David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
Borderline Personality Disorder and Manipulation
Florida Borderline Personality Disorder Association
November 29, 2008
Blaise Aguirre, MD addressed the topic of borderline personality disorder and the concept of manipulation in his book Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescents: A Complete Guide to Understanding and Coping When Your Adolescent has BPD. He writes:
Florida Borderline Personality Disorder Association
November 29, 2008
Blaise Aguirre, MD addressed the topic of borderline personality disorder and the concept of manipulation in his book Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescents: A Complete Guide to Understanding and Coping When Your Adolescent has BPD. He writes:
Marsha Linehan, Ph.D., the developer of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), has spoken frequently about her dislike for the word ?manipulative? as commonly applied to patients with BPD. She has pointed out that this implies that they are skills at managing other people, when precisely the opposite is true. I personally thing that this is a well thought out perspective and agree with its core sentiment, even though in my earlier clinical practice, I concurred with the more sinister or ?malicious-intent? definition of manipulation.
The fact that therapists, parents, or others may feel manipulated by the adolescent does not necessarily imply that this is the adolescent does not have the skills to deal with the situation more effectively. Usually their ?manipulative? behavior is an impulsive action driven by fear of abandonment, loneliness, desperation, and hopelessness?not maliciousness. It is an ultimately maladaptive attempt to get others to care for them, which initially has that effect, but leaves caregivers feeling burned out in the long term.
The fact that therapists, parents, or others may feel manipulated by the adolescent does not necessarily imply that this is the adolescent does not have the skills to deal with the situation more effectively. Usually their ?manipulative? behavior is an impulsive action driven by fear of abandonment, loneliness, desperation, and hopelessness?not maliciousness. It is an ultimately maladaptive attempt to get others to care for them, which initially has that effect, but leaves caregivers feeling burned out in the long term.
