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I Was Hospitalised Again and Again. Then I Discovered DBT What does recovery from BPD actually look like? In this deeply honest conversation, Debbie DeMarco Bennett, better known as Debbie Corso, author of Stronger Than BPD and founder of DBT Path, takes us back to the years when her life was dominated by intense emotions, chaotic relationships, suicidal thoughts and repeated psychiatric hospitalizations. Debbie talks openly about being misunderstood and misdiagnosed, the stigma surrounding BPD, her eventual diagnosis, and the moment DBT began to change the course of her life. Debbie also talks about her concerns about the potential risks of the growing reliance on AI for emotional support and why she wants to be part of shaping how we use it safely. This is a conversation about BPD, DBT, recovery, hope, lived experience, stigma, relationships, AI and what it means to build a life worth living. Resources & Links DBT Path The DBT program offers a 9-month DBT skills class and is designed to make DBT accessible to people worldwide . Website with Blog: https://emotionallysensitive.com/ Debbie's books (written under her pen name, Debbie Corso): Stronger Than BPD: The Girl's Guide to Taking Control of Intense Emotions, Drama, and Chaos Using DBTThe Stronger Than BPD Journal: DBT Activities to Help You Manage Emotions, Heal from Borderline Personality Disorder, and Discover the Wise Woman Within (co-written with Kathryn C. Holt, LCSW Other Books Mentioned: Self-Compassion Workbook for BPD: Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills to Find Self-Forgiveness, Healing, and Self-Love with Borderline Personality Disorder by Amanda SmithThe Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity by Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, MD 🌱 Have questions, stories, or something you’d like us to cover? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected] and let’s keep the conversation going. If you’d like more support in your journey toward BPD recovery, Steff offers 1:1 sessions using evidence-based tools from DBT, Schema Therapy, and Mindfulness to help you heal. Email for a free 30-Minute Consultation:  📩 [email protected] or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org

Why can spending money feel like emotional relief when you have BPD? You feel empty, lonely, rejected, angry or overwhelmed. Then you see something you want. And that little voice says, "Buy it!" In this episode, I explore the complicated relationship between BPD, impulsive spending, emotional regulation and shame. I look at why spending can become a way of escaping emotional pain, filling chronic emptiness, extending a good mood or even trying to buy a different version of yourself. This episode is about understanding why the spending happens and what we can actually do about it. 🌱 Have questions, stories, or something you’d like us to cover? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected] and let’s keep the conversation going. 🎧 Looking for meditations made for emotional regulation, BPD, and more? Check out  Empowered Heroes Meditations  on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify. If you’d like more support in your journey toward BPD recovery, Steff offers 1:1 sessions using evidence-based tools from DBT, Schema Therapy, and Mindfulness to help you heal. Email for a free 30-Minute Consultation:  📩 [email protected] or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org Free financial support resources: UK: StepChange Debt Charity - https://www.stepchange.org | National Debtline - nationaldebtline.org Ireland: MABS (Money Advice and Budgeting Service) - mabs.ie Australia: National Debt Helpline - ndh.org.au | 1800 007 007 US: National Foundation for Credit Counseling - nfcc.org | CFPB- consumerfinance.gov 📚 Referenced Research Includes: American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787 Carpenter, R. W., & Trull, T. J. (2013). Components of emotion dysregulation in borderline personality disorder: A review. Current psychiatry reports, 15(1), 335. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-012-0335-2 Glenn, C. R., & Klonsky, E. D. (2009). Emotion dysregulation as a core feature of borderline personality disorder. Journal of personality disorders, 23(1), 20-28. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi.2009.23.1.20  Kujovic, M., Bahr, C., Riesbeck, M., Benz, D., Deiß, M., Margittai, Z., ... & Meisenzahl, E. (2025). Effects on impulsivity and delay discounting of intermittent theta burst stimulation add-on to dialectical behavioral therapy in borderline personality disorder: a randomized, sham-controlled pilot trial. Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation, 12(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-025-00278-3  Lieberman, M., Eisenberger, N. I., & Crockett, M. J. (2007). Putting feelings into words: affect labeling disrupts amygdala activity in response to affective stimuli. PsycholSci18 (5): 421–428. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01916.x  Ott, C. A., Voce, A., Grinband, J., Lopez-Castro, T., Fertuck, E. A., Stanley, D. A., & Lempert, K. M. (2025). The borderline personality disorder feature of identity instability predicts temporal discounting in a community sample: An exploratory study. Personality Science, 6, 27000710251374485. https://doi.org/10.1177/27000710251374485  Sansone, R. A., & Wiederman, M. W. (2012). Spending too much: Relationships with borderline personality symptomatology. International journal of psychiatry in clinical practice, 16(4), 316-318. https://doi.org/10.3109/13651501.2012.693186  Starcevic, V., & Khazaal, Y. (2017). Relationships between behavioural addictions and psychiatric disorders: What is known and what is yet to be learned?. Frontiers in psychiatry, 8, 53. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00053 Zac, A., Huang, Y. C., Von Moltke, A., Decker, C., & Ezrachi, A. (2025). Dark patterns and consumer vulnerability. Behavioural Public Policy, 1-50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/bpp.2024.49

