Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder , livre ebook

“Patricia presents a long overdue book about applying acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and psychological flexibility principles to one of the most needing populations in psychotherapy—challenging some myths about working with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Attention-gripping exercises utilizing an array of experiential and didactic avenues for learning important life knowledge and skills will benefit any practitioner that struggles with BPD clients. Additional ‘nerdy comments’ and an ample theoretical introduction integrates ACT with useful perspectives on BPD and emotion regulation—broadening the therapist repertoire not only practically, but also conceptually.”
—Bartosz Kleszcz, MA , ACT therapist and researcher in Poland
“Addressing a highly important and transdiagnostic application, Patricia Zurita Ona has successfully translated the nonlinear model of ACT into a step-by-step approach for the treatment of emotion regulation issues. Backed by scientific references—and complete with creative exercises, worksheets, key teaching points, act-in-action activities, and suggested weekly practices that can be readily applied to group settings or modified for individual use—practitioners will undoubtedly appreciate this practical and comprehensive clinical volume. Programs specializing in the treatment of BPD now have a ready-to-roll-out ACT-based manual.”
— Lou Lasprugato, MFT , peer-reviewed ACT trainer at Sutter Health Institute for Health and Healing
“How do we help those who feel too much, too fast, and act in self-defeating ways? This book by Patricia Zurita Ona provides the essential guide to using ACT to help ‘super-feelers’ to strengthen healthy awareness of their emotions, thoughts, and bodies—finding the wisdom in feelings to skillfully connect with what matters. The book is full of treasures: really useful metaphors and exercises; pragmatic approaches to understanding and talking about emotion regulation; engaging and effective modules to meet the needs of ‘super-feelers’; and plenty of hard-won wisdom to recognize and respond to common pitfalls in therapy. Written with terrific humor, intelligence, and compassion, Dr. Z’s manual is thoroughly recommended.”
—Eric Morris, PhD , senior lecturer and psychology clinic director at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia; fellow of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS); and coauthor of ACT for Psychosis Recovery
“Patricia provides an accessible, nuanced deconstruction of emotion regulation, and how ACT promotes psychological flexibility with individuals who experience emotions deeply and intensely. Occupational therapists in particular will find this resource invaluable, as it moves away from diagnostic labeling while clarifying how to make room for all internal experiences, and engage in meaningful actions that promote new skills for a life well lived. This lighthearted manual is flexible in nature with new and engaging content, while also inviting the facilitator to explore their own experiences as a part of the process. This makes it a brilliant asset not only for people who are accessing services, but also to embrace therapists who consider themselves ‘super-feelers.’”
—Louise Sanguine , occupational therapist for the adolescent addictions and mental health outpatient program at the Alberta Health Services South Health Campus in Calgary, AB, Canada; and consultant occupational therapist for Imagine Psychological Services in Calgary
“A large number of people are affected by emotion regulation difficulties every day. Patricia Zurita Ona addresses the challenges you may have as a therapist around the incredible sensitivity of ‘super-feelers,’ wrapped up in the effective science of ACT. The book pays special attention on helping you build ACT skills using examples, exercises, and teaching points. Patricia expertly delineates a contextual understanding of emotion regulation in an easily readable way, so much so that even beginner therapists can benefit from this informative book. I can confidently say that Patricia’s book makes ACT more accessible and approachable for therapists working with the BPD population.”
—Sindhu BS, MS , founder and president of the ACBS India Chapter; and therapist in private practice in Bangalore, India
“In this powerful book, Patricia Zurita Ona guides us step by step into a process-based and ACT-consistent intervention through the challenges of emotion regulation. Patricia kindly and precisely leads the reader to an intense paradigm shift in the way BPD is conceptualized, highlighting the importance of emotion regulation as a process beneath many diagnoses, and a main target for powerful therapeutic interventions. The beauty of this book is that the tools and strategies accurately described here will empower interventions in a wide range of clinical demands.”
—Desirée da Cruz Cassado, MsC , clinical psychologist, ACT therapist, teacher, and process-based intervention enthusiast committed to developing strategies to increase emotional awareness in groups and individuals


