The Essential Family Guide To Borderline Personality Disorder - A.J. Mahari's Book Review

The Essential Family Guide To Borderline Personality Disorder - New Tools and Techniques To Stop Walking On Eggshellsby Randi Kreger - A.J. Mahari's book review.

Randi Kreger has been and remains a pioneer in information, support, and education about Borderline Personality Disorder for loved ones, family members, and relationship partners of those with BPD. Her website BPD Central is one of the oldest and most respected on the internet on the subject of Borderline Personality Disorder.  Kreger also  co-authored the very popular and ground-breaking book, Stop Walking On Eggshells along with the follow up  Stop Walking on Eggshells Workbook.   

 

This, her latest book, is one of the most comprehensive I've ever read. I would call it the encyclopedia of BPD for family members.

It is well written, well organized, and gives most every detail one could ever want or need to know.

Kreger's style of presenting this in depth information is very compassionate and non-judgmental of those who have BPD.

This is a testament to Kreger's commitment to educate in a caring and compassionate way that ensures the reader can feel engaged regardless of what his or her individual relational situation with the person with BPD in his or her life is.

For this book Kreger did three types of research, "an exhaustive, three-year survey of the last est scientific studies related to borderline personality disorder (BPD), interviews with more than two dozen top mental health clinicians and researchers and the collective experiences of thousands of people affected in one way or another by BPD."

Part one of the book lays out what Kreger calls the A.B.C's of BPD in what is a detailed and informative explanation of all of the information that loved ones will benefit greatly from reading in efforts to better understand BPD.

Among all of the insight Kreger provides her readers with in this book, is one of the most unique descriptions of the "impulsive aggression" of those with BPD that she so aptly and very creatively refers to as, "the border-lion". The "border-lion"as Kreger describes this central aspect of borderline reality and behavior can be "directed inward or directed outward." Kreger's separation of the "border-lion" and its impulsive aggressiveness from the actual person - your loved one - with Borderline Personality Disorder reflects not only her profound understanding of BPD but also her compassion for both those with BPD and their loved ones.

In part two of this book, Kreger outlines what she calls, "Five Power Tools to help you organize your thinking, learn specific skills, and focus on what you need to do instead of becoming overwhelmed."

The Five Power Tools are:

1) Take good care of yourself

2) Uncover what keeps you feeling stuck

3) Communicate to be heard

4) Set limits with love

5) Reinforce the right behavior

Kreger explains each one and how to integrate all five together, in order, and how best to apply them to your own needs and experience.

The Essential Family Guide to Borderline Personality Disorderis a must read for anyone who loves or cares about someone with Borderline Personality Disorder. I highly recommend it. It will add to your understanding. It will give you the kind of information that will provide some foundational framework, at the very least, and likely much more, to help you in your experience on the journey that is relating to someone with BPD and learning how to also take care of yourself.

© A.J. Mahari February 25, 2009