018. Borderline and Narcissistic Personality Disorders: Effective Strategies Based on Neurobiologically-informed Treatment

Summary 

A large part of clinical work with individuals, couples, and families involves frustrating situations where clients diagnosed with personality disorders make the same mistakes repetitively and thereby cause much pain and oppression for themselves and their loved ones. Although the last three decades of neurobiological research shows that people with borderline (BPD) and Narcissistic (NPD) personality disorders have brain abnormalities compared to normal control groups, there is little integration of these findings into counseling approaches. This workshop will highlight some of the neurobiological explanations associated with BPD and NPD and discuss two variations of treatment approaches provided by psychologists and other licensed mental health professionals that effectively create treatment practices that help build functional neural pathways. 

Learning Objectives 

Participants will: 

1. Identify several brain structures related to hypothesized reasons why BPD and NPD fail to learn from the consequences of their behavior 
2. Compare, contrast, and integrate the similarities and differences between the two clinical treatment approaches for psychologists and licensed mental health professionals presented 
3. Illustrate the ability to design a treatment plan and conduct a therapy that is effective for BPD and NPD and builds more functional neural pathways