What if the label everyone's afraid to give a teenager is the one thing that could save their future? Professor Joost Hutsebaut has spent a career working with young people on the edge of a diagnosis most clinicians won't touch: borderline personality disorder (BPD). In this episode, Joost explains why he wrote a paper called The Diagnosis That Should Speak Its Name, arguing it's ethically right to diagnose personality disorders in teens. We dig into where a "difficult personality" ends and a disorder begins, the real risks of stigma versus the risks of staying silent, and how his own philosophy - "make therapy simple again" - reshaped the way he practices. He also honestly answers some of the internet's most asked questions. Whether you're a clinician, a parent, or someone who's ever been told to "wait and see," this conversation reframes early diagnosis as an act of hope, not a life sentence. 🌱 Have questions, stories, or something you’d like us to cover? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected] and let’s keep the conversation going. 🎧 Looking for meditations made for emotional regulation, BPD, and more? Check out  Empowered Heroes Meditations  on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify. If you’d like more support in your journey toward BPD recovery, Steff offers 1:1 sessions using evidence-based tools from DBT, Schema Therapy, and Mindfulness to help you heal. Email for a free 30-Minute Consultation:  📩 [email protected] or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org 📚 Referenced Research Includes: Bomhof, C., Löffler, J. P., Brugman, S., Lodder, P., van den End, A., van Dijk, M. K., ... & Hutsebaut, J. (2025). The effectiveness of generalist (GIT-PD) versus specialist treatment (MBT/ST) for severe personality disorders (Personality Disorders Access to Effective Treatment, P-DAET): study protocol of a pragmatic randomised controlled non-inferiority multicentre trial. BMC psychiatry, 25(1), 1107. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-025-07550-4 Clarke, S. L., Soons, N., Videler, A. C., van Alphen, S. P., Van, H., Dil, L., ... & Hutsebaut, J. (2025). The progress in the field of clinical staging for mental disorders within the last decade: an updated systematic review. Frontiers in psychiatry, 15, 1473051.https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1473051 Hutsebaut, J. (2020). Make therapy simple again. Tijdschrift voor Psychotherapie, 46(2), 96-106. Hutsebaut, J., Clarke, S. L., & Chanen, A. M. (2023). The diagnosis that should speak its name: why it is ethically right to diagnose and treat personality disorder during adolescence. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14, 1130417. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1130417 Hutsebaut, J., Willemsen, E., Bachrach, N., & Van, R. (2020). Improving access to and effectiveness of mental health care for personality disorders: the guideline-informed treatment for personality disorders (GIT-PD) initiative in the Netherlands. Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation, 7(1), 16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-020-00133-7 Remeeus, M. G., Clarke, S. L., Feenstra, D. J., Van Eeren, H., Smits, M. L., Debruyne, S., ... & Hutsebaut, J. (2024). The (cost-) effectiveness of early intervention (MBT-early) versus standard protocolized treatment (CBT) for emerging borderline personality disorder in adolescents (the EARLY study): a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials, 25(1), 261.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-024-08095-9 Renneberg, B., Hutsebaut, J., Berens, A., De Panfilis, C., Bertsch, K., Kaera, A., ... & 30 experts with lived experience–clients, relatives, significant others-from 10 European countries. (2024). Towards an informed research agenda for the field of personality disorders by experts with lived and living experience and researchers. Borderline personality disorder and emotion dysregulation, 11(1), 14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-024-00257-0

Whether you've just been diagnosed with BPD or have been living with the diagnosis for years, deciding whether to disclose it can feel overwhelming. Should you tell your partner? Your family? Friends? Your employer? Or is it safer to keep it private? In this episode, I explore one of the most common and emotionally difficult questions people with BPD ask. 🌱 Have questions, stories, or something you’d like us to cover? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected] and let’s keep the conversation going. 🎧 Looking for meditations made for emotional regulation, BPD, and more? Check out  Empowered Heroes Meditations  on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify. If you’d like more support in your journey toward BPD recovery, Steff offers 1:1 sessions using evidence-based tools from DBT, Schema Therapy, and Mindfulness to help you heal. Email for a free 30-Minute Consultation:  📩 [email protected] or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org 📚 Referenced Research Includes:  Brohan, E., Henderson, C., Wheat, K., Malcolm, E., Clement, S., Barley, E. A., ... & Thornicroft, G. (2012). Systematic review of beliefs, behaviours and influencing factors associated with disclosure of a mental health problem in the workplace. BMC psychiatry, 12(1), https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244X-12-11  De Picker, L. (2021). To diagnose or not to diagnose your BPD patient. European Psychiatry, 64(S1), S55-S55.  