Couples Therapy With Borderline Personality Disordered Individuals

Abstract

Couples who present for therapy with one person having borderline personality disorder (BPD) are a challenge for even the most seasoned couples counselor. Some have argued that couples counseling should not be attempted until the person diagnosed with BPD has completed successful individual treatment. However, there is a growing body of research addressing effective marital therapy with particularly difficult couples and also a research-based approach, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), used to work with borderline personality disorder. Linehan's DBT and Gottman's method for couples therapy form the foundation for the work conducted with these couples. A case study illustrates how these models are used.