BOOK REVIEW: “Overcoming Borderline Personality Disorder”

Full title:  “Overcoming Borderline Personality Disorder:  A Family Guide for Healing and Change” by Valerie Porr, M.A.

Ms. Porr is the founder of TARA (Treatment and Research Advancement National Association for Personality Disorder)

I really enjoyed this book.  I found it to be very detailed in its content regarding Dialectical Behaviour Therapy.  It also included a chapter on Mentalization-based Therapy.  I found it very compassionate towards those with BPD.  I would definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting to know more about Borderline Personality Disorder or DBT.  I found it very validating towards BPD sufferers.  I could hardly put it down.

This book reviewed everything that I learned in my DBT program several years ago, and then some.  An excellent guide to building a “life worth living” as Dr. Marsha Linehan, creator of DBT, says.

Have you read this book?  If so, what did you think of it?  Did you find it helpful?  Please comment below.  Are there any other books that you’ve read that you would recommend to me and my readers?

Thank you,

– Joyce.

 5/5

*Book Reviews* Polly Fielding Books

Titles:  “And This Is My Adopted Daughter” and “Crossing The Borderline:  Inside A Therapeutic Community”  by Polly Fielding

The first book describes Polly’s life being brought up by a very invalidating adoptive mother.  No matter how hard she tries to please her, she never succeeds.  At first, things are fine, then they turn sour.  Her father is no help to her.  Polly always comes in second to her mother’s “real” daughter.  They adopt another baby, further invalidating Polly.  She tries to raise her kids to feel the love that she never felt from her adopted mother.  She attempts to find her biological mother.  I won’t spoil for you what happens but you’ll want to find out for yourself.

The second book looks at her life inside a Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) program.  She uses a lot of mindfulness throughout the book.  It doesn’t use a lot of the same techniques that we used in my DBT program, but it was interesting to read about Polly’s experience in therapy.

In both books, I could feel Polly’s sadness from such an upbringing.  By the end of the second book, Polly emerges triumphantly from the clutches of mental illness, still fighting but now knowing some tools to help her in the fight for wellness.

These books are a very hard read at times and may be triggering, so read with caution.  If you really want to know what it’s like to live with Borderline Personality Disorder, this book will show you.  It’s not for the faint of heart, though.

4/5

Book Review – “7 Healthy Habits for BPD Sufferers”

Full Title:  “7 Healthy Habits for BPD Sufferers: A 7 Step System Series: (BPD, Borderline Personality Disorder, Codependent relationships, borderlines, borderline mother, … OCPD, abuse) (Transcend Mediocrity Book 5)”  [Kindle Edition]

This book has some pretty good advice in it.  Some things that are just common sense for anyone if you think about it.  The last couple of habits are the best ones, I think.  But they may be a little hard to follow if you’re in the throes of Borderline Personality Disorder.

One of the most effective treatments, the one that helped me recover, is Dialectical Behaviour Therapy or DBT for short.  It was developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan, herself a recovered BPD sufferer.  They should have had more on treatment such as this in the book.  DBT would help sufferers with the other five habits in the book.

All in all, not a bad book.  It has some merit.  It was a free download for me, from Amazon so nothing ventured, nothing gained.  Go ahead and check it out if you wish.  Here is a link where you can download it from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com:  http://www.philipsmith.eu/free-kindle-book/25ffab47-6b51-4955-927f-7d64d14e2a43

   
3/5

Stop Sabotaging: A 31 Day DBT Challenge to Change Your Life

Book Written by Debbie Corso of HealingFromBPD.org

I purchased this book quite a while ago, but just got around to reading it now.  Here is my review on Smashwords:

Debbie has done it again! She has done an amazing job of gathering together in one place several DBT skills and made them into an impressive challenge. If you follow this 31-day challenge, it will change your life. Thanks for doing such a wonderful job with this book. I highly recommend it to anyone suffering from BPD, or in recovery and wanting to continue to practice the skills.

