Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is devastating to those that live with it and to those that love them. Fueled by pervasive emotion dysregulation, it wreaks havoc on relationships, self-respect and life goals.

It’s overwhelming. It’s lonely. It’s scary.

I understand that, and I’m here to help.

People with BPD often blame themselves. Other people blame them, too. However, it is widely accepted that BPD develops from a combination of genetic factors and an invalidating social environment. Factors that were not in your control. You are NOT ‘crazy.’

Marsha Linehan, the creator of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), described Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) as involving difficulties across five key areas of dysregulation:

1. Emotion Dysregulation

Emotions feel overwhelming, intense, and hard to manage. They may come on suddenly, feel out of proportion to the situation, and take a long time to settle.

2. Interpersonal Dysregulation

Relationships may be stormy or unstable, often marked by fears of abandonment, sensitivity to rejection, and difficulty maintaining long-term connections.

3. Self-Dysregulation

There may be a shaky or shifting sense of identity—feeling unsure of who you are, what you value, or experiencing chronic feelings of emptiness.

4. Behavioral Dysregulation

This includes impulsive or self-destructive behaviors, such as self-harm, substance use, reckless decisions, or risky sexual behavior.

5. Cognitive Dysregulation

Under stress, people may experience distorted thinking, paranoia, or dissociation (feeling numb, disconnected, or as if things aren’t real).

Understanding these areas helps guide BPD treatment—especially with DBT, which is designed to target all five forms of dysregulation with skill-based, structured support. 

Receiving a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) can feel overwhelming. It’s not uncommon to feel discouraged, like you’ve just been handed a lifelong sentence of emotional pain and instability.

BPD can be incredibly painful and confusing, not only for those who live with it, but also for their loved ones and even for some mental health providers. If you’ve felt misunderstood in therapy or been told that a therapist couldn’t help you, you’re not alone. Many people with BPD have had invalidating or even harmful experiences in treatment settings.

But here’s the truth: there is hope. With the right kind of support—particularly a structured, evidence-based approach like Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)—people with BPD can experience real, meaningful change. Lives improve. Suffering decreases. Relationships get better. Emotional balance becomes possible.

You are not beyond help. And you are not alone.

For a long time, Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) was seen as untreatable. Until the early 1990s, many mental health professionals believed there was little that could be done to help those struggling with its intense emotional pain and instability. There weren't many viable options for BPD treatment.

That changed in 1993, when Dr. Marsha Linehan introduced Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), a groundbreaking, evidence-based treatment that changed the treatment landscape for individuals with BPD.

Since then, DBT has been extensively studied and is now considered the gold standard therapy for BPD. Research consistently shows that it helps reduce self-harm, suicidal behaviors, emotional reactivity, and interpersonal chaos while improving emotional regulation, self-respect, and quality of life.

With DBT, recovery is possible—and hope is real.