The aim of this study was to describe the female elf-mutilator's lived experience of cutting herself. A question which would elicit a description of the experience of this phenomenon was formulated. Five self-mutilators were interviewed. The four psychologically richest narratives were chosen for this study. Using the empirical phenomenological method. the four protocols were analysed in detail. Self-mutilation is conceptualized as a cycle wherein the mutilator experiences a diffuse bodily felt-sense that mounts to an unbearable point. She has an irresistible urge to alleviate the distress. She isolates herself and cuts herself with a sharp blade. Upon seeing the blood appear she is overcome with a deep sense of satisfaction. power, and ecstatic pleasure. The blood is perceived to carry the distressing contents out of the body. Concomitantly the self-mutilator recollects a sense of her feelings and her body as belonging to her. Her previously alienated body is felt to be a site of vitality. She also feels removed from further harm. encased in a cocoon of safety that renders her invulnerable to others. However. the cutting can never totally rid the body of distressing feelings. As a result the cycle of cutting wiII be re-enacted. The cutting cycle is conceptualized as a process whereby the self-mutilator suffers from a traumatization of the psyche such that the psychic container is fractured and rendered painfully porous. The act of cutting rids the psyche of unwanted contents such that a sense of going-on-being is restored. The cutting acts to temporarily shore up the rent fabric of the psychic envelope and thereby consolidate a sense of personal boundary. This is a temporary respite from the fracturing of the psychic container in that, once again confronted with interpersonal existence, the self-mutilator begins to feel vulnerable and defenceless. When it seems as if disintegration is again imminent, a cycle of cutting is reconstituted. The findings emergent from the interviews were dialogued with the literature on psychic containers, particularly that which addresses the role of the skin in the formation and functioning of psychic containers.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is associated with distress in and dissolution of romantic relationships. BPD is a relational disorder. The complex interaction between BPD and romantic relationships continues to warrant further attention, as decreased BPD symptoms are associated with increased relational effectiveness. The current study was one of the first qualitative studies that used dyadic data to examine the experience and impact of BPD on couples' relationships. Semi-structured conjoint interviews were conducted with couples with a partner with BPD (N = 10) using interpretative phenomenology. This study provides a rich understanding of the experiences of couples with BPD by exploring not only how BPD impacts couples' romantic relationships, but how couples cope with BPD. Although BPD was experienced as a relational stressor, couples utilized resources to buffer against the impact of BPD in their relationship. Three superordinate themes emerged from the data that illustrate the couple experience of navigating BPD: (a) the individual lived experience of BPD, (b) the shared experience of BPD as a relational stressor, and (c) adaptive dyadic coping in the context of BPD. Dyadic coping and shared externalization emerged as key factors in adaptive couple functioning in the context of BPD. The lived experiences of these couples provide therapists and other couples with an increased understanding of the resources and skills that support successful dyadic coping with BPD. / Master of Science / Borderline personality disorder (BPD) imposes significant stress on romantic relationships. BPD is associated with increased distress in and dissolution of romantic relationships. However, individuals in recovery from BPD report high relationship satisfaction. Decreased BPD symptoms are associated with increased relational effectiveness, but it is less clear whether reducing BPD symptoms leads to greater relational effectiveness or if relational effectiveness reduces symptoms of BPD. To better understand the complex relationship between BPD and romantic relationships, conjoint interviews were conducted with couples who were navigating the management of BPD. Ten semi-structured conjoint interviews were analyzed using interpretative phenomenology. Three themes emerged from the data that illustrate the couple experience of navigating BPD: (a) the individual lived experience of BPD, (b) the shared experience of BPD as a relational stressor, and (c) adaptive dyadic coping in the context of BPD. Dyadic coping and shared externalization emerged as key factors in adaptive couple functioning in the context of BPD. Couples navigating BPD benefit from many of the same couple coping strategies that other couples utilize to manage common stressors in life.

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This thesis presents research aimed at examining rejection sensitivity in adolescent girls with borderline personality disorder (BPD) features. Although rejection sensitivity has been discussed more generally in the literature, few studies have identified how this construct may contribute to psychopathology in adolescence. There is also limited research regarding outcome behaviours that may be associated with high rejection sensitivity as well as factors that contribute to the manifestation of this construct. Here, this thesis aims to further the understanding of rejection sensitivity in adolescence and provide evidence to support the clinical utility of examining and offering treatment for this factor in youth presenting with BPD features. Although research has shown that BPD and high rejection sensitivity are strongly correlated, few studies have investigated the outcomes that may result from having this comorbidity. In the first paper of this thesis, disordered eating was examined as an outcome behaviour in a clinical sample of girls with BPD features. The results showed that girls who met diagnostic criteria for BPD had significantly higher disordered eating behaviour and that rejection sensitivity, operationalized as fears of abandonment, mediated this relationship. In the second paper of this thesis, the relationship between self-esteem, BPD features and perceived peer rejection was investigated in a longitudinal community sample of adolescent girls. We tested the sociometer hypothesis (Leary, 2005) that self-esteem served as a metric to detect the degree of belongingness in a group context. The results indicated that the relationship between BPD features and perceived peer rejection depended on self-esteem over time. Overall, the two studies presented in this thesis contribute to the knowledge regarding rejection sensitivity in adolescents with BPD features and explores correlates and outcomes of this relationship to aid in the identification of novel treatments to target and ameliorate rejection sensitivity in this population. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