5/5

 

BOOK REVIEW – Healing From Borderline Personality Disorder: My Journey Out of Hell Through Dialectical Behavior Therapy

Book Written By Debbie Corso of HealingFromBPD.org

I read this book a couple of years ago.  I did a review of it on Smashwords.  Here is my review:

I devoured this book by the next day! I’ve been reading a lot about BPD lately, but in her book, I found things that I have never heard anywhere else. I hope that many more people order this book for themselves, loved ones, organizations, EVERYONE! We need to raise awareness of BPD and get rid of the stigma surrounding it. I hope to one day write my own story. I’m so inspired by you Debbie! Keep up the good work with your book and your blog. Keep writing and reaching out to people!

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/241263

I have just re-read it and it’s just as powerful now as it was then, if not more so.

5/5

BOOK REVIEW: “The Everything Guide To Borderline Personality Disorder”

Full title:  “The Everything Guide To Borderline Personality Disorder:  Professional, reassuring advice for coping with the disorder and breaking the destructive cycle” by Constance M. Dolecki, MS, PhDC

I think that this book was written more for people without the disorder to learn how to cope with people suffering from BPD.  In my opinion, it concentrates too much on anger issues, making it seem like Borderlines are angry all the time.  We can be, if triggered, the same as anyone else.  What’s different, I think, is that once we get triggered into anger, it’s much harder for us to come down from it.  Therapy can help us with that, which is covered in this book.  There are case studies demonstrating, for those without the disorder, what BPD is like.  But I believe it shows what it is like through their eyes, not from those with the disorder.  Then it goes on to tell what the person with BPD should have done instead.  I like books that tell what it’s like from the BPD sufferer’s point of view.  Then, those without the disorder can see what it’s really like for us and maybe have more compassion.

There is a lot of great information here.  I would have liked to have read some stories from BPD sufferers themselves but there are other books for that.  All in all, not a bad book.  I’d take all the useful information from it but check out other books as well.

 

                       4/5

Book Review: “The Borderline Personality Disorder Survival Guide”

Full title:  “The Borderline Personality Disorder Survival Guide:  Everything You Need To Know About Living With BPD” by Alexander L. Chapman, Ph.D and Kim L. Gratz, Ph.D  Forward by Perry D. Hoffman, Ph.D, President of the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder.

This book explained BPD and even explained a bit about Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), the treatment of choice for Borderline Personality Disorder.  It’s the treatment that helped me recover.  I like how, included in each chapter, were examples of what it’s like living with BPD.  There are even some great exercises to try to help you cope with your emotions.

BOOK REVIEW – “When Hope Is Not Enough” by Bon Dobbs

I really enjoyed this book.  I think the author has a very good understanding of BPD for someone without the disorder.  He included lots of examples of things such as Validation and how important it is to people with BPD.  It was written with lots of compassion for sufferers.  It tells you how to relate to people with the disorder in ways that will enhance your relationship.  I would definitely recommend this book to loved ones of Borderline Personality Disorder sufferers.

     5/5

BOOK REVIEW: “Don’t Let Your Emotions Run Your Life”

BOOK REVIEW:  “Don’t Let Your Emotions Run Your Life – How Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Can Put You in Control” by Scott E. Spradlin, MA

This workbook has lots of excellent exercises.  I would highly recommend it to anyone with Borderline Personality Disorder or who just wants to manage their emotions better.  It has several sections, each going into detail about a different part of DBT.  This would be a great book to work with with your therapist, or you could try to do the exercises on your own if you don’t have a therapist.  You can make copies of the exercises if you need more than one copy, which might be helpful to get as much practice as possible with learning the new skills.

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/dont-let-your-emotions-run/9781572243095-item.html

     5/5

BOOK REVIEW – “Get Me Out Of Here” by Rachel Reiland

Full title:  “get me out of here:  My Recovery from Borderline Personality Disorder”

This book follows Rachel through four years of seeing her psychiatrist.  It gives an understanding of what people with Borderline Personality Disorder’s thinking patterns are like.  It traces her progress from when she first meets Dr. Padgett to when she is finally ready to end therapy, using the knowledge she has gained about herself.

Along with BPD, Rachel also suffers from an eating disorder and other self-sabotaging behaviours such as substance abuse and being promiscuous.

The book flows along at a fairly steady pace, keeping the reader engaged.

You can purchase Rachel’s book here:  http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/get-me-out-of-here/9781592850990-item.html?ikwid=Rachel+Reiland&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=0

 

     5/5