Books about BPD

• “Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescents” by  Blaise A. Aguirre, M.D.

• "Siren's Dance: My Marriage to a Borderline" by Anthony Walker, M.D.

• "Building a Life Worth Living" by Marsha M. Linehan (Developer of Dialectical Behavior Therapy)

• “I hate you - don’t leave me” by Jerold Kreisman.  One of the first books on BPD with lots of general information on the disease.

• "Overcoming Borderline Personality Disorder. A Family Guide for Healing and Change" by Valerie Porr

Books Written by People with BPD

• “The Buddha and the Borderline” by Kiera Van Gelder – an excellent first person story of a woman trying to deal with BPD.  Does not really cover much about her experience as a child or teen.

• “Remnants of a Life on Paper” by Bea Tusiani, Pamela Tusiani and Paula Tusiani-Eng – great story written by a mother about her daughter who she lost to BPD.  We found this very helpful to see how the disease affected a beautiful family where there were none of the difficult/abusive childhoods that are prevalent with some BPD patients.

• “Loud in the House of Myself” by Stacy Pershall – another great first person story about a woman with BPD.  She does start when she is quite young and includes her experience as a teen with BPD.

• “Girl in Need of a Tourniquet” by Merri Lisa Johnson – an artistic book about a first person account of living with BPD.  The style of writing is non-linear and “artsy” so usefulness may depend on the reader’s comfort with that style.

• “Get me out of here” by Rachel Reiland – older seminal book about a woman with BPD who is cured through extensive psychotherapy.  The book pre-dates the use of Dialectal Behavioral Therapy (DBT) to treat BPD and is one of the only public cases of BPD being cured through psychotherapy.

• “Girl Interrupted” by Susanna Kaysen – an interesting read about a young woman with BPD being hospitalized in the 1960s.  It is a very interesting look at life in a mental hospital in that time period but has less about BPD. 

Training for Family Members of People with BPD

• National Education Alliance for BPD Family Connections program (free, months-long waiting list)

• TARA4BPD BPD Family Empowerment  Workshop (must pay to participate, no or short waiting list)

Websites 

• National Education Alliance for BPD: https://www.borderlinepersonalitydisorder.org/. 

• Emotions Matter: BPD Advocacy. https://emotionsmatterbpd.org/ 

• National Institute of Mental Health: BPD: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/borderline-personality-disorder 

• BPD Resource Center (NY Presbyterian): https://www.nyp.org/bpdresourcecenter 

• Families for BPD Research: https://familiesforbpdresearch.org/ 

• Brain and Behavior Research Institute: https://www.bbrfoundation.org/research/borderline-personality-disorder 

• Treatment and Research Advancements Association for Personality Disorder (TARA BPD): https://www.tara4bpd.org/ 

• Sashbear Foundation: https://sashbear.org/en/ (Canadian)

• Borderline Personality Disorder Demystified. http://www.bpddemystified.com/ 

Resources on Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

• DBT Linehan Board of Certification . The overarching aim of the DBT-Linehan Board of Certification is to provide to the public at large and to relevant stakeholders a source that clearly identifies providers and programs that reliably offer DBT in a way that conforms to the evidence-based research.  Clinicians demonstrate that they have the requisite knowledge and skills to deliver DBT with adherence to the model as developed by Dr. Linehan and colleagues.  DBT Programs demonstrate having the necessary components and organization to deliver DBT with fidelity to the model.  A roster of certified clinicians and programs is available.  

