Personal physical health, regular duties, and how people relate to each other is significantly impacted by their mental health. Mental health refers to the social, emotional, and behavioral normality in a particular person. There exist ranges of mental disorders that can undermine one’s mental health. Some of them are schizophrenia, mood, anxiety, and personality conditions as the most common types of psychological disorders, which have adverse effects on human mental health. For instance, personality disorders impact conventional rational thinking and people’s feelings for others. One example of a personality disorder is the borderline personality disorder (BPD), which mainly affects a person’s moods, behavior, relationships, and emotions. Typically, human behavior can be explained by personality theories, which focus on explaining how various behaviors are exhibited by people and the particular patterns observed. Knowledge about BPD and how it can be revealed using these theories is vital for everyone. As such, it is essential to discuss borderline personality disorder with the applications of theories of personality, impacts of the disorder on human development, evidence-based counseling strategies, a critique of findings concerning the disorder, and implementation of theories of personality in treating BPD disorder.
Discussion
BPD and Major Theories of Personality
Borderline personality disorder refers to a mental condition where a person experiences unstable moods, emotions, relationships, and behaviors. Like other typical personality disorders, it mostly affects people during their teenage and can continue impacting them for years unless it is treated. According to psychodynamic theories, BPD can be explained as a state where individual personality failed to complete all the crucial stages. The stages include id, superego, and ego, as illustrated by Freud. They are critical components of personality with each having a particular role. The id has the core function of defining one's urges and needs, ego deals explicitly with morals, while superego regulates the function of id and ego. For healthy personality development, the id has to focus on various erogenous zones (Fulmer, 2018). Basing on this fact, it can be concluded that the ids for people suffering from BPD did not go through all the erogenous zones. It can also be concluded that that personality failed to go through all the essential stages of development.
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According to the socio-cognitive theory, BPD can be defined as the inability of an individual to interact and be affected by other people and their general environment. The theory provides that people learn from others and their environment; hence, their unique personalities. Individuals suffering from BPD do not have a specific way of behaving. They also lack stable emotions, moods, and relationships, meaning that they are unable to interact and learn effectively. As such, people suffering from BPD cannot reach their potential in life as provided by the humanistic theory of personality. The theory provides that people are continually looking forward to learning, growing, and improving. In the long-run, they achieve self-actualization. Nevertheless, individuals who suffer from BPD are typically unable to reach self-actualization since they are unable to focus. Thus, they are unable to achieve a stable behavior, mood, emotion, and form stable relationships. Lastly, BPD can also be defined as the lack of stable traits such as loyalty, ambition, sociability, aggressiveness, and introversion. These traits are unstable in individuals suffering from BPD. Trait theory of personality provides that these traits and others should be stable for one to have a particular behavior, emotion, mood, and form stable relationships.
Problems and Impact on Development as it Relates to Personality Theories
First, BPD hinders one's ability to focus on improving themselves by concentrating on more essential activities and needs. For healthy personality development to occur, one has to appropriately select needs and activities of a higher priority according to their hierarchy of needs as documented in the humanistic theory. Therefore, BPD significantly hinders personality growth and development. It also affects other areas of life, such as learning. Consequently, one fails to realize self-actualization since they would not know what they need and what they are supposed to do in life. Secondly, BPD harms one's ability to build relationships and pursue their goals in life. According to the trait theory, a normal human being should have stable core traits such as loyalty, ambition, sociability, aggressiveness, and introversion. Notably, these traits are instrumental in one's success in life. For instance, being social can enable one to form relevant connections that can enhance their success (Harris, Brett, Johnson, & Deary, 2016).
On the hand, being aggressive enables one to tap into opportunities that may seem difficult to handle in life. All in all, these traits are essential to anyone. If these traits are unstable, one may not be able to achieve a high-quality life. Thirdly, the condition also hinders one's ability to learn from others and their general environment. The socio-cognitive theory requires that one should interact with others and their environment and in the process, acquire vital knowledge, insights, and ideas essential in life. It is the acquired knowledge, insights, and ideas that shape their personality. Thus, having this condition hinders one's healthy development as far as learning is concerned. For instance, one may not be able to learn good traits from others and may not learn by seeing what is happening within their environment. Lastly, people suffering from BPD cannot manage ideal emotions and establish good relationships with other people. As documented in the psychodynamic theory of personality, these people have an incomplete nature since it never developed through all the stages. Notably, good relations and stable emotions are essential for teamwork and adequate collaboration with other people on various regular life activities. In the long-run, they are unable to grow and develop socially and economically.
