Dialectical behavior therapy, deconstructive contemplation, and Buddhist psychology: A theoretical integrative model for the treatment of borderline personality disorder

The purpose of this thesis is to present a theoretical treatment model for borderline personality disorder (BPD) that integrates the essential elements of Linehan's dialectical behavior therapy, Fenner's contemplative deconstruction, and Buddhist psychology in a sequential therapeutic program that can help move the BPD individual from parasuicidal acts and intentions to a fuller practical understanding of how he or she arrived at a BPD condition, and eventually to the letting go of fixations particularly relevant to his or her BPD condition. The methods of these psychotherapies are philosophically grounded in the dialectics of Hegel, the deconstruction of Derrida, and the Buddhist middle path analysis of Nagarjuna. The model recognizes the essential behavioral and cognitive contribution to the treatment of borderline personality disorder symptoms while also recognizing that the symptom relief addressed by behavioral and cognitive therapies is inadequate to a fuller understanding of the whole person affected by the trauma of borderline personality disorder.