Borderline Personality Disorder Treatment in Wichita

What is Borderline Personality Disorder or BPD?

Borderline personality disorder is a disorder characterized by an ongoing pattern of varying moods, self-image, and behavior. These changes in mood often result in impulsive actions. These impulsive actions can cause relational problems and a pattern of unstable relationships. People with BPD may experience intense episodes of anger, depression, low self-esteem, and anxiety. These episodes can last from a few hours to a few days.

What does Borderline Personality Disorder look like?

People with BPD tend to view things in extremes, such as all good or all bad. Their opinions of others can shift quickly. They can see a person as a close, dear friend one day and an enemy the next. Because of these extreme shifts, those with BPD often have unstable, “roller coaster” types of relationships. This includes their relationships with people who are not their significant other such as friends, coaches, and family.

Other signs or symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder may include:

Efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment, such as quickly initiating intimate relationships or cutting off communication with someone in anticipation of being abandoned
Impulsive and often dangerous behaviors, such as gambling, reckless driving, unsafe sex, spending sprees, binge eating or drug abuse, or sabotaging success by suddenly quitting a good job or ending a positive relationship
A pattern of unstable intense relationships, such as idealizing someone one moment and then suddenly believing the person doesn’t care enough or is cruel
Rapid changes in self-identity and self-image that include shifting goals and values
Feelings of emptiness
Periods of stress-related paranoia and loss of contact with reality, lasting from a few minutes to a few hours
Suicidal threats, behavior, or self-harm, often in response to fear of separation or rejection

How is Borderline Personality Disorder defined?

*Please note that this is intended for educational purposes only. For a diagnosis of SUD, you must have a complete history & evaluation completed by a behavioral health specialist.*

The Criteria for a BPD Diagnosis according to the DSM-5:

BPD is a pervasive pattern of instability in interpersonal relationships, self-image, and emotion, as well as marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

Chronic feelings of emptiness
Emotional instability in reaction to day-to-day events (e.g., intense episodic sadness, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days)
Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment
Identity disturbance with markedly or persistently unstable self-image or sense of self
Impulsive behavior in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating)
Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights)
Pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by extremes between idealization and devaluation (also known as “splitting”)
Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-harming behavior
Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms

How is Borderline Personality Disorder treated?

In most cases, Borderline Personality Disorder is best treated with mental health and psychiatric medication management. Psychiatric medication management assumes the combination of therapy and counseling with a prescribed medication plan.

A licensed psychiatrist or a psychiatric mental health nurse can prescribe psychiatric medication for your diagnosis. Medications used to treat depression can have a different effect on every patient. Psychiatric medication providers at SOMA Therapy will professionally guide you in your treatment plan so that you feel comfortable and at ease the entire time.

Clients who receive treatment for mental health diagnoses, like borderline personality disorder, often also have symptoms of anxiety, stress, or trauma. Medication management alone will not resolve these concerns. If they go untreated for a long period of time, it may result in serious psychological and/or physical illnesses. To avoid this outcome, it is important to receive therapy and counseling during your medication treatment plan.

Certain modalities like trauma informed therapies (ART, EMDR, Somatic therapies, mindfulness) in conjunction with other therapies that target impulses & thought patterns like CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) and DBT (dialectical behavioral therapy) are often integrated into a treatment plan. What works best can depend on the person and their family system. Good treatment plans will include close monitoring, follow-ups, family & relational work, and making changes, if needed, along the way.

When should I call your office?

If you or your loved ones have concerns about BPD, you can work with a specialist. At Soma Therapy, we can help! Call 316-201-6047 or fill out our contact form to get help & learn more about BPD resources today. We also often provide referrals if we cannot connect you with the right resources within Soma Therapy.

Psychiatrist in Wichita KS

If you’re looking for a Psychiatrist in Wichita KS, our therapy center also offers treatment for psychosis related disorders. Jenny Voth is our licensed psychotherapist in Wichita, KS. She has 18 years of work experience. She works to treat substance abuse, trauma and heal families. Not only is she active in her therapeutic work, she also brings her Christian background to the work she does. She your best choice for a Christian therapist in Wichita, KS.

LaVetta Jarett is our Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. She has over 10 years of expertise in mood disorders (depression, bipolar), anxiety, PTSD, personality disorders, cultural stressors, and clients in crisis. She also specializes in helping with medication management for those struggling with substance abuse.

Therapy Center Wichita KS

SOMA Therapy is a therapy center in Wichita, KS. We provide professional therapy and counseling for your mental health needs. We work with adults, children, couples, and families. No matter what you or your loved one is struggling with, we got your back in Wichita, KS.