderline Personality Disorder,  WHINE Book

Chennai’s family courts grapple with poorly qualified counselors – India and BPD

The U.S., Canada and U.K. are not the only countries that deal with borderline personality disorder (BPD). I can only image the numbers in India. Here’s an article about Indian courts dealing with a woman whose husband was diagnosed with BPD:

Chennai’s family courts grapple with poorly qualified counsellors
Ekatha Ann John, TNN Oct 1, 2012, 05.23AM IST

CHENNAI: Every scar on 32-year-old Veena’s* body tells a story. When the mother of two approached a family court in the city to seek a divorce from her abusive husband, she was referred to a counsellor who advised her to go back to her tormentor and come to terms with the situation.

“The counsellor made me feel like I had done something wrong. He even scared my children, saying I was trying to wash my hands of them. I was forced to seek help from outside,” said Veena, who finally went ahead with the divorce last year after her husband was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.

Her case illustrates the shortage of qualified counsellors to deal with marital discord. At present, the four family courts here, which handle about 70 cases a day, have eight counselors, and none of them, say court sources, has a background in psychology.

“While one is a retired bank manager, the other is a class 12 pass-out and a third a post-graduate diploma holder in mechanical engineering,” said a judicial officer.

Bon: My book When Hope is Not Enough is now available in the Kindle Edition in India through Amazon.

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