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Overcoming Borderline Personality Disorder: A Family Guide for Healing and Change 1st Edition
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Overcoming Borderline Personality Disorder is a compassionate and informative guide to understanding this profoundly unsettling--and widely misunderstood--mental illness, believed to affect approximately 6% of the general population. Rather than viewing people with BPD as manipulative opponents in a bitter struggle, or pitying them as emotional invalids, Valerie Porr cites cutting-edge science to show that BPD is a true neurobiological disorder and not, as many come to believe, a character flaw or the result of bad parenting. Porr then clearly and accessibly explains what BPD is, which therapies have proven effective, and how to rise above the weighty stigma associated with the disorder. Offering families and loved ones supportive guidance that both acknowledges the difficulties they face and shows how they can be overcome, Porr teaches empirically-supported and effective coping behaviors and interpersonal skills, such as new ways of talking about emotions, how to be aware of nonverbal
communication, and validating difficult experiences. These skills are derived from Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Mentalization-based Therapy, two evidence-based treatments that have proven highly successful in reducing family conflict while increasing trust. Overcoming Borderline Personality Disorder is an empowering and hopeful resource for those who wish to gain better understanding of the BPD experience--and to make use of these insights in day-to-day family interactions.
Winner of the ABCT Self Help Book Seal of Merit Award 2011
- ISBN-100195379586
- ISBN-13978-0195379587
- Edition1st
- PublisherOxford University Press
- Publication dateAugust 12, 2010
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions1.2 x 6.1 x 9.1 inches
- Print length424 pages
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Valerie Porr has championed the cause of people with borderline personality disorder for decades. Her understanding of the disorder and its effects on the individuals themselves and their families, partners, and friends is outstanding. This readable and informative book distils her years of experience and her first hand knowledge of how to help patients and families, providing the practical wisdom that comes only with a genuine understanding of what it is to be 'borderline'. This is required reading for anyone, from novice to expert, who seeks an understanding of borderline personality disorder and who wants practical guidance on what helps."
--Anthony Bateman, Consultant Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist, Barnet, Enfield, and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust and Visiting Professor University College, London
"Overcoming Borderline Personality Disorder by Valerie Porr is like water for a parched land. Few psychiatric disorders are as misunderstood as borderline personality disorder, a condition that can be profoundly disabling to patients and devastating to families. Opinions about what families should do are plentiful, but evidence-based guidance, derived from solid research, is rare. This is what this book delivers. It is an invaluable roadmap for families of patients with BPD."
--John Oldham, Chief of Staff, The Menninger Clinic
"An important book for family members of people with BPD."
--Larry Siever, Professor of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
"She ably explains neuroscience as it applies here and emphasizes understanding, validation, and acceptance (not unconditional love)... An outstanding model of the psychoeducational approach, this volume bridges a daunting gap between laity and psychotherapists. Highly recommended for professionals as well as families of these patients." --Library Journal
About the Author
Valerie Porr, M.A., is a mental health educator and advocate trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and the founder and president of the Treatment and Research Advancements National Association for Personality Disorder (TARA NAPD). She conducts psycho-educational training seminars for family members of those with BPD in New York and elsewhere.
Product details
- Publisher : Oxford University Press; 1st edition (August 12, 2010)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 424 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0195379586
- ISBN-13 : 978-0195379587
- Item Weight : 1.23 pounds
- Dimensions : 1.2 x 6.1 x 9.1 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #347,817 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #154 in Medical Mental Illness
- #299 in Personality Disorders (Books)
- #482 in Medical Psychology Pathologies
- Customer Reviews:
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About the author

Valerie Porr, M.A.,
Ms. Porr is President/Founder of the Treatment and Research Advancements National Association for Personality Disorder (TARA NAPD), a not for profit education and advocacy organization representing consumers, families, and providers affected by BPD. She is the author of Overcoming BPD, a Family Guide for Healing and Change, (Oxford University Press, August 2010,) co-author of New Hope for People with BPD, (Bockian, N, Porr, V 2002) co-editor of the BPD Journal of the California Alliance of the Mentally Ill and has published numerous articles on family experiences and BPD advocacy issues. She is intensively trained in Dialectic Behavior Therapy (DBT) and has developed a curriculum combining DBT and Mentalization teaching family members how to help their loved ones with BPD while helping themselves. Ms. Porr conducts educational seminars and Family DBT Coping Skills Workshops, trains family leaders, speaks at family and professional conferences, and has coordinated BPD research conferences with the support of the National Institute of Mental Health. She operates the only BPD Helpline and Resource and Referral service in the US, affording her the opportunity to speak with and collect data from thousands of people with BPD and their family members.
Ms. Porr has a family consultation practice.
She is also an artist who was a successful clothing designer and businesswoman and has taught fashion business at Parson's School of Design and biology and the sciences at high school level.
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So why only 4 stars? This book is around 400 pages, and in my opinion, could easily have covered the information in half that. A lot of it is repetitive, especially parts that explain how the person with BPD feels and the way that family members feel. While this is important in the beginning, the reader does not need to be told it over and over again. Some of the recommendations are confusing and seemingly contradictory and for those, I would have liked to see some examples.
All in all, it has helped me, so my recommendation is if you love someone with BPD, grit your teeth and slog through it. It's worth sifting through for some real gems that can make a significant difference in your life and that of your loved one.
My 36 year old daughter was diagnosed in her 20’s with BPD. She began showing signs of trouble at 13. We sent her to therapists and an outdoor program and other in-patient programs hospitalizations. Followed all the DBT principals in trying to engage and have a relationship with her. Nothing helped. In fact the past 2 years have been the worst. We haven’t been able to talk to each other civilly in nearly 2 years, and when she has communicated with us it is almost always a stream of ugly, profanity-laden, and hurtful accusations and name-calling, inferences about hurting herself, and more.
We had read Overcoming Borderline Personality Disorder early on, during the first year or so of the diagnosis (actually we were reading everything we could get our hands on). We found Valerie’s approach of compassion to be most helpful…. But…. therapists were giving us near opposite instruction and direction: draw boundaries; create a plan for/with her and stick to it; hospitalize her if necessary; etc.. Fast Forward to January 2021 and my first 8 week Zoom class with Valerie on Mentalization; followed by the 10 week Family Empowerment class (although ideally the Family Empowerment course would be first, followed by Mentalizaton), and fascinating and seeing the possibilities (but with many questions about our daughter specifically) ended up having a few one-on-one sessions with Valerie. We have learned more about our daughter and how to engage her in these few months than in all the years before combined. We started using basic Mentalization and there is no other way to describe it than transformative. It is doing wonders! Over the past 5 months the trust is growing, and even more amazing the past few weeks with my daughter has been incredible. It’s going to be a long road, and there will be bumps along the way, but I truly do not think I would have a daughter today if not for this technique and Valerie’s relentless insistence that we MUST change our expectations and pre-conceived notions (implicit biases), radically accept her for who she is and where she is at this moment, and always, always, Mentalize. We recognize the many controversies about BPD treatment, but simply put, everything else we have tried for 15-20 years failed; but this has worked.
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