COSIG CONFERENCE BROCHURE.pdf - Drexel University College ...

COSIG Co-Occurring Disorders Conference, Hershey PA, May 15-17, 2006
Three Dialectical Dimensions of
BPD Behavioral Patterns
Emotional Vulnerability
Self-Invalidation
Unrelenting
Crisis
Biological (Nature)
Social (Nurture)
Emotional
Vulnerability
Apparent
Competence
Self-
Invalidation
Active
Passivity
Inhibited
Grieving
– Emotional Vulnerability
• Sensitive to many things, intensely felt, difficult to
return to baseline
• No emotional skin
– Self – Invalidation
• Individual with BPD recreates their invalidating
environment
• Learns own emotions are not valid; looks to others
for clarification of emotional experiences
• Self-punishes
Active Passivity
Apparent Competence
• Active Passivity
– Approach problems passively, actively expecting
others to solve problems for them
– History of failure in problem solving and
simultaneous self-control
• Apparent Competence
– Able to cope at some times
– Unable to cope at other times in similar
circumstances
Unrelenting Crisis
Inhibited Grieving
• Unrelenting Crisis
• Repetitive stressful events due to individual’s high
reactivity
• Never return to emotional calm due to temperament
and chronic invalidating environment
• Inhibited Grieving
• Avoid and inhibit experience/expression of painful
emotions
• Repetitive, significant trauma without experiencing full
resolution of any single event (no “normal” grieving)
Exercise:
WHICH DIMENSION?
In groups: decide which dialectical
dimension is represented in each
scenario
Why Validation?
•Synonyms:
•To confirm, to authenticate, to corroborate, to
substantiate, to verify (not agreement)
•Validate the feeling, not the behavior
•Validation shows caring, understanding and
a willingness to “live” in someone else’s
world
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