@article{ref1,
title=""If you don't have a word for something, you may doubt whether it's even real" - how individuals with borderline personality disorder experience change",
journal="Psychotherapy research",
year="2021",
author="Koivisto, Maaria and Melartin, Tarja and Lindeman, Sari",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: This study explored how psychological change was experienced and what treatment-related factors or events were perceived as supporting or hindering their process by individuals with borderline personality disorder. <br><br>METHODS: Eight BPD sufferers attended a 40-session psychoeducational group intervention at a community mental health care center. At intervention end, personal experience of meaningful change was explored in an in-depth interview and data were content-analyzed. Change in BPD symptoms was assessed by the Borderline Personality Disorder Severity Index IV interview. <br><br>RESULTS: The qualitative content analysis on subjectively perceived meaningful change yielded three core categories: (1) improved ability to observe and understand mental events, (2) decreased disconnection from emotions, emergence of new or adaptive emotional reactions and decrease in maladaptive ones, and (3) a new, more adaptive experience of self and agency. Accordingly, (1) learning and (2) normalizing emerged as the main categories of helpful treatment factors. In turn, treatment-related factors perceived as obstacles were: (1) aggression in the group, and (2) inflexibility. With respect to symptom change, four participants were considered clinically as remitted, and two showed a reliable change. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Long-term psychoeducational group therapy seems to enhance mentalization / metacognitive functioning and promote self (or personality) integration in BPD patients.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1050-3307",
doi="10.1080/10503307.2021.1883763",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2021.1883763"
}