If you are looking for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) treatment in the New Year, it will be important for you to find BPD treatment that uses the most current and effective BPD therapies.
More often than not, Borderline Personality Disorder is treated through a combination of psychotherapy and medication. There are various therapeutic approaches that have been shown to be effective in helping someone with Borderline Personality Disorder learn to replace negative patterns of behavior with more positive ones by teaching them to recognize and amend their own thought patterns.
Understanding what methods are available might help you choose a BPD therapist or even consider changing your current Borderline Personality Disorder treatment if it is not proving to be effective. Here are a few of the treatments currently known to be helpful in BPD recovery.
What Are the Latest Approaches to BPD Treatment?
- Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT): DBT is a type of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy developed specifically to treat BPD by Marsha Linehan, Ph.D., at the University of Washington. At this time, DBT is considered one of the most effective means of treating BPD. DBT takes a multi-pronged approach to addressing the primary underlying issue in people with BPD, which is emotional dysregulation. BPD clients learn mindfulness techniques and take part in both individual and group therapy. DBT is a newer approach to treatment, so if you decide to pursue this course, you need to be sure that your therapist has more than a passing understanding of the methods used in DBT. Clinical studies point to DBT being a very effective method for treatment of BPD.
- Schema Therapy: Schema Therapy is another variation of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy which emphasizes overcoming the deeply ingrained and unhealthy ways of thinking and interacting that arise from childhood traumas. The idea behind Schema Therapy is that by identifying the traumas that shaped your psyche in childhood, you can see how they inform many of your interactions now. The increased understanding of why you react as you do to certain situations will help you overcome repeating patterns of destructive behavior and help you treat your BPD.
- Transference-Focused Therapy: The primary concept behind Transference-Focused Therapy is that the person in treatment literally transfers the feelings they have toward the important people in their lives onto their therapist. As you begin to interact with your BPD therapist in the same ways you do with the important people in your life, you can learn to change the dynamics in those relationships. Transference-Focused Therapy doesn’t emphasize past trauma, but centers around your present relationships and interactions.
Medications for BPD Treatment
While it is not believed that medication alone can effectively treat Borderline Personality Disorder, it can often help alleviate many of the known co-occurring disorders associated with BPD, such as anxiety and depression. Antidepressants, anti-psychotics, and anti-anxiety medications are some of the types of medications frequently prescribed to treat symptoms of BPD.
Finding BPD Treatment
When you are looking for Borderline Personality Disorder treatment, make sure you find a BPD treatment center that offers at least one of the most current, evidence-based treatments. That way you know you will be getting the best type of treatment for your Borderline Personality Disorder and the best chance at a successful recovery.