BPD: Getting Help and Treatment

Asking for help makes you stronger and more independent in the long run. —Lisa Najavits

Self Help for BPD

The concept of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is often explained using an analogy of a burning building.

When we are our most symptomatic—engaging in self-injury or other masochistic activity, making suicide attempts, jumping out of moving cars, using illegal drugs or alcohol to dull our emotional pain, texting an ex-boyfriend hundreds of times in the space of just an hour or two—we're in the basement trying to get to safety while avoid the flames.

The first step requires asking for help and that can be absolutely terrifying for someone who has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. The second? Accessing evidenced-based care from a therapist or other mental health professional who isn't going to increase the overwhelming sense of shame that accompanies having a mental illness, desperately wanting to change, and then not being able to on your own.

I speak with wonderful people every single day who are ready to make this first step in helping themselves or someone they love. If you're alone and have access to few resources, there really are ways that you can help yourself starting today.

Are you ready to get out of the fire? Are you ready to create a life worth living?

You can do this. I promise.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills You Need for the Holidays

Image: Ian SaneIt's that time of the year again.

If you've been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, engage in self-harming behaviors, or love someone who does, you probably need a few extra skills for the holidays. Being ready with a plan really does help everyone stay calm when emotions begin to run high.

Please join Hope for BPD on Thursday, November 17th at 8:00 pm EDT (5:00 pm PDT) for a 90-minute teleconference with intensively-trained DBT therapist Nancy Gordon, LCSW.

Nancy has been working with adolescents, young adults, and their families for over 30 years and has been trained in DBT since 1998. She currently lives in Brandon, Florida and is in private practice.

You do not need to be an expert in dialectical behavior therapy to participate in this teleconference and all participants will receive a list of DBT skills and information about this evidenced-based treatment.

The cost for attending this event is $25.00 per person but you can register through November 12th for just $15.00.

Please contact me if you have any questions. I can always be reached at (941) 704-4328 or by e-mailing amanda@hopeforbpd.com.

Click here to register today.

A Taste of My Dialectical Life

My Dialectical Life is a peer-led daily e-mail list that delivers a DBT skill each and every morning. Our subscribers include individuals who have been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, family members of people with BPD, and we also have a few mental health professionals that receive these daily reminders.

If you are looking for a way to learn Dialectical Behavior Therapy, this is an easy and affordable way to do so.

Below you'll find a sample of one of our daily messages. Interested in learning more? Contact me today!

There's a pesky trait that seems to be prevalent in individuals diagnosed with BPD. Its name? Alexithymia.

Alexithymia refers to the difficulty in naming and describing our emotions. Our brains just aren't great at doing this.

For a lot of people, it can be helpful to look at a long list of emotions or an emotions wheel and then pick out one or two that fits.

Try this today: gently notice and then put a name to your emotions. It's okay if you are having difficulty identifying an emotion. I frequently have to use a wheel to figure out what I'm experiencing.

If you mindfully described an emotion today, circle or mark it on your diary card. This skill is a part of Mindfulness.

Congratulations on taking a step to create a life worth living today!