borderline personality disorder
NON-FICTION
stop walking on eggshells by paul T. Mason & randi kreger
Stop Walking on Eggshells: Taking Your Life Back When Someone You Care About Has Borderline Personality Disorder is written by Paul Mason, program manager of Child/Adolescent Services and a psychotherapist with Psychiatric Services for St. Luke's Hospital in Racine, Wisconsin, and Randi Kreger, a professional writer. Now in its third edition, it was originally published in 1998 and was one of the first books for the general public on borderline personality disorder. Intended for family members of those with BPD, the book explains the disorder, and how to take back your life by making changes within yourself, setting boundaries, and asserting your needs. The book is straightforward, practical, and easy to read.
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THE BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER SURVIVAL GUIDE BY ALEXANDER L. CHAPMAN & KIM L. GRATZ
The Borderline Personality Disorder Survival Guide: Everything You Need to Know About Living with BPD is written by Alexander Chapman, PhD, a registered psychologist and assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Simon Fraser University, and Kim Gratz, PhD, a clinical psychologist and research assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Maryland. Published in 2007, the book covers the causes, course and comorbidities of BPD; psychological treatments including dialectical behavioural therapy and mentalization; medical treatments; dealing with suicidal thoughts; and coping with emotions. The book is neatly organized and easy to read.
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OVERCOMING BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER BY VALERIE PORR
Overcoming Borderline Personality Disorder: A Family Guide for Healing and Change is written by Valerie Porr, President/Founder of the Treatment and Research Advancements National Association for Personality Disorder (TARA NAPD), a not for profit education and advocacy organization representing patients, families, and providers affected by BPD. Published in 2010, the book begins by acknowledging the family experience of those close to someone with BPD, and describes the science of the disorder. It goes on to cover dialectical behaviour therapy, including the importance of validation, mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and mentalization. Finally, there are chapters on grieving, radical acceptance and change.
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the dialectical behaviour therapy skills workbook by matthew mckay, jeffrey wood & Jeffrey brantley
The Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Skills Workbook: Practical DBT Exercises for Learning Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotional Regulation & Distress Tolerance was published in 2019, and is in its second edition. It was written by California-based clinical psychologist Matthew McKay, Las Vegas-based PsyD therapist Jeffrey C. Wood, and Duke University psychiatrist Dr. Jeffrey Brantley, who founded the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program at Duke Integrative Medicine. The book teaches the four key components of DBT mentioned in the title, each with a basic and advanced chapter. The book includes examples, assessments, exercises and worksheets, and concludes with a chapter on integrating the new skills into daily life.
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DBT skills training handouts and worksheets by marsha m. linehan
DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets contains over 225 handouts and worksheets for patients, with brief instructions, to reinforce the dialectical behaviour skills taught by mental health professionals from the author's DBT Skills Training Manual. The book covers distress tolerance, emotional regulation, mindfulness and interpersonal skills. The book is written by Marsha Linehan, founder of DBT. Now in its second edition, it was first published in 2014. The book is spiral bound, for ease of photocopying.
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CREATIVE
BUILDING A LIFE WORTH LIVING by marsha m. linehan
Building a Life Worth Living is a memoir written by Marsha M. Linehan, who details her life from suicidal teenager to PhD in psychology to world-renowned founder of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy. Linehan explains that near the end of her two year admission to a psychiatric institute as a teenager, “I made a promise to God, a vow, that I would get myself out of hell — and that once I did, I would find a way to get others out of hell, too. DBT was, and is, my best effort to date at keeping that vow.” In the book, in addition to her captivating personal narrative, Linehan explains the concepts of DBT. Building a Life Worth Living was published in 2021.
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Hickey, D. (2020). Building a life worth living. M. M. linehan. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, , 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1017/ipm.2020.20
Aftab, A., MD. (2020, November 16). Reading Linehan in the Age of Critical Psychiatry. Psychiatric Times. https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/reading-linehan-age-critical-psychiatry
Simon MD MPH, G. (2020, February 10). Read Marsha Linehan’s book: Building a Life Worth Living. Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute. https://www.kpwashingtonresearch.org/news-and-events/blog/2020/read-marsha-linehans-book-building-life-worth-living
GET ME OUT OF HERE BY RACHEL REILAND
Get Me Out of Here: My Recovery from Borderline Personality Disorder is a memoir by Rachel Reiland, wife, mother of three, and accountant living in the Midwest. She describes her diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder at age 29, after years of explosive outbursts, manipulation, suicide attempts, and self destructive behaviour, including anorexia, promiscuity and substance use. She goes on to detail her subsequent recovery. The book was published in 2004.
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