Ma, R., & Else-Quest, N. M. (2025). Destigmatizing borderline personality disorder with social justice and intersectional cultural humility: How researchers can construct and deconstruct stigma. Feminism & Psychology, 35(1), 3-21. https://doi.org/10.1177/09593535241278213  Masland, S. R., Victor, S. E., Peters, J. R., Fitzpatrick, S., Dixon-Gordon, K. L., Bettis, A. H., ... & Rizvi, S. L. (2023). Destigmatizing borderline personality disorder: A call to action for psychological science. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 18(2), 445-460. https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916221100464 Nault, E. (2025). The Moderating Effects of Disclosure on Bpd Personality Pathology Severity and Workplace Interpersonal Mistreatment (Doctoral dissertation). Navarre, K. M. (2025). “You sure she's not making this up?”: A qualitative investigation of stigma toward adults with borderline personality disorder in physical healthcare settings. Personality and Mental Health, 19(1), e1646. https://doi.org/10.1002/pmh.1646 Stricker, J., Jakob, L., & Pietrowsky, R. (2024). Associations of continuum beliefs with personality disorder stigma: Correlational and experimental evidence. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 59(9), 1629-1637. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-023-02543-8 van Schie, C. C., Lewis, K., Barr, K. R., Jewell, M., Malcolmson, N., Townsend, M. L., & Grenyer, B. F. (2024). Borderline personality disorder and stigma: Lived experience perspectives on helpful and hurtful language. Personality and mental health, 18(3), 216-226. https://doi.org/10.1002/pmh.1609 Villet, L., Madjlessi, A., Revah-Levy, A., Speranza, M., Younes, N., & Sibéoni, J. (2024). The lived experience of French parents concerning the diagnosis of their children with borderline personality disorder. Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation, 11(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-024-00258-z Volkov, I., Sheppard, D. M., Kirk-Brown, A., & Van Dijk, P. (2025). Workplace outcomes after mental health disclosure: the critical influence of supervisor reactions. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-025-10352-w Watts, J. (2024). The epistemic injustice of borderline personality disorder. BJPsych International, 21(4), 78-82. doi:10.1192/bji.2024.16 business.com/articles/disclosing-mental-health-at-work pursuit.unimelb.edu.au — source for BPD stigma exceeding schizophrenia in healthcare settings.

Helping young people with BPD is 'sexy.' Helping older adults? Not so much. That's the ageism we need to talk about. In this episode, I'm joined by Professor Arjan Videler - Professor of Psychotherapy in Older Adults at Tilburg University, senior researcher at PersonaCura in the Netherlands, and one of the world's leading voices on BPD across the lifespan. We cover: • The 19-year life expectancy gap for people with BPD • What BPD actually looks like at 70  • The advantage older adults have for recovery • The ageism in mental health • How schema therapy and STEPPS are being adapted for older adults • What 'positive schemas' are and why they matter And somewhere in the middle, there's a story about a glass of expensive wine in Central Park, a psychologist named Theodore Millen, and how the DSM ended up categorical instead of dimensional.  This is a quiet, profound episode about a population that has been largely invisible in BPD research and public conversation. If you're 40 or 70, it doesn't really make a difference. It's never too late to heal. 🌱 Have questions, stories, or something you’d like us to cover? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected] and let’s keep the conversation going. 🎧 Looking for meditations made for emotional regulation, BPD, and more? Check out  Empowered Heroes Meditations  on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify. If you’d like more support in your journey toward BPD recovery, Steff offers 1:1 sessions using evidence-based tools from DBT, Schema Therapy, and Mindfulness to help you heal. Email for a free 30-Minute Consultation:  📩 [email protected] or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org 📚 Referenced Research Includes:   Conjaerts, J. A., Videler, A. C., Schepman, R., Elfeddali, I., Rosowsky, E., & van Alphen, S. P. (2025). Clinical staging for personality disorders in older adults. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, 38(1), 32-43. https://doi.org/10.1177/08919887241254467 Ekiz, E., van Alphen, S. P., Ouwens, M. A., Van de Paar, J., & Videler, A. C. (2023). Systems Training for Emotional Predictability and Problem Solving for borderline personality disorder: A systematic review. Personality and Mental Health, 17(1), 20-39.   https://doi.org/10.1002/pmh.1558 Khasho, D. A., Van Alphen, S. P. J., Heijnen-Kohl, S. M. J., Ouwens, M. A., Arntz, A., & Videler, A. C. (2019). The effectiveness of individual schema therapy in older adults with borderline personality disorder: Protocol of a multiple-baseline study. Contemporary clinical trials communications, 14, 100330. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conctc.2019.100330 van Donzel, L., Ouwens, M. A., van Alphen, S. P., Bouwmeester, S., Bachrach, N., & Videler, A. C. (2025). Integrating positive schemas in schema therapy for Cluster C personality disorders in older adults: A multiple baseline study. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 32(4), e70121.   https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.70121 Videler, A. C., Hutsebaut, J., Schulkens, J. E., Sobczak, S., & Van Alphen, S. P. (2019). A life span perspective on borderline personality disorder. Current psychiatry reports, 21(7), 51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-019-1040-1 Videler, A. A., van Royen, R. R., & van Alphen, S. B. (2012). Schema therapy with older adults: call for evidence. International Psychogeriatrics, 24(7), 1186-1187. Doi:10.1017/S1041610211002638  PersonaCura: https://ggzbreburg.nl/over-ggz-breburg/voorloper-in-de-ggz/topklinische-ggz/personacura Make Therapy Simple Again Article: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340081785_Make_therapy_simple_again