•  Aguirre, Blaise and Galen, Gillian. DBT for Dummies. (2021)

• Mazza, J.J., Dexter-Mazza, E.T., Miller, A.L., Rathus, J.H., & Murphy, H.E., (2016).  DBT Skills Training in Schools: The Skills Training for Emotional Problem Solving for Adolescents (DBT STEPS-A).  The Guilford Press, NY. (Translated into Italian)

• Miller, AL, Rathus, J.H., & Linehan, M.M. (2007).  Dialectical behavior therapy with suicidal adolescents. The Guilford Press, NY. (Translated into Japanese, Polish and Spanish)

• Rathus, J.H., & Miller, A.L. (2015).  DBT Skills Manual for Adolescents. The Guilford Press, NY. (Translated into Chinese, French, Korean, Italian, Polish, Spanish, and Russian)

Resources from Dr. Alec Miller (from the Afterword of "Taya")

• Aguirre, B. (2007). Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescents: A Complete Guide to Understanding and Coping When Your Teen Has BPD. The Fair Winds Press, MA.

• Chanen, A.M., Sharp, C., Hoffman, P., and The Global Alliance for Prevention and Early Intervention for Borderline Personality Disorder (2017). Prevention and early intervention for borderline personality disorder: a novel public health priority. World Psychiatry, 16, 215-216. DOI: 10.1002/wps.20429

• Glenn C.R., Esposito E.C., Porter A.C., & Robinson D.J. (2019). Evidence Base Update of Psychosocial Treatments for Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors in Youth, Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology. 48(3): 357-392. DOI: 10.1080/15374416.2019.1591281

• Hollander, M. (2017). Helping Teens Who Cut: Using DBT Skills to End Self-Injury. The Guilford Press, NY.

• Mazza, J.J., Dexter-Mazza, E.T., Miller, A.L., Rathus, J.H., & Murphy, H.E., (2016).  DBT Skills Training in Schools: The Skills Training for Emotional Problem Solving for Adolescents (DBT STEPS-A).  The Guilford Press, NY. (Translated into Italian)

• McCauley E, Berk MS, Asarnow JR, Adrian M, Cohen J, Korslund K, Avina C, Hughes J, Harned M, Gallop R, Linehan MM. Efficacy of Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents at High Risk for Suicide: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Psychiatry. 75(8): 777-785. DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2018.1109

• Mehlum, L., Tormoen, A., Ramberg, M., Haga, E., Diep, L., Laberg, S., Larsson, B., Stanley, B., Miller, A.L., Sund, A., Groholt, B. (2014).  Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents with Repeated Suicidal and Self-Harming Behavior: A Randomized Trial. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 53(10), 1082-1091. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2014.07.003

• Miller, A.L., Gerardi, N., Dexter-Mazza, E.T,. & Mazza J.J. (2020). Research of DBT in Schools. Handbook of Research on Dialectical Behavior Therapy. Bedics, J (Ed). Elsevier.

• Miller, AL, Rathus, J.H., & Linehan, M.M. (2007).  Dialectical behavior therapy with suicidal adolescents. The Guilford Press, NY. (Translated into Japanese, Polish and Spanish)

• Miller, AL, Rathus, JH, Linehan, MM, Wetzler, S. & Leigh, E.  (1997).  Dialectical Behavior Therapy Adapted for Suicidal Adolescents.  Journal of Practical Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, 3, 78-86.

• Miller, A.L., Muehlenkamp, J.J,. & Jacobson, C.M. (2008). Fact or fiction:  Diagnosing borderline personality disorder in adolescents. Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 969-981. DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2008.02.004

• Gunderson J.G. (2009) Borderline personality disorder: ontogeny of a diagnosis. American Journal Psychiatry.166(5):530-539. DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2009.08121825

• Courtney, E., Klein, D., Miller, A.L. (2013).  Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescents. In special section Ritschel and DeFife (Eds). Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 20, 425-444. DOI: 10.1111/cpsp.12051

• Rathus, J.H., & Miller, A.L. (2015).  DBT Skills Manual for Adolescents. The Guilford Press, NY. (Translated into Chinese, French, Korean, Italian, Polish, Spanish, and Russian)

• Sharp, C., & Tackett, J. (2014). Handbook of Borderline Personality Disorder in Children and Adolescents. Springer.