Literature Review
Evidence-Based Counseling Strategies in the Treatment of BPD
Suitable counseling strategies are instrumental in addressing BPD in society. They ensure that one regains stable emotions, behavior, and establishes a stable relationship and moods. They include dialectical behavioral therapy, mentalization-based therapy, schema-focused therapy, and transference-focused psychotherapy. They are an ideal intervention in handling BPD condition in an individual.
Mentalization-based therapy. In this kind of counseling strategy, a person who has borderline personality disorder is enabled to realize their mental state. In this case, one recognizes their feelings and thoughts. Similarly, they gain an understanding of the way others think and feel as they interact (Vogt & Norman, 2018). The therapy is based on Bowlby's attachment theory, which provides that people are born hardwired to form attachments with other people. It is due to these attachments that people survive. During mentalization-based therapy, an assumption is made that people with borderline personality disorder experienced disorganized attachments in the past (Daubney & Bateman, 2015). So, the therapy enables the stabilization of their perception of others and sense of self. In the long-run, they can form relationships with others, maintain moods, behavior, and emotions. Thus, the condition is adequately addressed.
Transference-focused psychotherapy. The theory is based on the concept of transferring emotions. The therapist, in this case, takes advantage of their closeness to clients and ascertain how they relate to others. A primary assumption in this kind of therapy is that a client holds the therapist with ultimate value as the way they would do their parents and loved ones (Hurtado-Santiago, Guzmán-Parra, Bersabé, & Mayoral, 2018). In this case, a therapist can ascertain how the client relates to their loved ones; hence, give viable recommendations on how they can effectively develop their relationships. It is also believed that how BPD patients relate to each other in teenage years and adulthood is significantly impacted by the dysfunctional relationships in their early childhood (Fajkowska & Kreitler, 2018). Therefore, the therapy is meant to identify flaws that caused these dysfunctional relationships and then correct them in good time. This ensures that one can relate to others effectively and have stable emotions, moods, and behavior.
Dialectical behavior therapy. In this kind of cognitive behavior, therapy is conducted with a significant focus on how thoughts and beliefs can cause actions and behavior. According to Dr. Linehan’s theory, the main problem and cause for the borderline personality disorder is emotional dysregulation (Reddy & Vijay, 2017). The leading cause of this condition is unstable emotions when one is still in their young childhood. In this kind of therapy, BPD patients are taught vital skills critical in eliminating emotional dysregulation and enhance their ability to handle strong emotions. Dialectical behavior therapy can be executed through phone coaching, group training, or one-on-one psychotherapy (May, Richardi, & Barth, 2016). In this case, mindfulness meditation, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness skills are comprehensively taught to the patient. Knowledge and support acquired during this therapy enable patients to attain a state of stability in moods, behavior, emotions, and build stable relationships.
Schema-focused therapy. This is also a cognitive therapy where it is assumed that unhealthy thinking concerning the environment is caused by unmet needs when one was a child. The core aim of the therapy is to install healthy beliefs about the environment (Gojani, Masjedi, Khaleghipour, & Behzadi, 2017). Some of the needs that one may miss while young are such as love, acceptance, and safety. According to the schema theory, missing these needs can be defined as awkward moments in the life of a child (Taylor, Bee, & Haddock, 2017). If scenarios unfold with similarities to this past childhood experiences, one is likely to develop an unhealthy view regarding the world and everything around them. During the therapy, therapists aim at identifying specific schemas. After that, the patient is assisted in countering unhealthy thinking related to the particular schemas identified (Taylor, Bee, & Haddock, 2017). In the process, they can achieve a positive perception about the world even if they experience schemas in the present and future lives.