What if the most effective framework for BPD recovery was written by a former slave and a Roman emperor over 2,000 years ago? This episode is about Stoicism. Not the pop culture version that means suppressing your feelings and pretending nothing hurts, but the real thing. A practical, rigorous system of thought that maps onto what people with BPD struggle with most. The impulsivity. The fear of abandonment. The catastrophic interpretations. The feeling of being a slave to your emotions. I go through ten Stoic principles, each one mapped directly to the BPD experience, grounded in neuroscience. Because this isn't just philosophy. CBT was directly influenced by Stoic thought. DBT was built on CBT. Which means there's a direct line from Epictetus in the first century AD to the skills your therapist may have walked you through last week. 🌱 Have questions, stories, or something you’d like us to cover? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected] and let’s keep the conversation going. 🎧 Looking for meditations made for emotional regulation, BPD, and more? Check out  Empowered Heroes Meditations  on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify. If you’d like more support in your journey toward BPD recovery, Steff offers 1:1 sessions using evidence-based tools from DBT, Schema Therapy, and Mindfulness to help you heal. Email for a free 30-Minute Consultation:  📩 [email protected] or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org 📚 Referenced Research Includes: Aziz, A. (2025). The Application of Stoic Philosophy to Modern Emotional Regulation. Denny, B. T., Lopez, R. B., Wu-Chung, E. L., Dicker, E. E., Goodson, P. N., Fan, J., ... & Koenigsberg, H. W. (2024). Training in cognitive reappraisal normalizes whole-brain indices of emotion regulation in borderline personality disorder. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, 9(8), 819-826. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.03.007 Zetsche, U., Bürkner, P. C., Bohländer, J., Renneberg, B., Roepke, S., & Schulze, L. (2024). Daily emotion regulation in major depression and borderline personality disorder. Clinical Psychological Science, 12(1), 161-170. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702623116070 Stoic Primary Texts (all public domain) Epictetus. The Enchiridion.  Marcus Aurelius. Meditations.  Seneca. Letters from a Stoic.    Further Reading  Robertson, D. How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius. Robertson, D. Stoicism and the Art of Happiness. Holiday, R. The Obstacle is the Way. Waltman, S. The Stoicism Workbook.

If you have BPD, there's a good chance you've either been to a psychiatric hospital, or been told you should go. Maybe it helped. Maybe it made things worse. Maybe you left feeling more broken than when you arrived. In this episode, I want to give the full picture: • When is hospitalization genuinely helpful? • When is it actively harmful? • What does the research say? • What are your rights on the ward? • What are the alternatives? And I offer practical guidance: how to make the most of a hospital stay, what to ask for, and what to do when you're discharged. If you're in crisis, links to crisis resources are below. 🌱 Have questions, stories, or something you’d like us to cover? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected] and let’s keep the conversation going. 🎧 Looking for meditations made for emotional regulation, BPD, and more? Check out  Empowered Heroes Meditations  on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify. If you’d like more support in your journey toward BPD recovery, Steff offers 1:1 sessions using evidence-based tools from DBT, Schema Therapy, and Mindfulness to help you heal. Email for a free 30-Minute Consultation:  📩 [email protected] or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org Crisis Resources: UK: Samaritans - 116 123 | Crisis text line: text SHOUT to 85258 Ireland: Samaritans - 116 123 | Pieta House - 116 123 Australia: Lifeline - 13 11 14 | Beyond Blue - 1300 22 4636 US: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline - call or text 988 International: findahelpline.com 📚 Referenced Research Includes: Bateman, A., & Fonagy, P. (1999). Effectiveness of partial hospitalization in the treatment of borderline personality disorder: a randomized controlled trial. American journal of Psychiatry, 156(10), 1563-1569. ⁠https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.156.10.1563⁠  Bloom, J. M., Woodward, E. N., Susmaras, T., & Pantalone, D. W. (2012). Use of dialectical behavior therapy in inpatient treatment of borderline personality disorder: a systematic review. Psychiatric Services, 63(9), 881-888. ⁠https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201100311⁠  Bodner, E., Cohen-Fridel, S., Mashiah, M., Segal, M., Grinshpoon, A., Fischel, T., & Iancu, I. (2015). The attitudes of psychiatric hospital staff toward hospitalization and treatment of patients with borderline personality disorder. BMC psychiatry, 15(1), 2. ⁠https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.156.10.1563⁠  Broadbear, J. H., Dwyer, J., Bugeja, L., & Rao, S. (2020). Coroners’ investigations of suicide in Australia: The hidden toll of borderline personality disorder. Journal of psychiatric research, 129, 241-249. ⁠10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.07.007⁠  Katsakou, C., Marougka, S., Barnicot, K., Savill, M., White, H., Lockwood, K., & Priebe, S. (2012). Recovery