Treating Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) can be complicated due to the unpredictable nature of the patients’ emotional state and the varied circumstances that can trigger BPD symptoms.
One of the main treatment methods for people suffering from BPD is Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). Another method of therapy that has proven successful for BPD treatment is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).
What Is CBT?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a treatment wherein the patient and the therapist take on more of a student/teacher role. The patient and the therapist work together collaboratively in order to give the patient better skills to deal with their emotions and their BPD symptoms.
The core of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is to identify thoughts and feelings that lead to high-risk and destructive behaviors. This can help people with Borderline Personality Disorder to better manage their BPD symptoms and make a recovery from their psychiatric disorder.
There are two main aspects to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy:
- Functional Analysis: This portion of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has the therapist and the patient, either individually or in a group setting — or both — analyze their behaviors, specifically their thoughts and feelings about the behavior. They strive to analyze and identify not only the thoughts that lead to those behaviors, but also triggers that lead to those thoughts.
- Skills Training: Once an analysis is complete, the other part of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on teaching new skills. These coping skills provide the patient healthier ways to better adapt to situations that might have, before treatment, been hard for them to manage. The patient also tries to unlearn negative and destructive behaviors and skills that could have been used as triggers for emotional episodes. By giving the patient new and effective coping skills, it is hoped that they can use those skills in their daily lives in order to better manage their BPD symptoms.
Goals of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is also popular among Borderline Personality Disorder treatments for its quickness and its focus. CBT has clear and concise goals for both the patient and the therapist, and the patient is actually given homework so they may continue their work while not with the therapist.
With its somewhat short time frame (CBT proponents claim maybe 16 to 18 sessions are needed), its focus on new skills, and adaptability with other treatment methods, it’s no wonder why more and more Borderline Personality Disorder treatment centers are adapting Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for BPD treatment.
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and would like to learn new skills to adapt to a happier life, find a BPD treatment center that offers Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for a more comprehensive and long-term recovery.