Sometimes emotions are overwhelming because the circumstances, mood or relationship issue is so powerful. When a loved one dies, your client feels overwhelming grief. In time, the grief diminishes. Other times, the intensity of the emotion is greater than the trigger warrants (e.g., a child spills a glass of milk and mom goes into a rage). Most of the time, our client’s emotions are complex. Story-telling, over-interpretation and ruminative thoughts trigger an overwhelming emotional response (and vice versa).

What Makes Borderline Personality Disorder So Challenging?

Battle lines are drawn in her head each side ready to attack the other at a moment’s notice. On one side, her inner critic waits not-so-patiently to judge. Her inner critic judges harshly when she ridicules her best friend or takes a stranger home from the bar, when she cuts or quits yet another job after a month. To the inner critic in her head, the list to be judged is seemingly endless.

Borderline Can Be Treated!

Despite decades of research, there are still many who believe Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is untreatable. Nothing could be further from the truth. Over the years, I have experienced firsthand the resilience (accompanied by the occasional resistance) of people in the face of serious BPD and difficult life situations. And I have seen firsthand how effective DBT can be when clients are committed to obtaining the mindful awareness and skills needed to create a life worth living.