in borderline personality disorder (BPD): a qualitative study of service users' perspectives. PloS one, 7(5), e36517. ⁠https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0036517⁠  Knaak, S., Szeto, A. C., Fitch, K., Modgill, G., & Patten, S. (2015). Stigma towards borderline personality disorder: effectiveness and generalizability of an anti-stigma program for healthcare providers using a pre-post randomized design. Borderline personality disorder and emotion dysregulation, 2(1), 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-015-0030-0 Paris, J. (2004). Is hospitalization useful for suicidal patients with borderline personality disorder?. Journal of personality disorders, 18(3: Special issue), 240-247. ⁠https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi.18.3.240.35443⁠ Stanley, B., & Brown, G. K. (2012). Safety planning intervention: a brief intervention to mitigate suicide risk. Cognitive and behavioral practice, 19(2), 256-264. ⁠10.1016/j.cbpra.2011.01.001⁠  Zanarini, M. C., Frankenburg, F. R., Hennen, J., Reich, D. B., & Silk, K. R. (2006). Prediction of the 10-year course of borderline personality disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163(5), 827-832. ⁠https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.2006.163.5.827⁠

99% of people with BPD who die by suicide sought help in the year before their death. 88% in the last six weeks. They were going to the right places - emergency departments, GPs, crisis services. The system failed them. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Jillian Broadbear, researcher at Spectrum, Australia's leading personality disorder service, to ask the hard questions. She talks about why men are being left behind, what the suicide data actually says, and why self-compassion might be the unexpected key to recovery.  Plus, Dr. Broadbear shares an exclusive: Spectrum's new trial using MDMA-assisted therapy for people with BPD and complex trauma - a world-first that could change everything. For anyone who's ever felt invisible, misunderstood, or like giving up. This one's for you. "There are a lot of people who care. Don't give up. You are worth it." - Dr. Jillian Broadbear    🌱 Have questions, stories, or something you’d like us to cover? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected] and let’s keep the conversation going. 🎧 Looking for meditations made for emotional regulation, BPD, and more? Check out  Empowered Heroes Meditations  on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify. If you’d like more support in your journey toward BPD recovery, Steff offers 1:1 sessions using evidence-based tools from DBT, Schema Therapy, and Mindfulness to help you heal. Email for a free 30-Minute Consultation:  📩 [email protected] or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org 📚 Referenced Research Includes: Broadbear, J. H., Bhagwandas, M. G., Crowley, S., Cheney, L., & Rao, S. (2025). Exploring the pathways to diagnosis for men with borderline personality disorder: A qualitative study. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 34(1), e13413. ⁠https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.13413Digital Object Identifier (DOI)⁠ Broadbear, J. H., Dwyer, J., Bugeja, L., & Rao, S. (2020). Coroners’ investigations of suicide in Australia: The hidden toll of borderline personality disorder. Journal of psychiatric research, 129, 241-249.⁠10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.07.007⁠ Donald, F., Lawrence, K. A., Broadbear, J. H., & Rao, S. (2019). An exploration of self-compassion and self-criticism in the context of personal recovery from borderline personality disorder. Australasian Psychiatry, 27(1), 56-59. 🔗 Links:  Spectrum Personality Disorder Service:  ⁠⁠spectrumbpd.com.au⁠⁠ Spectrum Annual Research Forum - November 6th, free and virtual

You love someone with BPD. But some nights, you lie awake wondering: • Do they actually love me?• Am I codependent or just a caring person?• Is this BPD or emotional abuse?• Should I stay or should I leave?• Why do they threaten suicide when I try to leave, and what do I actually do? These are some the questions partners, parents, and friends of people with BPD ask. Often with guilt. Often with exhaustion. Often without anyone giving them a straight answer. This episode answers some of the most common questions from loved ones. Not with easy answers, but with honesty and compassion for both sides. If you've ever felt like you're losing yourself while loving someone with BPD, this one is for you. [This is the second episode in my BPD Awareness Month series. You don't need to have heard Episode 1 to understand this one.] Family Connections: https://sashbear.org/family-connections/ 🌱 Have questions, stories, or something you’d like us to cover? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected] and let’s keep the conversation going. 🎧 Looking for meditations made for emotional regulation, BPD, and more? Check out  Empowered Heroes Meditations  on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify. If you’d like more support in your journey toward BPD recovery, Steff offers 1:1 sessions using evidence-based tools from DBT, Schema Therapy, and Mindfulness to help you heal. Email for a free 30-Minute Consultation:  📩 [email protected] or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org

