| Borderline Personality Disorder

Our Mission

Preserve the Family

We are about preserving families. The more marriages repaired, the more parent/child relationships reconnected, the more children we help grow up in a loving home, the better.

Healthier Healing of Failed Relationships

Relationship failure is also a reality. People with personality disorders have inherently instable relationship skills that both attract and overwhelm those who love them.

When failure happens, we help one another recover in an emotionally mature way. This includes grieving, detaching, and developing the skills necessary to have a more rewarding life, a less traumatic custody battle, a less resentful co-parenting relationship, or a less costly divorce.

Provide Clinically Reliable Tools and Educational Material

BPDFamily.com is a great adjunct to forward looking therapies like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and Schema Therapy. Skills taught here are largely derived from publications written by Shari Manning, Ph.D., Alan Fruzzetti, Ph.D., and the NEA-BPD Family Connections Program.

Submit to External Oversight

Site content is directed by an editorial board. The moderation has been monitored and accredited by HON since 2007. HON is accredited to the Economic and Social Council of the U.N.

Overview

Wikipedia logo BPDFamily.com is the leading online support group for the family members of individuals suffering from Borderline personality disorder (BPD) and other personality and impulse disorders. It is a safe place for intelligent discussion and freedom from the egos and tempers that plague many large blogs and messageboards. The members here are genuine and caring.

The group was established in 2005 and is one of the first "cyber" support groups to be recognized by the medical establishment and receive professional referrals. The group has 280 professional members and has collaborated with a number of University research projects.

The National Health Service (England) currently refers their clientele and readers to BPDFamily.com as does the NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness, NEA-BPD: National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder, PDAN: Personality Disorders Awareness Network, and Kaiser Permanente Health Information Resources.

Wikipedia logo The groups services and programs are recommended in Abnormal and Clinical Psychology: An Introductory Textbook (ISBN:9780335237463), Resources to Improve Emotional Health and Strengthen Relationships (ISBN: 0199915156), I Hate You--Don't Leave Me: Understanding the Borderline Personality (ISBN:9781491575734), The Essential Family Guide to Borderline Personality Disorder (ISBN:978-1592853632), and Stop Walking on Eggshells (ISBN:781572246904).

In 2015, BPDFamily.com was listed by Alexa Internet as the most visited BPD website in the world, and ranked 19th among all mental health websites. The site has a membership roll of over 100,000 members. Members participate from 35 countries. There are over 3 million articles and posts on the site.

BPDFamily.com has been certified as an ethical and reliable healthcare resource since 2007 by the Hon Foundation (cerificate 764876), an independent watchdog organization funded by the United Nations. BPDFamily.com is high security website with a GeoTrust SSL encryption certificate (license 3783d2b32ba5cda088d55a545724ee75).

Our Community

Clinicians often recommend that family members of someone affected by a personality disorder have a strong support system outside of the home. BPDFamily.com is this type of resource. At BPDFamily.com, you'll find people with problems similar to your own. The benefits of participating in a support group include (source: Mayo Clinic):

Feeling less lonely, isolated or judged
Gaining a sense of empowerment and control
Talking openly and honestly about your feelings
Reducing distress, depression or anxiety
Developing a clearer understanding of what to expect with your situation
Getting practical advice or information
Compare notes about resources, such as doctors and alternative options

Members share their personal experiences and offer one another emotional support and have in-depth discussions about human psychology and interpersonal skills techniques.

Our History

BPDFamily.com was founded in 2005 as an educational resource to correct common Internet misinformation about Borderline Personality Disorder and about constructive life skills for family members. Operating as "Facing the Facts”, the site initially featured essays authored by well-known third party experts.^. In February of 2007, the organization rescued a 4,000 member message board that was going to be closed for technical reasons, from the website for the “Stop Walking on Eggshells” book. The member served as a foundation for building a multi-national support group. Two clinical directors were added to provide clinical oversight for the project. In July of 2007, the website and support group were certified as a reputable health information resource by the Health On the Net Foundation. In 2010, the site began educating its members on concepts developed by Shari Manning PhD, Margalis Fjelstad PhD, Robert O. Friedel MD, and the NEA-BPD Family Connections Program. In 2007, the organization also began soliciting collaborations from academia. In 2012, the organization provided access to an interactive web program that teaches the basic principles of cognitive behavior therapy. In 2014, the operating name BPDFamily.com was adopted and the website redesigned to the current "green format" and restructured to expand the editorial diversity and provide original editorial based on interviews with psychology experts. By 2015, BPDFamily.com reached 100,000 members.

For almost 15 years, BPDFamily.com has been a gathering place for openness, emotional support and clinically responsible information -- 24 hours a day. BPDFamily is not a victims community or an emotional free-for-all. The members here are genuine and caring.The site is clinically based and the editorial has clinical oversight. The discussion are moderated and the members who come here are serious about learning and growing. It is a safe place for intelligent discussion and respite from the egos and tempers that plague many large blogs and messageboards.

Members challenge each other to live a more rewarding life in the shadow of a loved one exhibiting traits of mental illness.

Scope: Family of Afflicted Individuals
Size: 110,000 members
Area served: Multi-national
Founded: 2005
Exec director: R. Skip Johnson MBA
Clinical advisor: John Cain MD
Location: Austin, TX 75231-4596

Page Last Modified: March 22, 2019