Michele Rubinstein’s Reviews > I Hate You—Don't Leave Me: Understanding the Borderline Personality > Status Update

“The patient must not lose sight of the fact that he is bravely committing himself, his time, and his resources to the frightening task of trying to understand himself better and to effect alterations in his life patterns. Honesty in therapy is therefore of paramount importance for the patient’s sake.”

“Sometimes, however, it is difficult to distinguish when therapy is stuck from when it is working through painful issues…”

“Psychological change requires resisting unproductive automatic reflexes and consciously and willfully choosing other alternatives— choices that are different, even opposite, from the automatic reflex— sometimes these new ways of behaving are frightening, but they hopefully are more efficient ways of coping.”

“As a personality disorder, BPD is distinguished by a cluster of longstanding, ingrained traits that are prominent in an individual’s character. These traits are relatively indexable and result in maladaptive patterns of perceiving, behaving, and relating to others.”