Jason Aronson Another Chance to be Real: Attachment and Object Relations Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder

By most accounts, people with a borderline personality disorder prove exceptionally difficult to treat. Divergent opinions abound about what, if anything, contributes to a positive outcome. Is it the quality of the relationship with the psychotherapist that is curative, in that the careful attunement of therapist to patient enables the development of a more secure attachment experience? Or is it the technical and structural parameters of the therapy-i.e., therapist neutrality, frame issues, and defensive operations combined with skillfully formulated and timely interventions? Taken together, the findings of attachment research and object relations theory offer an integrated understanding of borderline personality disorder as an attachment disorder that relies on a pervasive false self for adaptation and personal connections. A particular corrective relationship experience, therefore, is necessary if positive personality changes and improved adaptive capacities are to result. In Another Chance to Be Real, Donald and Deanda Roberts propose a treatment approach, specific to those suffering from borderline personality disorder, that emphasizes both relational and technical variables as necessary in eliciting a positive treatment outcome. Review Finally, a book that bridges the gap between theory, affective neuroscience, and the art of psychotherapy. With stunning clarity regarding object relations theory, more than three decades of experience as highly respected clinicians, and access to the latest research regarding emotion regulation and the dynamics of attachment, these fine authors have crafted a book that is as readable as it is essential to read. This state-of-the-art volume is crucial for anyone seeking to understand current affective research and its application to the healing of difficult to treat patients. These pages stand out as among the most important written regarding an integration of theory, research, and treatment in the past decade.--Kent Hoffman, Bert Powell, and Glen Cooper Co-Originators of, Co-Originators of the Circle of Security This book eloquently describes the normal process of attachment and how disorders of this process lead to a Borderline Personality Disorder. The writing is clear and concise. Emphasizing that the psychotherapy requires affect attunement, as well as therapeutic interventions, the authors illustrate how the therapist takes into account the patient's intrapsychic structure in the way he or she talks to the patient. I recommend this book to all therapists to increase and solidify their therapeutic approach to the Borderline Personality Disorder.--James F. Masterson, M.D., director, the Masterson Institute for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy About the Author Donald D. Roberts, Ph.D. is on the faculty at The Masterson Institute of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy in Spokane, Washington, where he also maintains a private practice that emphasizes treatment of the personality disorders. Deanda Sylte Roberts, M.A. has maintained a private practice in Spokane, Washington for over 30 years, specializing in individual counseling and psychotherapy, marital therapy, and supervision of psychotherapists.