It's BPD Awareness Month. So I am doing something different. I keep seeing the same questions. Asked at 2am. Asked through tears. Asked by people who are exhausted, confused, and just want an honest answer. This episode answers 10 of the most common questions people with BPD actually ask, including: • Is it BPD or bipolar? • Why do I react so intensely even when I know better? • Am I a bad person because of what I've done during episodes?• Are people with BPD manipulative? • Why do I lie even about small things? • Why do I feel empty even when things are going okay? • What is a 'favorite person' and why does it hurt so much? • Why do I keep splitting on people I love and how do I stop? • Can I ever have a normal relationship? • Can I recover without DBT? I'm not just answering them. I'm showing you how to ask them better, because the way you ask a question changes what you can find. And at the end: a bonus question that almost no one is asking. The one that might matter more than all the others. This is for anyone with BPD who is tired of feeling like a problem to be solved and is ready to start building something worth living for. 🌱 Have questions, stories, or something you’d like us to cover? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected] and let’s keep the conversation going. 🎧 Looking for meditations made for emotional regulation, BPD, and more? Check out  Empowered Heroes Meditations  on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify. If you’d like more support in your journey toward BPD recovery, Steff offers 1:1 sessions using evidence-based tools from DBT, Schema Therapy, and Mindfulness to help you heal. Email for a free 30-Minute Consultation:  📩 [email protected] or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org

In this episode, we explore what it means to receive a BPD diagnosis later in life. Why it happens so often, what the latest research tells us about BPD across the lifespan, and why healing is never too late. Whether you're newly diagnosed, still searching for answers, or supporting someone you love, this one's for you. It's never too late to be understood. 🌱 Have questions, stories, or something you’d like us to cover? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected] and let’s keep the conversation going. 🎧 Looking for meditations made for emotional regulation, BPD, and more? Check out  Empowered Heroes Meditations  on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify. If you’d like more support in your journey toward BPD recovery, Steff offers 1:1 sessions using evidence-based tools from DBT, Schema Therapy, and Mindfulness to help you heal. Email for a free 30-Minute Consultation:  📩 [email protected] or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org 📚 Referenced Research Includes: Broadbear, J. H., Bhagwandas, M. G., Crowley, S., Cheney, L., & Rao, S. (2025). Exploring the Pathways to Diagnosis for Men With Borderline Personality Disorder: A Qualitative Study. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 34(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.13413  Ekiz, E., van Alphen, S. P., Ouwens, M. A., & Videler, A. C. (2026). Managing Emotional Intensity Difficulties in Older Adults With Personality Disorders: A Proof-of-Concept Study. Journal of Clinical Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.70090 Hill, R. (2005). End-of-life care for the patient with borderline personality disorder. Journal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing, 7(3), 150–161. Jo, R., Broadbear, J. H., Hope, J., & Rao, S. (2023). Late manifestation of borderline personality disorder: Characterization of an under-recognized phenomenon. Personality and Mental Health, 17(2), 165–175. https://doi.org/10.1002/pmh.1571 Khasho, D. A., Van Alphen, S. P. J., Heijnen-Kohl, S. M. J., Ouwens, M. A., Arntz, A., & Videler, A. C. (2019). The effectiveness of individual schema therapy in older adults with borderline personality disorder: Protocol of a multiple-baseline study. Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications, 14, 100330. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conctc.2019.100330 Kjaer, J. N., Biskin, R., Vestergaard, C. H., & Munk-Jorgensen, P. (2015). A nationwide study of mortality in patients with borderline personality disorder. European Psychiatry, 30(S1), 1–1. doi:10.1016/S0924-9338(15)30162-0 Lynch, T. R., et al. (2007). Dialectical behavior therapy for depressed older adults: A randomized pilot study. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 15(5), 383–393. Rexand-Galais, F., Pithon, L., & Le Goff, J. (2021). Assessment of borderline personality disorder in geriatric institutions. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 629571. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.629571 Stiles, C., Batchelor, R., Gumley, A., & Gajwani, R. (2023). Experiences of stigma and discrimination in borderline personality disorder: A systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis. Journal of Personality Disorders, 37(2), 177–194. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi.2023.37.2.177 Videler, A. C., et al. (2020). Schema therapy for personality disorders in older adults. Aging & Mental Health, 24(1), 119–126. Zanarini, M. C., Frankenburg, F. R., Hennen, J., Reich, D. B., & Silk, K. R. (2005). The McLean Study of Adult Development (MSAD): Overview and implications of the first six years of prospective follow-up. Journal of Personality Disorders, 19(5), 505–523. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi.2005.19.5.505 C0MCs5181rD1oysF4PfM

