Borderline Personality (BPD) Therapists in 35212
Erica Wilbanks
Licensed Professional Counselor, MS, LPC, NCC
Verified Verified
7 Endorsed
Birmingham, AL 35212
Are you ready for change? Austrian psychiatrist and psychotherapist, Viktor Frankl stated “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves”. I have built most of my work around studying trauma and the effects it has on a human. Trauma defined is an event or circumstance that is beyond a person's ability to cope properly. Many symptoms like anxiety, depression, dissociation, fatigue, and guilt follow trauma. Trauma is scary and I do not believe we were meant to do life alone. I offer to serve as someone who can collaboratively walk through the trauma with you.
Are you ready for change? Austrian psychiatrist and psychotherapist, Viktor Frankl stated “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves”. I have built most of my work around studying trauma and the effects it has on a human. Trauma defined is an event or circumstance that is beyond a person's ability to cope properly. Many symptoms like anxiety, depression, dissociation, fatigue, and guilt follow trauma. Trauma is scary and I do not believe we were meant to do life alone. I offer to serve as someone who can collaboratively walk through the trauma with you.
Encounter Therapy LLC
Counselor, MA, LPC
Verified Verified
Birmingham, AL 35212
I am a down-to-earth, multi-racial/cultural psychotherapist who genuinely cares. I have a deep passion to see women living into their full potential through finding, growing, and utilizing their own minds and voices that will enable them to walk toward healing growth and change. I share my passion from my own personal therapeutic journey that led me to my own beautiful mind and voice. I am excited about the possibility of being a part of your journey toward healing, growth, and change. We are in this together!
I am a down-to-earth, multi-racial/cultural psychotherapist who genuinely cares. I have a deep passion to see women living into their full potential through finding, growing, and utilizing their own minds and voices that will enable them to walk toward healing growth and change. I share my passion from my own personal therapeutic journey that led me to my own beautiful mind and voice. I am excited about the possibility of being a part of your journey toward healing, growth, and change. We are in this together!
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Borderline Personality (BPD) Therapists
What is the most successful approach to treating borderline personality disorder?
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is considered the gold standard of treatment for borderline personality disorder. An evidence-based treatment, it addresses the extreme emotional reactivity, the relationship difficulties, and the acts of self-harm that create so much distress for BPD patients. DBT is a comprehensive program that includes both regular individual psychotherapy sessions and weekly group sessions of skills training.
What happens in treatment of borderline personality disorder?
Treatment typically consists of weekly individual therapy sessions that last an hour and group skill-focused instructional sessions that may last up to two hours. Patients are typically given homework “assignments” in which they are asked to practice in their daily life the skills they acquire in therapy. Patients also keep a diary tracking their emotions and impulses as a way to know which situations are most problematic and to help them gain control over their own behavior. Difficult situations and feelings are typically reviewed in therapy sessions and more constructive solutions found.
What kinds of problems does BPD treatment help with?
DBT was initially developed to dampen the self-destructive impulses of chronically suicidal patients. It is now the treatment of choice for borderline personality disorder, a serious condition marked by extreme emotional reactivity, relationship instability, and self-injurious behaviors. Treatment of BPD helps patients tolerate the flux of emotions without acting on them, often with a specific focus on tolerating negative emotions. DBT addresses the core problems of BPD—fear of abandonment, low self-esteem, and impulsivity.
What is the goal of treatment in borderline personality disorder?
The goal of treatment for borderline personality disorder (BPD) is to relieve the extreme emotional distress that patients experience—to curb their emotional reactivity, to minimize their inclination to self-harm, and to reduce their impulsivity. Toward these ends, patients are not only taught an array of new coping skills and techniques for emotional regulation, they are given opportunities to practice them. Another major goal of treatment is interpersonal effectiveness; patients learn and problem-solve ways to effectively communicate in relationships, especially how to ask for what they need as a way to minimize hurt feelings.