Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality: Focusing on Object Relations - Hardcover

Clarkin, John F.; Yeomans, Frank E.; Kernberg, Otto Friedmann

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1585622109 ISBN 13: 9781585622108

Publisher: American Psychiatric Press Inc., 2006

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author

John F. Clarkin, Ph.D., is Professor of Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry at the Cornell University Medical College; and Director of Psychology, Westchester Division, at The New York Hospital - Cornell Medical Center in White Plains, New York. Frank E. Yeomans, M.D., is Professor of Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry at The New York Hospital- Cornell Medical Center in White Plains, New York. Otto F. Kernberg, M.D., is Professor of Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry at The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in White Plains, New York.

From the Inside Flap

The product of more than 25 years of development, transference-focused psychotherapy (TFP) 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 TFP 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 tasks of the therapist and the sequence of responses by the patient for each phase of treatment. Recognizing that patients with borderline personality organization (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.

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.

Edition details

• Publisher: American Psychiatric Press Inc.
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1585622109
• ISBN 13: 9781585622108
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 411