no / Background: Self-harm (self poisoning and self-injury) is broadly characterised as any act intended to harm one's own body, without a conscious intent to die. Research indicates that when practitioners encounter self-harm they often remain anxious, fearful, frustrated, and challenged about such individuals, principally because they are constrained to understand and respond to self-harm almost exclusively within a problematised discourse (Walker, 2006). That is, a problem that must be diagnosed and contained. Women who self-harm with a diagnosis of BPD are often portrayed as being risky, chaotic and their identity can be unstable. The aim of this study was to examine and explore the subjective experiences of women who self-harm with a diagnosis of BPD. Participants: Four women who had a history of self-harming behaviour with the diagnosis of BPD volunteered for the study. Method: Face-to-face, in-depth narrative interviews were undertaken and were analysed within a framework which drew upon aspects of the ¿performance¿ (Langellier, 1989; 2001) and ¿narrative thematic¿ approaches (Reissman, 1993). Findings: Two of the participant's accounts illustrate how their self-harming appeared to have affected their selfhood and sense of agency. They discuss how the external signs of self-harm may take over their identity and how others communicate and interact with them. Despite the problematic nature of self-harm implications for practice are highlighted which practitioners may draw upon in their work around self-harm.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2007 / Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Social Work. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-108).

Thesis (H. Sc. D.)--University of Sydney, 2008. / Title from title screen (viewed 11 March 2009). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Health Sciences to the School of Behavioural and Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print form.

Thesis (M.A.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2008. / Directed by Rosemery Nelson-Gray; submitted to the Dept. of Psychology. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Apr. 13, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 32-42).

M.A. (Clinical Psychology) / The relatively rapidly development of cognitive-behavioural approaches to various psychological conditions, has prompted clinicians and researchers to investigate the borderline personality disorder more thoroughly. Research has evidenced the uniqueness of the borderline personality disorder in terms of description, etiology and therefore treatment. of the various treatments proposed, the cognitive-behavioural approaches appear to be most effective. Latest developments in this area emphasize cognitive factors such as content-specitic cognitions and Early Maladaptive Schemas. These factors are important tor psychotherapeutic purposes. A hypothesis was formulated which stated broadly that cognitive-behavioural approaches would result in equal treatment efficacy, whether process(schema) or content based, and investigated in the context of a pilot clinical trial with tour subjects. Apart from measures for depression and cognitive processes in the BPD, a depth-of-processing task and a schema questionnaire were utilized in investigation or the hypothesis. These measures, in addition to CB interventions, were applied to a small group or carefully selected BPD's, with a secondary diagnosis or depression. Findings supported the basic hypothesis of the study, and demonstrated that cognitive-behavioural approaches of either content or process typos are equally etricacious in treatment of the borderline porsonality disorder.

In 2003, Winter, Watson, Gillman-Smith, Gilbert and Acton criticised the DSM-IV’s psychiatric conceptualisation of BPD, proposing a set of alternative descriptions based on Kelly’s (1955) Personal Construct Psychology (PCP) and diagnostic constructs. According to Winter et al. (2003), PCP offers not only a less “pre-emptive” stance towards BPD but is more clinically useful given its intrinsic implications for treatment. This correlational research study aimed to determine whether BPD symptomatology is associated with these proposed characteristics of construing. In addition, it was hypothesised that those with a belief that BPD was a part of their identity and untreatable would display higher levels of hopelessness. Ten participants with an existing diagnosis of BPD completed the following measures: a) Personal Construct Inventory (PCI; Chambers & O’Day, 1984); b) Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory, Third Edition, (MCMI-III, Millon, 1994); and c) Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS; Beck & Steer, 1988). Participants were also asked to complete a repertory grid and a Likert Scale indicating the extent of their belief that: a) BPD is an intrinsic part of them; and b) BPD is a treatable condition. Two of the participants are presented as case examples. The most significant finding related to the hypothesis that greater BPD symptomatology would be associated with a higher degree of change in self-construction over time (‘slot-rattling’). Contrary to our prediction, similarity of construing of the elements ‘Me Now’ and ‘Me in the Past’ was correlated with greater BPD symptomatology. This may indicate a belief among participants that they are unable to change or may represent Kellian hostility. Construing one’s mother and father similarly to one’s therapist was associated with greater BPD symptomatology, as was construing one’s father and partner similarly, suggesting, as hypothesised, that those diagnosed with BPD tend to construe current relationships in the same terms as early relationships. Pre-emptive construing and poorly elaborated self-construction were also found to be associated with increased BPD symptoms as predicted. Content analyses performed on elicited constructs revealed that emotion regulation is the most salient area for participants. While the majority of participants considered that BPD was a part of their identity, most were uncertain as to whether BPD is treatable although these findings were not significantly correlated with levels of hopelessness. Participants’ feedback about their experiences of being diagnosed with BPD raises important ethical questions. Further hypotheses are generated based on the study findings and suggestions are made for a revision of the way in which psychological distress is conceptualized, with a particular emphasis on the utility of the PCP approach towards BPD. Clinical implications, limitations of the study and possibilities for further research are discussed.