Borderline personality disorder is a multidimensional disorder best considered as severe personality dysfunction. Around 2% of the population are thought to meet the criteria for the disorder, with approximately 1 in 10,000 people experiencing the most severe difficulties. This group places a disproportionate burden on mental health services. Once seen as 'untreatable, ' patients with borderline personality disorder are all too often mistreated and misdiagnosed, resulting in prolonged and unhelpful relationships with support services, and taxing patients and clinicians alike. Borderline...

Over the past two decades considerable progress has been made in developing specialist psychosocial treatments for borderline personality disorder (BPD), yet the majority of people with BPD receive treatment within generalist mental health services, rather than specialist treatment centres. This is a book for general mental health professionals who treat people with borderline personality disorder (BPD). It offers practical guidance on how to help people with BPD with advice based on research evidence. After a discussion of the symptoms of BPD, the authors review all the generalist treatment...