PARADOX AS SYMPTOM IN THE BORDERLINE PATIENTS STRUGGLE FOR SELF-DIFFERENTIATION

TOPIC. Paradox as symptom in patients diagnosed with borderline person ality disorder (BPD). PURPOSE. TO conceptualize the nature of difficul ties al ising in psychotherapy with patients diagnosed with BPD. SOURC ES. Review of the literature and clinical data from the author's work. CONCLUSIONS. The borderline dilemma is inherently paradoxical and, in some ways, reflects the human condition. Psychoanalytic concepts can further our understanding of the therapeutic difficulties encountered in the struggle to make sense of life's inherent dualities. The border line patient is acutely sensitive to these dualities, which the therap ist must tolerate and understand. Often, a negative therapeutic reacti on may impede progress.