Our therapists offer Borderline Personality Disorder Counseling in Philadelphia, PA

Therapy in Philadelphia, PA for Borderline Personality Disorder—Treatment and Counseling

Borderline Personality Disorder can cause significant harm to an individual’s life, but therapy has helped many people learn how to manage their symptoms and live the balanced life they want. Thriveworks Philadelphia has helped many people who are struggling with the instability that Borderline Personality Disorder can cause. We know that with therapy, many people are learning how to push back against BPD and live a balanced life. Reach out today for help.

Signs of Borderline Personality Disorder

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) groups BPD under the category of personality disorder. There are ten mental illnesses that fall into this division. All ten are characterized by a distinguishing maladaptive behavior—that is, some pattern of behavior that undermines an individual’s well-being. For those with Borderline Personality Disorder, volatility is the maladaptive behavior that can sabotage their lives. This volatility is present in every area of people’s lives and can look like these signs…

• Swinging quickly between opposite and extreme emotions: happiness to frustration to anger to euphoria and more.
• Living with a deep and abiding fear of abandonment and separation.
• The inability to receive criticism of any kind (even constructive).
• Volatile relationships—often people with BPD have a pattern of broken relationships wherein they idealize others and then villainize them when they do not live up to expectations.
• Feeling empty on a regular and on-going basis.
• Risky behavior that puts others and oneself in harm’s way: spending sprees, daredevil driving, drug use, gambling, binge eating, unsafe sex, self-sabotage, and more.
• Attempted suicide, suicide ideation, self-harm, and other self-injurious behaviors that are used as coping skills for handling rejection, disappointment, and other difficult circumstances and feelings.
• Belligerence, explosions of anger, aggression, and more.

Risk Factors for BPD

Just over 1 percent of people in the US have been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. It is unclear to mental health professionals exactly what causes BPD, but there are certain emotional, physical, and circumstantial factors that may raise an individual’s risk of BPD developing. Such factors include…

• Having a smaller than average hippocampus (area of the brain that controls emotion and stress responses).
• Losing a parent or caretaker as a child.
• Living through childhood trauma (especially emotional, physical, or sexual, abuse or neglect by a parent or caregiver).
• A genetic predisposition and family history of mental illness, including BPD.

Treatment for BPD

Borderline Personality Disorder can disrupt people’s lives, but there are ways to fight its effects. In particular, Dialectical Behavior Therapy is a form of treatment that has helped many people with BPD. This therapy teaches people important skills like…

• Mindfulness – teaches people how to observe their own feelings, thoughts, and sensations without judgement or shame. People begin to notice themselves.
• Interpersonal effectiveness – teaches people how to form many different relationships in a number of contexts, such as acquaintances, professional connections, deep friendships, romantic relationships, and more.
• Emotional regulation – teaches people how to feel deeply and maintain control of their actions at the same time.
• Distress tolerance – teaches people healthy ways to deal with life’s inevitable hardships, setbacks, disappointments, and more.

Therapy for Borderline Personality at Thriveworks Philadelphia

If you have Borderline Personality Disorder or if you think that you may have it, consider reaching out. Thriveworks Philadelphia offer treatment for BPD, and we have appointments available. When you contact our office, one of our scheduling specialists (e.g., a real person) will answer your call and help you make an appointment. New clients often meet with their therapist within the week of their first call. We accept many different forms of insurance, and we offer evening and weekend appointments. Call today.