Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality: Focusing on Object Relations [Hardcover]

John F. Clarkin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1585622109 | ISBN-13: 978-1585622108 | Publication Date: January 15, 2006 | Edition: 1

For therapists treating patients with borderline personality organization, transference-focused psychotherapy (TFP) has proven to be a remarkably successful approach that effectively targets the pathology of character. The product of more than 25 years of development, it draws on advances in object relations theory and attachment theory with the goal of not merely treating symptoms but changing the patient's underlying personality and quality of life.
Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality describes principles of intervention and contains a wealth of practical guidelines on how to apply TFP to individual patients on a session-by-session basis. This groundbreaking treatment manual focuses on the analysis of the transference, showing how to help patients relax their defenses and become active participants in the therapeutic process. The authors describe techniques for seeing past the wall of behavioral and cognitive dissonance typically thrown up by the borderline patient, identifying a patient's conflicting self-conceptions and object representations, and immersing oneself in the turbulent currents of the borderline narrative stream while maintaining the clinical distance required to be a constructive force in patients' lives.

• For each phase of treatment-assessment, early treatment, midphase, advanced phase, and termination-the authors describe the tasks of the therapist and the sequence of responses by the patients
• Session descriptions are included to illustrate treatment in progress
• A separate chapter addresses specific issues in treatment, including crisis management for suicide threats and aggressive behavior
• Recognizing that patients with BPO start treatment at different points of their pathology, the authors provide an expansive description of the treatment course with high-level and low-level BPO patients, making the book relevant to a wide range of clinical situations

This volume also reflects not only the authors' ongoing experience with TFP in other clinical sites, showing how it can be used in diverse cultural settings, but also research that helps precisely identify the course and type of changes resulting from TFP. Brimming with insights garnered from years of successful clinical application, Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality will sharpen the skills of those already familiar with TFP and introduce others to a trailblazing approach to therapy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Pyschotherapy for Borderline Personality offers a clear strategy for treating BPD that follows logically from object relations theory. The text reflects the insight of decades of research and clinical practice with BPD and has the added benefit of incorporating contemporary findings from neurobiology and studies on temperament. This manual would be invaluable for all clinicians practicing psychodynamic psychotherapy, regardless of their level of experience. It is clear and comprehensive in its coverage of BPD treatment and offers reasonable guidelines and strategies for effectively negotiating the complex behavioral and affective oscillations so typical of individuals with BPD. Its 11 chapters present an overview of the theoretical foundations of TFP, followed by an extensive review of the techniques and tactics used to treat BPD, from assessment to termination....Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality is uncompromising in its scholarship as well as inspiring in its clinical form

About the Author

John F. Clarkin, Ph.D., is Co-Director of the Personality Disorder Institute at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Westchester Division, and Clinical Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College and Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University in New York City. He is Past President of the International Society for Psychotherapy Research.
Frank E. Yeomans, M.D., Ph.D., is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Director of Training at the Personality Disorders Institute of New York Presbyterian Hospital, and Director of the Personality Studies Institute in New York City.
Otto F. Kernberg, M.D., is Director of the Personality Disorders Institute at the New York Presbyterian Hospital, Westchester Division, and Professor of Psychiatry at the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College and Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University, New York City. He is a training and supervising analyst at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research and is a past president of the International Psychoanalytic Association.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 397 pages
• Publisher: American Psychiatric Publishing; 1 edition (January 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585622109
• ISBN-13: 978-1585622108
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #170,754 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed Feelings, September 23, 2007

By 

T. Simonson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality: Focusing on Object Relations (Hardcover)

I loved and hated this book. Starts out great in its attempt to provide a description of an object relations approach to treating Borderline Personality. When steps are re-traced to dig deeper, I felt the book began to fall apart in the sense of being disorganized and redundant. Had to force myself to finish something that began very well.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant contribution, July 7, 2009

By 

Lobewiper (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality: Focusing on Object Relations (Hardcover)

This book is the product of years of clinical experience and training of psychiatrists/psychologists in the use of an object-relations psychoanalytic psychotherapy for treatment of patients with underlying borderline personality organization. Borderline in this sense means patients with primitive defense mechanisms (e.g., splitting, projective identification), identity diffusion, and other features, and such organization is seen in several personality disorders in addition to "borderline personality." Examples include narcissistic disorder and antisocial personality. The book presents a very clear picture of the value of ORT (object relations theory) in clinical practice, with many case examples and detailed explanations of their psychological significance for the individual patient. Particular attention is given to the importance of maintaining "technical neutrality" (i. e., functioning as an "observing ego" and not siding with a particular component of a patient's intrapsychic conflict.) In addition, emphasis is placed on the resolution of primitive defenses via interpretation. The authors have conducted extensive research on the training of therapists, and recognize that detailed supervision and discussion of case material with trainees is of utmost significance. Perhaps for this reason, their book is filled with insights of great potential value to practicing therapists. (I have never seen such a clinically useful book.) The treatment approach the authors recommend is time consuming (2 sessions per week) and can take several years (with severe cases). However, it offers serious promise that very significant change is possible with borderline patients. This book goes well beyond an account of ORT--it is a major contribution to those interested in the psychoanalytic psychotherapy of patients with underlying borderline personality organization.