Borderline Personality Disorder

“Borderline Patients: Extending the Limits of Treatability” by Harold Koenigsberg et al (ISBN 0-465-09560-7)

“Cognitive Analytic Therapy and Borderline Personality Disorder” by Anthony Ryle (ISBN 0-471-97618-0)

“Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder” by Marsha Lineham (ISBN 0-89862-183-6)

“Eclipses : Behind the Borderline Personality Disorder” by Melissa Ford Thornton (ISBN 0-9659392-2-7)
Written by a “recovered” BP, Eclipses focuses on the treatment (via hospitalisation & DBT) of BPD. Excellent clear accounts of DBT. As the book is set in the US, it is hard to relate to some aspects.

“I Hate You, Don’t Leave Me” by Jerold Kreisman & Hal Straus (ISBN 0-380-71305-5)
The “original book” on BPD, but is now quite outdated. Not terribly optimistic about BPs’ prospects for the future.

“Personalities: Master Clinicians Confront the Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder” eds Hellinga, van Luyn, Dalewijk (ISBN 0-7657-0294-0)
Interviews with fourteen BPD specialists (including Adler, Linehan and Kernberg) about their personal approach to treating people with BPD.

“Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality” by Larkin, Yeomans and Kernberg (ISBN 0-471-17042-9)
Very new (and expensive) book aimed at therapists working with BPs. It describes a new approach (transference focused therapy) that aims to provide ‘sufficient clinical structure to contain the destructive forces that can undermine the therapeutic process’ whilst allowing the therapist flexibility to safely interact with the BP. Sounds like lion-taming doesn’t it?

“Skills Training Manual for Treating Borderline Personality Disorder” by Marsha Lineham (ISBN 0-89862-034-1)

“Stop Walking on Eggshells” by Randi Kreger & Paul Mason (ISBN 1-57224-108-X)
Written for those who have borderline loved ones. Makes BPs sound absolutely hellish, but may provide insight into borderline behaviour.

“The Angry Heart” by Joseph Santoro & Ronald Cohen (ISBN 1-57224-080-6)
A guide to moving from the “Borderline Zone” to the “Recovery Zone” to the “Free Zone.” Interactive self-help exercises combined with personal accounts & information re BPD. Raises valuable & important questions, but neglects to mention disordered eating as a borderline coping mechanism.

“Understanding Borderline Personality Disorder” by MIND (ISBN 1-903567-19-X)
Mind’s handy little intro to BPD is useful for giving to friends and family members. Available from MIND on 0208 221 9666 priced £1.

“Women and Borderline Personality Disorder : Symptoms and Stories” by Janet Wirth-Cauchon (ISBN 0-8135-2891-7)
Investigates the social, cultural and medical assumptions underlying the diagnosis of BPD from a feminist viewpoint.