In-Person Training – Borderline Personality Disorder as a Traumatic Attachment Disorder

Research over the last thirty years has demonstrated a clear relationship between experiencing abuse in childhood and a later diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder. In this presentation, we will address how ‘borderline personality’ can be best understood as a trauma-related disorder. Exploring the effects of their traumatic attachment opens up new ways of working with clients who struggle to manage intense reactions and impulses.

Borderline clients are not at war with the therapist. They are caught in an internal battle: Do I trust or not trust? Do I live or do I die? Do I love or do I hate? Understanding these clients as traumatized and at war with themselves transforms the therapeutic relationship and the treatment.