What if your emotional pain was invisible , even to the people closest to you? In this episode, we explore Quiet BPD: the presentation of Borderline Personality Disorder where the storm rages entirely on the inside. No outbursts. No visible chaos. Just a carefully maintained exterior while everything underneath is burning. We cover what Quiet BPD actually is (and what the research says), why it's so often misdiagnosed as depression, anxiety, or even autism, and what daily life looks like for people who've learned to turn their pain inward rather than outward. If you've ever felt like you were performing "fine" while privately falling apart, this episode was made for you. Topics covered: internalizing vs. externalizing BPD, shame & self-blame, misdiagnosis, treatment options including DBT & IFS, advice for loved ones Your struggle is valid , whether it's loud or quiet. 🌱 Have questions, stories, or something you’d like us to cover? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected] and let’s keep the conversation going. 🎧 Looking for meditations made for emotional regulation, BPD, and more? Check out  Empowered Heroes Meditations  on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify. If you’d like more support in your journey toward BPD recovery, Steff offers 1:1 sessions using evidence-based tools from DBT, Schema Therapy, and Mindfulness to help you heal. Email for a free 30-Minute Consultation:  📩 [email protected] or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org 📚 Referenced Research Includes:  Book:⁠The Complete Guide to Quiet BPD by Paul Fabunni Meredith⁠ Centres for Health and Healing Ontario. (2025). Living with Quiet BPD: Signs, Triggers, and Coping Strategies. Retrieved from: https://cfhh.ca/blog/living-with-quiet-bpd-signs-triggers-coping-strategies/ Higgins, H. M. (2025). The Quiet Borderline Personality Disorder: Understanding and Thriving with Internalized EUPD/BPD.  Lenzenweger, M. F., Lane, M. C., Loranger, A. W., & Kessler, R. C. (2007). DSM-IV personality disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Biological psychiatry, 62(6), 553-564. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.09.019  Lo, I. (2021). The struggles of quiet BPD. Retrieved from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/living-emotional-intensity/202107/the-struggles-quiet-bpd  Millon, T. (2011). Disorders of personality: Introducing a DSM/ICD spectrum from normal to abnormal. John Wiley & Sons.   Stoffers-Winterling, J. M., Storebø, O. J., Kongerslev, M. T., Faltinsen, E., Todorovac, A., Jørgensen, M. S., ... & Simonsen, E. (2022). Psychotherapies for borderline personality disorder: a focused systematic review and meta-analysis. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 221(3), 538-552. doi:10.1192/bjp.2021.204  Wolf, K., Scharoba, J., Noack, R., Keller, A., & Weidner, K. (2023). Subtypes of borderline personality disorder in a day-clinic setting—Clinical and therapeutic differences. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 14(5), 555.

Nearly 1 in 3 people with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) will also experience an eating disorder at some point in their lives. But this connection goes far deeper than food, weight, or appearance. In this episode, we explore the powerful and often misunderstood relationship between BPD and eating disorders, including anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder. Why do these conditions so often occur together? What role do emotion dysregulation, impulsivity, identity disturbance, and chronic emptiness play in disordered eating? And what does current research say about the most effective ways to support recovery? 🌱 Have questions, stories, or something you’d like us to cover? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected] and let’s keep the conversation going. 🎧 Looking for meditations made for emotional regulation, BPD, and more? Check out  Empowered Heroes Meditations  on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify. If you’d like more support in your journey toward BPD recovery, Steff offers 1:1 sessions using evidence-based tools from DBT, Schema Therapy, and Mindfulness to help you heal. Email for a free 30-Minute Consultation:  📩 [email protected] or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org 📚 Referenced Research Includes: Cassioli, E., Rossi, E., D'Anna, G., Martelli, M., Hazzard, V. M., Crosby, R. D., ... & Castellini, G. (2022). A 1‐year follow‐up study of the longitudinal interplay between emotion dysregulation and childhood trauma in the treatment of anorexia nervosa. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 55(1), 98-107. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23647  Chen, E. Y., Brown, M. Z., Harned, M. S., & Linehan, M. M. (2009). A comparison of borderline personality disorder with and without eating disorders. Psychiatry research, 170(1), 86-90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2009.03.006  Fairburn, C. G. (2008). Cognitive behavior therapy and eating disorders. Guilford Press.  Federici, A., & Wisniewski, L. (2013). An intensive DBT program for patients with multidiagnostic eating disorder presentations: A case series analysis. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 46(4), 322-331. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22112Digital Object Identifier (DOI)  Khosravi, M. (2020). Eating disorders among patients with borderline personality disorder: understanding the prevalence and psychopathology. Journal of Eating Disorders, 8(1), 38. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-020-00314-3  Racine, S. E., & Wildes, J. E. (2015). Emotion dysregulation and anorexia nervosa: An exploration of the role of childhood abuse. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 48(1), 55-58.  https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22364Digital Object Identifier (DOI)  Sansone, R. A., & Sansone, L. A. (2010). Borderline personality and eating disorders: A chaotic crossroads. In Treatment of eating disorders (pp. 217-232). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-375668-8.10013-0 Crisis & Support Resources: National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) Helpline: 1-800-931-2237Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741

