Supporting Your Adult Loved One’s Journey to Stability
Every day, countless parents, spouses, family members or friends find themselves on the other end of a phone call, desperately seeking help for their adult loved one. Whether it’s a young adult struggling with the pressures of college or a partner experiencing mental health issues, the challenges can feel insurmountable. As witnesses to their loved ones’ struggles, they are often left grappling with a profound sense of helplessness and frustration. The instinct to provide unwavering support clashes with the reality that their adult child, spouse, family member or friend must chart their own courses.
What is Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)?
DBT stands for Dialectical Behavior Therapy. DBT was developed by Marsha Linehan in the 1980s specifically to treat Borderline Personality Disorder, a mental disorder that is diagnosed in people who struggle to regulate their emotions, behaviors, sense of self, relational behaviors and cognitions.
Why do people with BPD lie?
Lying is a common behavior for folks with borderline personality disorder (BPD) or other emotional dysregulation problems and is often quite distressing for everyone involved. Common approaches, such as trying to get to the bottom of the truth, forcing the person to come clean and admit the lie, or punishing the person, tend to be ineffective…
