Psychological Therapies

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)

is a therapy developed by Marsha Linehan. It includes a combination of skills training sessions and individual sessions. The skills training supports development of mindfulness, emotional regulation, self-soothing and interpersonal effectiveness.

Resources for Dialectical Behavioural Treatment(DBT) :
• Linehan, Marsha: DBT in a nutshell. This article gives you a general overview of DBT.
• What is DBT? 

Mentalization Based Therapy (MBT)

is a therapy that aims to increase a person's capacity to reflect on their personal internal experiences through feelings, thoughts, urges, memories, beliefs, wishes as well as learning how to better understand other people's internal experiences. This has been shown to improve self-understanding and relationships with others and sustain a reduction in many of the difficulties faced by people with BPD.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

aims to support the person to accept what is out of their personal control and commit to action that improves and enriches life. This is achieved through using psychological skills to effectively deal with painful thoughts and feelings, so that they have much less impact and influence.

Resources for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy(ACT):
Harris, Russ "The Happiness Trap – stop struggling, start living" (2007) Publisher: Little Brown Book Group.
A number of free resources based on Russ’ books may be found online at "The Happiness Trap" 

Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT)

is a time limited therapy. The CAT practitioner work t to identify procedural sequences; chains of events, thoughts, emotions and motivations that explain how problems such as self harm, angry outbursts etc are established and maintained. It also aims to identify patterns of relating that cause problems between the person with BPD and others. Often these patterns are developed early in childhood and are repeated later in life.

Schema-Focused Therapy (SFT)

Schemas are ridged core beliefs about oneself. The essence of BPD maybe seen as a constellation of maladaptive schemas that develop in early life. SFT addresses these maladaptive schemas and the associated emotional, cognitive and behavioural difficulties.

Transference-Focused Therapy (TFT)

TFT has its basis in principles of psychoanalytic therapy, and in the treatment of person with borderline personality disorder, is modified specifically to fit with the uniqueness of the person accessing the treatment, including their level of tolerance for interpersonal proximity and self-reflection. Treatment may be more than once a week. TFT is an individual therapy based on the relationship that the client develops with the therapist and in that context, privileges what the client has to say about themselves and their relationships over any preconceived knowledge about who they are or their condition. Thoughts, wishes and impulses can be freely articulated, explored and addressed by the practitioner and the client together.

Good Psychiatric Management (GPM):