For many people with Borderline Personality Disorder, night isn’t peaceful. It’s when the abandonment dreams start.When shame replays.When the nervous system refuses to power down. Sleep isn’t just rest, it’s emotional regulation, impulse control, and survival. In this episode, we talk about sleep and BPD, from vivid nightmares and insomnia to the emotional hangover that lingers the next day, and how to be better at sleep. 🌱 Have questions, stories, or something you’d like us to cover? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected] and let’s keep the conversation going. 🎧 Looking for meditations made for emotional regulation, BPD, and more? Check out  Empowered Heroes Meditations  on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify. If you’d like more support in your journey toward BPD recovery, Steff offers 1:1 sessions using evidence-based tools from DBT, Schema Therapy, and Mindfulness to help you heal. Email for a free 30-Minute Consultation:  📩 [email protected] or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org 📚 Referenced Research Includes: George, K. C., Kebejian, L., Ruth, L. J., Miller, C. W., & Himelhoch, S. (2016). Meta-analysis of the efficacy and safety of prazosin versus placebo for the treatment of nightmares and sleep disturbances in adults with posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 17(4), 494-510. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299732.2016.1141150 Gieselmann, A., Ait Aoudia, M., Carr, M., Germain, A., Gorzka, R., Holzinger, B., ... & Pietrowsky, R. (2019). Aetiology and treatment of nightmare disorder: State of the art and future perspectives. Journal of sleep research, 28(4), e12820.  https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.12820 Selby, E. A. (2013). Chronic sleep disturbances and borderline personality disorder symptoms. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 81(5), 941.  van Trigt, S., van der Zweerde, T., van Someren, E. J., van Straten, A., & van Marle, H. J. (2025). A theoretical perspective on the role of sleep in borderline personality disorder: From causative factor to treatment target. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 81, 102089. 10.1016/j.smrv.2025.102089 https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033201 Walker, M. (2017). Why we sleep: Unlocking the power of sleep and dreams. Simon and Schuster. Winsper, C., Lereya, S. T., Marwaha, S., Thompson, A., Eyden, J., & Singh, S. P. (2016). The aetiological and psychopathological validity of borderline personality disorder in youth: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical psychology review, 44, 13-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2015.12.001

What does recovery from Borderline Personality Disorder actually look like? For years, Borderline Personality Disorder was considered chronic and untreatable.And if you've ever searched for "BPD recovery," you've probably seen two extreme narratives: the hopeless one that says you'll never change, and the oversimplified one that says DBT will fix everything overnight. Neither tells the full story In this episode, we dive into the messy, non-linear, and deeply human reality of recovery. We explore what the research actually says, and what recovery feels like from the inside. 🌱 Have questions, stories, or something you’d like us to cover? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected] ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and let’s keep the conversation going. 🎧 Looking for meditations made for emotional regulation, BPD, and more? Check out  Empowered Heroes Meditations  on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify. If you’d like more support in your journey toward BPD recovery, Steff offers 1:1 sessions using evidence-based tools from DBT, Schema Therapy, and Mindfulness to help you heal. Email for a free 30-Minute Consultation:  📩 [email protected] or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org 📚 Referenced Research Includes: Bateman, A., & Fonagy, P. (2009). Randomized controlled trial of outpatient mentalization-based treatment versus structured clinical management for borderline personality disorder. American journal of Psychiatry, 166(12), 1355-1364.https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2009.0904053 Davidson, R. J., & McEwen, B. S. (2012). Social influences on neuroplasticity: stress and interventions to promote well-being. Nature neuroscience, 15(5), 689-695. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3093 Gunderson, J. G., Stout, R. L., McGlashan, T. H., Shea, M. T., Morey, L. C., Grilo, C. M., ... & Skodol, A. E. (2011). Ten-year course of borderline personality disorder: psychopathology and function from the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders study. Archives of general psychiatry, 68(8), 827-837. doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.37 Linehan, M. (1993). Cognitive-behavioral treatment of borderline personality disorder. Guilford press. Linehan, M. M., Comtois, K. A., Murray, A. M., Brown, M. Z., Gallop, R. J., Heard, H. L., ... & Lindenboim, N. (2006). Two-year randomized controlled trial and follow-up of dialectical behavior therapy vs therapy by experts for suicidal behaviors and borderline personality disorder. Archives of general psychiatry, 63(7), 757-766. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.63.7.757 Ng, F. Y., Bourke, M. E., & Grenyer, B. F. (2016). Recovery from borderline personality disorder: A systematic review of the perspectives of consumers, clinicians, family and carers. PloS one, 11(8), e0160515. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0160515 Zanarini, M. C., Frankenburg, F. R., Reich, D. B., & Fitzmaurice, G. (2010). The 10‐year course of psychosocial functioning among patients with borderline personality disorder and axis II comparison subjects. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 122(2), 103-109. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0447.2010.01543.x