Psychologists’ perception of their relationship with clients with borderline personality disorder

Abstract

Borderline personality disorder is especially known for its stigma of being a difficult disorder to work with. The study's intent was to explore how psychologists perceive their relationship with clients with borderline personality disorder. Five semi-structured interviews were conducted with five psychologists which were analyzed using Thematic Analysis. The findings suggest that while the participants experience clients with borderline personality disorder as challenging, they master the experience through an empathic approach which enables them to come in contact with the difficulties these clients often experience both psychologically and socially. Thus the empathic skills of the participant psychologists significantly reduce the formation of primarily negative attitudes which is often reported in literature. Additionally, findings suggest an extensive approach to therapy that addresses the psychosocial functioning of the client in order to ensure increased favorable prognosis of the disorder.