Coping with BPD: DBT and CBT Skills to Soothe the Symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder

Description

In this much-needed book, two renowned borderline personality disorder (BPD) experts offer simple, easy-to-use skills drawn from dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) to help you address the most common issues of BPD, such as intense feelings of anger, depression, and anxiety. For many, having BPD is like living in emotional overdrive. And whether you are feeling depressed, anxious, worried, or angry, you might struggle just to get through each day. So, how can you start balancing your moods and managing your symptoms? This helpful guide addresses over fifty of the most common struggles people with BPD face every day, and offers accessible, evidence-based solutions to help you feel better and get back to living your life. You'll discover powerful DBT and mindfulness skills to help you set personal limits, manage intense emotions and moods, and address issues like substance abuse and doing harm to yourself and others. In addition, you'll learn how to deal with the inevitable negative self-talk, feelings of paranoia, and self-invalidation. If you're ready to take charge of your BPD--instead of letting it take control of you--this book will be your go-to guide. Perfect for everyday use, the practices within will help you manage your symptoms as they arise.

Blaise Aguirre, MD, is assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is an expert in child, adolescent, and adult psychotherapy, including dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and psychopharmacology. He is medical director of 3East at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital. Aguirre has been a staff psychiatrist at McLean since 2000, and is widely recognized for his extensive work in the treatment of mood and personality disorders in adolescents. He is author of Parenting Your Child with Autism, Biographies of Disease: Depression, Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescents, and Helping Your Troubled Teen.

"Aguirre and Galen have raised the bar for self-help resources in the borderline personality disorder (BPD) community. Their wisdom and compassion shine through the lines of this text, creatively identifying common problems and effective solutions. For the person in recovery, they offer tools for problem solving to promote stability; and for therapists, and especially for professionals in training, they provide an opportunity to understand the individual experience of living with BPD--an accomplishment that renders this book a space in everyone's library." --Perry D. Hoffman, PhD, president and cofounder of National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder "Aguirre and Galen have written a thoughtful and practical guide for people suffering with borderline personality disorder (BPD). This book will be an important resource for clients as well as professionals and family members." --Michael Hollander, PhD, director of training at McLean 3East, assistant professor of psychology in the department of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and author of Helping Teens Who Cut "Blaise Aguirre and Gillian Galen have written a compassionate, sensitive, and practical book to help individuals diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) successfully navigate everyday life challenges. I'm exceptionally proud to recommend this important book to my clients as well as their family members and friends." --Amanda L. Smith, LMSW, dialectical behavior therapist and treatment consultant, and author of The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Wellness Planner "The [book's] emphasis on lay language and the numerous pragmatic problem-solving skills make this a superlative guide that will be helpful to those with BPD and clinical therapists who work with them." --Library Journal "There are few books designed to help the individual suffering from borderline personality disorder (BPD) to use cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) tools to help get them through difficult situations. A supplement to traditional coaching and therapy, this book accomplishes that with simplicity and clarity. Aguirre and Galen have written a practical guide that will serve as a road map to help clients improve their lives, and at the same time help therapists working with some of the most challenging clients."--Michael Roy, LCSW, founder and executive director of Clearview Women's Center, a treatment center specializing in borderline personality and emotional disorders