Transference-Focused Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality Disorder: A Clinical Guide by Frank Yeomans, John Clarkin and Otto Kernberg. Published by American Psychiatric Publishing, Washington, 2015; 411 pp; £40.49

This chapter provides a summary of a landmark study on borderline personality disorder. How does transference-focused psychotherapy, supportive therapy, and dialectical behavioral therapy compare in the treatment of borderline personality disorder? Starting with that question, the chapter describes the basics of this study, including funding sources, study location, who was studied, and how many patients participated in the study. The study design is described, as well as the study intervention, follow-up, endpoints, results, and finally a discussion of criticisms and limitations. The chapter briefly reviews other relevant studies and information, discusses implications, and concludes with a relevant clinical case.

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Transference-focused psychotherapy v. treatment by community psychotherapists for borderline personality disorder: randomised controlled trial

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.bp.109.070177 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 196 (5) ◽

pp. 389-395 ◽

Cited By ~ 216

Author(s):

Stephan Doering ◽

Susanne Hörz ◽

Michael Rentrop ◽

Melitta Fischer-Kern ◽

Peter Schuster ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Borderline Personality Disorder ◽

Randomised Controlled Trial ◽

Personality Disorder ◽

Psychosocial Functioning ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Borderline Personality ◽

Patient Treatment ◽

Significant Group ◽

Randomised Controlled ◽

Transference Focused Psychotherapy

BackgroundTransference-focused psychotherapy is a manualised treatment for borderline personality disorder.AimsTo compare transference-focused psychotherapy with treatment by experienced community psychotherapists.MethodIn a randomised controlled trial (NCT00714311) 104 female out-patients were treated for 1 year with either transference-focused psychotherapy or by an experienced community psychotherapist.ResultsSignificantly fewer participants dropped out of the transference-focused psychotherapy group (38.5% v. 67.3%) and also significantly fewer attempted suicide (d = 0.8, P = 0.009). Transference-focused psychotherapy was significantly superior in the domains of borderline symptomatology (d = 1.6, P = 0.001), psychosocial functioning (d = 1.0, P = 0.002), personality organisation (d = 1.0, P = 0.001) and psychiatric in-patient admissions (d = 0.5, P = 0.001). Both groups improved significantly in the domains of depression and anxiety and the transference-focused psychotherapy group in general psychopathology, all without significant group differences (d = 0.3–0.5). Self-harming behaviour did not change in either group.ConclusionsTransference-focused psychotherapy is more efficacious than treatment by experienced community psychotherapists in the domains of borderline symptomatology, psychosocial functioning, and personality organisation. Moreover, there is preliminary evidence for a superiority in the reduction of suicidality and need for psychiatric in-patient treatment.

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Borderline Personality Disorder – Dilemmas and Therapeutic Challenges

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2017.01.1494 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 41 (S1) ◽

pp. s783-s784

Author(s):

G. Tasic ◽

S. Anakiev

Keyword(s):

Borderline Personality Disorder ◽

Personality Disorder ◽

Borderline Personality ◽

Continuous Learning ◽

Defence Mechanisms ◽

Special Challenge ◽

Competing Interest ◽

Otto Kernberg

Treatment of borderline personality disorder has some specifics relative to other disorders, which are deriving from nature and structure of those people. Treatment is very slow, often with interruptions, and it presents a special challenge for contratransferal feelings but at the same time offers a possibility of continuous learning, for the patient and the therapist. Main characteristics of this personality disorder are the diffusion of identity, primitive defence mechanisms concentrated around the cleft and relatively preserved ability to rest reality. As classical psychoanalysis and psychoanalytical psychotherapy did not give results in therapy of this disorder, Otto Kernberg took its basic techniques but used them adjusted for borderline personality disorder, developing so called transfer focused psychotherapy. This paper will present the main principles of this modification, applied in practice.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

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