A cognitive-behavioral analysis of a patient with borderline personality disorder Original Research Article

Comments are made on case material from a patient likely to be diagnosable as borderline personality disorder. The author offers an analysis of the case as one reflecting emotional dysregulation and the complex interpersonal consequences of lack of control over turbulent storms of negative emotionality. A tentative treatment plan is outlined that involves a dialectical cognitive behavioral approach aimed at reducing emotional sensitivity and enabling the patient to cope better with her hitherto uncontrollable and frightening emotional lability and self-destructive behavior. Critical observations are offered on the risks of inferring childhood sexual and physical abuse from reports by clients who were treated by therapists whose theoretical or political orientation lead them to assume the presence of abuse in the past histories of people like those with borderline personality disorder.