Main description:

Over the past two decades considerable progress has been made in developing specialist psychosocial treatments for borderline personality disorder (BPD), yet the majority of people with BPD receive treatment within generalist mental health services, rather than specialist treatment centres.

This is a book for general mental health professionals who treat people with borderline personality disorder (BPD). It offers practical guidance on how to help people with BPD with advice based on research evidence. After a discussion of the symptoms of BPD, the authors review all the generalist treatment interventions that have resulted in good outcomes in randomised controlled trials, when compared with specialist treatments, and summarise the effective components of these interventions. The
treatment strategies are organised into a structured approach called Structured Clinical Management (SCM), which can be delivered by general mental health professionals without extensive additional training.

The heart of the book outlines the principles underpinning SCM and offers a step-by-step guide to the clinical intervention. Practitioners can learn the interventions easily and develop more confidence in treating people with BPD. In addition, a chapter is devoted to how to help families - an issue commonly neglected when treating patients with BPD. Finally the authors discuss the top 10 strategies for delivering treatment and outline how the general mental health clinician can deliver these
strategies competently.

Contents:

1. Borderline Personality Disorder ; 2. Generalist Psychiatric Treatments for Borderline Personality Disorder: The Evidence Base and Common Factors ; 3. Structured Clinical Management: General Treatment Strategies ; 4. Structured Clinical Management: Core Treatment Strategies ; 5. Structured Clinical Management: Team strategies ; 6. Structured Clinical Management: In-patient Treatment and Prescribing ; 7. Family and Friends ; 8. Top Ten Additional Resource-Efficient Treatment Strategies