Publisher’s Note
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering psychological, financial, legal, or other professional services. If expert assistance or counseling is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought.
Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books
Copyright © 2020 by Patricia E. Zurita Ona
Context Press
An imprint of New Harbinger Publications, Inc.
5674 Shattuck Avenue
Oakland, CA 94609
www.newharbinger.com
Cover design by Amy Shoup
Acquired by Ryan Buresh
Edited by Melanie Bell
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Zurita Ona, Patricia, author. | Harris, Russ, 1938- author.
Title: Acceptance and commitment therapy for borderline personality disorder : a flexible treatment plan for clients with emotional dysregulation / Patricia E. Zurita Ona, Russ Harris.
Description: Oakland : New Harbinger Publications, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019056595 (print) | LCCN 2019056596 (ebook) | ISBN 9781684031771 (paperback) | ISBN 9781684031788 (pdf) | ISBN 9781684031795 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Borderline personality disorder--Treatment. | Acceptance and commitment therapy.
Classification: LCC RC569.5.B67 Z87 2020 (print) | LCC RC569.5.B67 (ebook) | DDC 616.85/852--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019056595
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019056596
In 2018 in the United States, more than 2,000 children were separated from their parents and placed in cages; the government called the cages “chain-link partitions.” This manuscript is dedicated to the invisible ones, the unseen, the underdogs, the outliers. Wherever you are, I wrote this book thinking of you . —Dr. Z


Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Part I: The Basics
Chapter 1: What Is Emotion Regulation?
Chapter 2: What Is ACT?
Chapter 3: ACT for Emotion Regulation
Part II: The Treatment
Chapter 4: Orientation to Treatment
Chapter 5: Module: Emotional Awareness
Chapter 6: Session 2: Emotional Awareness
Chapter 7: Session 3: Emotional Awareness
Chapter 8: Session 4: Emotional Awareness
Chapter 9: Session 5: Emotional Awareness
Chapter 10: Module: Thought Awareness
Chapter 11: Session 7: Thought Awareness
Chapter 12: Session 8: Thoughts as Stories
Chapter 13: Module: Body Awareness
Session 9: Body Awareness
Chapter 14: Session 10: Body Awareness
Chapter 15: Module: Interpersonal Awareness
Chapter 16: Session 12: Interpersonal Awareness
Chapter 17: Session 13: Conflict Tactics: The Heart of the Problem
Chapter 18: Session 14: Interpersonal Awareness
Chapter 19: Module: Radical Awareness
Chapter 20: Session 16: ACT Lab
Part III: Behavioral Dysregulation
Chapter 21: ACT for Behavioral Regulation
Last Words
References
Index
Foreword
If I had a dollar for every time someone said to me, “acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) doesn’t include emotion regulation” or “You can’t do ACT with borderline personality disorder (BPD),” then right now I’d be busy spending all that money on double-coated chocolate Tim Tams, 1 Marvel comics, zombie flicks, coldies, 2 and many other things that are eminently enjoyable but not really essential in order to live a rich and meaningful life. Unfortunately, although many people have repeated these furphies 3 to me over the years, I’ve never received a single dollar for my troubles. And so it is that instead of going out tonight and impulsively spending my money on things I don’t need, here I am, sitting at my computer, writing a foreword.

1 Australian national delicacy: a type of chocolate biscuit that will truly astound your tastebuds and leave you begging for more.

2 Australian term for cold beer.

3 Australian term for false stories.
(Yes, I know it’s not a very profound or inspiring foreword. If Patricia had wanted one of those, she should have asked Steve Hayes. However, on the plus side, I will keep it a very short foreword—so you can get on with actually reading the book.)
Right, then, enough gasbagging. 4 Let’s cut to the chase. This book is a great gift to the ACT community. Why? Because Patricia Zurita Ona is taking ACT into new areas and doing exciting things there: things that many people don’t yet realize ACT can do. As you read these pages, you will discover that emotion regulation is an important part