Section 8 – Case Study 13

Karen’s case was interesting in that it seemed so hard for her to not only stick with her therapy, but also to even want to help herself. I can understand why, however, after all the negative attention Karen received for her disorder. I was especially surprised to hear about the therapist who refused her treatment and called her symptoms “manipulation.” Do therapists get frustrated and refuse treatment often? The last thing Karen needed was to be labeled like that, and it seemed to only set her up for possible failure in future treatments. Also, the text mentions that people with borderline personality disorder suffer from emotional dysregulation, biological vulnerability, and an invalidating environment during childhood. Which of these factors weighs the most? For Karen, it seems that her invalidating environment provided a foundation for her disorder. Can borderline personality disorder start later in life, and are their many cases that do not stem from a horrific childhood?