Critique of Research
The research findings explored are relevant and adequately explain the BPD vividly. Reading and critiquing research informs and advances the counseling profession because more knowledge would be gathered based on a specific condition. For instance, in this case, the study provides a clear connection between borderline personality disorder and theories of personality. Then also, the research provides a clear link between the disorder and past experiences. For instance, some of the instabilities experienced in patients are attributed to poor parenting in the past. Going through all phases of psychological development requires ideal parenting and exposure to the right environment during early childhood. However, the research does not explicitly provide some of the assumptions used in various counseling strategies. For instance, an assumption that people suffering from borderline personality hold therapists with a value like their loved ones is purely baseless. There is no substantial information to support this claim. Therefore, further research should be done on this aspect.
Application of Theory in Treatment
My Model and Justification
My treatment model, in this case, would incorporate insights from all counseling strategies for people with borderline personality disorder. In this case, I will start by talking to the patients to ascertain the specific needs they missed out while still young. This can be determined by asking them relevant questions or talking to some of their family members. As such, I will be able to realize their emotional dysregulation. After that, I will speak to them whereby I will make them understand their sense of self and those around them and in turn, know how they relate with their loved ones. After making them realize their sense of being, I will teach and equip them with mindfulness meditation, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, together with interpersonal effectiveness skills.
This is an ideal counseling strategy since it incorporates vital insights from all the evidence-based counseling strategies including the dialectical behavioral therapy, mentalization-based therapy, schema-focused therapy, and transference-focused psychotherapy. Given that it is based on the trait personality theory and evidence, the model is sure to register positive results in the treatment of borderline personality disorder patients. For instance, basing on the findings regarding the patients’ childhood upbringing, I will be able to present recommendations and advise that is sure to work based on various scenarios. The model will also be ideal since it is founded on theories such as the social theory of personality.
Interventions Associated With the Trait Personality Theory
First, I will make inquiries about the patient’s degree of loyalty, ambition, sociability, aggressiveness, and introversion. In this case, I will talk to their parents, guardians, or family members to give insights into these elements. In the process, I will be able to ascertain particular habitual conducts concerning these traits. After that, I will verify the degree of the borderline personality disorder they would be suffering. Secondly, I will seek to determine their subcultural groups, which entails their interests as a family, ethnicity, religion, and economic status in society. The importance of ascertaining this is to remove these traits, help in my assessment, and focus on key personal characteristics that my model intents to improve. Thirdly, I will sort the attributes and eliminate the sub-cultural ones. Subsequently, this will enable me to come up with more effective strategies to improve the patients' stability in essential traits that have a massive impact on their lives. After that, I will guide and equip the patients with critical skills on how they can develop and maintain essential productive personality traits. In the long run, this will solve the borderline personality disorder since they will develop stable emotions, behavior, relationships, and moods.
Current Intervention Gaps and Future Research
First, various factors have an impact on one's behavior, moods, emotions, and ability to form relationships. However, they have not been documented in the current interventions. For instance, security and terror have an impact on an individual’s behavior. In this case, a gap exists that requires more extensive research to ascertain the effect of other factors on one’s wellbeing. Secondly, the intervention requires self-reports and personal observation for it to be effective. Nevertheless, under typical conditions, it may be hard to find a phenomenon as it is not easy for someone to observe another person for an extended period and generate an accurate personal observation (Harris, Brett, Johnson, & Deary, 2016). On the other hand, it is a daunting task for one to create a precise self-report concerning their behavior. Additionally, the trait theories used in this particular intervention do not explicitly provide information on why specific traits can interact to result in a specific behavior. Hence, if these reasons are provided, more targeted guidelines and advice would be offered to enhance the quality of borderline personality disorder therapeutic procedures. Therefore, these gaps need to be filled through extensive research.
Future research should be carried out on other factors that can influence behavior. For instance, the effect of factors such as natural catastrophe, security, and wars on behavior should be researched. Then also, other ways of determining behavior should be researched since basing on observation and self-reports is insufficient. Therefore, the research will add more knowledge on how behavior and other traits can be examined when treating borderline personality disorder patients.
References
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