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Common Factors in Empirically Supported Treatments of Borderline Personality Disorder

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Abstract

In this article, we examine the manuals of empirically supported psychotherapies for borderline personality disorder (BPD) by comparing their common and specific treatment strategies. We compare these treatments using a previously constructed scale of treatment interventions. Individual psychotherapies for BPD have several common strategies: clear treatment framework, attention to affect, focus on treatment relationship, an active therapist, and exploratory and change-oriented interventions. Use of interpretations, supportive interventions, designating treatment targets, attention to patient functioning, multimodal treatment, and support for therapies varied across the psychotherapies. We discuss these findings in the context of clusters of BPD symptoms, reports regarding overlap in treatment interventions used by various psychotherapies, and the effectiveness of specific treatment strategies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA, 02478, USA

    Igor Weinberg, Elsa Ronningstam, Mark J. Goldblatt, Mark Schechter & John T. Maltsberger

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  1. Igor Weinberg
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  2. Elsa Ronningstam
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  3. Mark J. Goldblatt
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  4. Mark Schechter
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  5. John T. Maltsberger
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Correspondence to Igor Weinberg.

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Weinberg, I., Ronningstam, E., Goldblatt, M.J. et al. Common Factors in Empirically Supported Treatments of Borderline Personality Disorder. Curr Psychiatry Rep 13, 60–68 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-010-0167-x

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