Borderline Personality Disorder and the Conversational Model

Reviews

"Meares does an excellent job of integrating the relevant brain/neuroscience research . . . There are compelling hypotheses drawn . . . I would recommend these two books to anyone who works with borderline patients. . . . a worthwhile guide for the clinician who is a novice and a good review/extension for the experienced therapist." — The National Psychologist

"These two companion volumes together make a remarkable and original contribution to the theoretical and clinical literature on borderline personality disorder (BPD). . . . [T]his is the most comprehensive, evidence-based, and theoretically integrated model of BPD that I have read." — Journal of Analytical Psychology

"This book is intended to be read by clinicians, psychologists, or other professionals in healthcare and psychology. [But with] numerous examples and well-organized chapters, this book is easy to understand even for someone who is only beginning his or her career in psychology." — International Journal of Psychotherapy

"[E]ssential reading not only for clinicians working with borderline patients and interested in using the conversational model, but also for any practitioner in the field interested in rethinking the structure of the way they talk with their patients." — Metapsychology

"[O]ffers one of the most important clinical assessments to the treatment of borderline pathology that has appeared in quite some time . . . . A 'must' for any psychology collection, this will prove a basic reference on the subject for years to come." — Midwest Book Review

"Full of techniques for building therapeutic relationships with patients . . . this compelling guide is essential reading for those in the psychology and psychiatric fields." — Book News

"This book is one of the most important clinical contributions of the past 20 years to the understanding and treatment of borderline pathology. Meares and his co-authors conceive of the borderline personality as the outcome of a disintegration of the mind-brain function. The authors have found that a conversational rhythm based on 'analogical responsiveness' constitutes the most effective way of working with borderline patients, which they convincingly illustrate. This book is essential reading not only for clinicians working with borderline patients, but for all those interested in rethinking the very structure of the way we talk with our patients." — Thomas Ogden, M.D., Director, Center for the Advanced Study of the Psychoses

"Justly admired for his erudition and originality, Russell Meares has inspired a group of clinicians to enter into a unique form of 'conversation' with patients with borderline personality disorder. This manual, the record of their experience, recounts how 'conversation' comes alive with the verbal and nonverbal communications that form the foundation of human relatedness and the individual's coherence and cohesion of self. While they seem deceptively simple, the conversations of the model can and do touch the dissociative patient's sense of self as powerfully as a mother's acknowledging glance to her baby: I know you! And through my knowing you, you will come to know yourself. The reader will learn how a deep understanding of the traumatized self emerges from the analogic links and metaphoric connections the method promotes. The therapist converses in language that is not jargon, intellectual, or theory-based, but is direct, empathic, and attuned to the patient's own mode of expression. The explanations of how each minute particular of conversation fits into a larger system provide a valuable learning experience for both experienced and inexperienced therapists. This manual is a delight for developmentalists and a source of learning and inspiration for therapists who treat patients with BPD and other disturbances of self." — Joseph D. Lichtenberg, M.D., Editor-in-Chief, Psychoanalytic Inquiry

"Meares and colleagues have produced a truly inspiring and moving guide to conversational model therapy. This book is a profoundly humane account of a theoretically compelling, evidence-based treatment for borderline personality disorder, full of vivid and rich case material. All therapists, no matter their theoretical orientation, will find this book of immeasurable value." — Else Guthrie, Professor of Psychological Medicine and Medical Psychotherapy, University of Manchester