Home page of BPDFamily.com, online relationship supportMember registration here
September 21, 2024, 02:40:03 AM *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Board Admins: Kells76, Once Removed, Turkish
Senior Ambassadors: EyesUp, SinisterComplex
  Help!   Boards   Please Donate Login to Post New?--Click here to register  
bing
Things I couldn't have known
Supporting a Child in Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder
Anosognosia and Getting a "Borderline" into Therapy
Am I the Cause of Borderline Personality Disorder?
Emotional Blackmail: Fear, Obligation and Guilt (FOG)
94
Pages: [1]   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: Initiate diagnosis/therapy  (Read 107 times)
ScowDoc
Fewer than 3 Posts
*
Offline Offline

What is your sexual orientation: Straight
Who in your life has "personality" issues: Child
Relationship status: Adult son, semi-estranged and struggling
Posts: 1


« on: September 08, 2024, 01:45:30 PM »

Hello, first post-
BPD diagnosis for our son was very tentatively suggested during my own therapy session (PhD)recently.
It seems to fit. We tried family therapy but my spouse and I feel the therapist bought into his convoluted and very long history of victimology.
I am trying to convince my wife an attempt with another Therapist may help us all learn to cope with this, and maybe point professionally to more focused therapy. Any suggestions for Diagnosis / Therapy resources in the NYC area, especially Brooklyn? Yesterday brought another crisis.We think he also needs help with other issues, such as incapacitating anxiety.
We live in another state, he is in NYC.  Suggestions for starting with on-line family Therapy? 
Logged
Our objective is to better understand the struggles our child faces and to learn the skills to improve our relationship and provide a supportive environment and also improve on our own emotional responses, attitudes and effectiveness as a family leaders
Pook075
Ambassador
********
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
What is your sexual orientation: Straight
Who in your life has "personality" issues: Ex-romantic partner
Relationship status: Divorced
Posts: 1254


« Reply #1 on: September 09, 2024, 04:05:14 AM »

We think he also needs help with other issues...

Hey ScowDoc and welcome, I'm sorry your family is going through this.

I'm going to give some advice that will sound harsh, wrong even, but I need you to hear this and absorb it.

First, the therapist you already saw.  That person is there for your kid and his initial job is to build a healthy working relationship with your son.  Like you, i hoped whenever i brought my kid to a therapist, they'd tell them right away that they're wrong and not giving this a proper effort....but what would that accomplish other than validating my feelings?  They can't do that as professionals and it's common to spend several sessions getting past the trust building phases.

My advice, give that therapist a few more sessions- preferably 1:1 with your kid.

Also, in terms of a recommendation around Brooklyn, I hope someone here can provide that.  But there's a bigger dynamic at play here...your son must actively want to get better and be motivated enough to put in the work for that to happen.  For someone with BPD, that's the scariest thing in the world....they'd literally rather jump off the Brooklyn Bridge.

What's that mean for you?  Well, this just isn't about you or what you want.  It's about what your son wants and his motivation towards improving.

Why am I saying this?  The more you try to "rescue him" from his mental illness, the more everything is your fault and the more he'll resent you in the short term for failing him.  In other words, the more you try to fix the problem with money or therapy or other forms of support, the worse off he actually is.

If you want to pay for therapy, 1:1 is the way to go for him initially.  Let him build a rapport and let the therapist appear to be 100% on his side.  That allows the doc to do things you simply can't long term.  Therapy is like a game, a dance in a way, where everyone is playing checkers while the therapist is playing chess.  The right one is many moves ahead of you but intentionally holding off on moving your son into check.

I wish you luck no matter what you decide, and I hope some of this advice hits home.  It is 100% counter-intuitive compared how we have raised our children, and I went through this for many years with my now 25 year old BPD daughter.  The healing only begins when your kid decides to change, and it takes a great relationship with their therapist.
Logged
Can You Help Us Stay on the Air in 2024?

Pages: [1]   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Our 2023 Financial Sponsors
We are all appreciative of the members who provide the funding to keep BPDFamily on the air.
12years
alterK
AskingWhy
At Bay
Cat Familiar
CoherentMoose
drained1996
EZEarache
Flora and Fauna
ForeverDad
Gemsforeyes
Goldcrest
Harri
healthfreedom4s
hope2727
khibomsis
Lemon Squeezy
Memorial Donation (4)
Methos
Methuen
Mommydoc
Mutt
P.F.Change
Penumbra66
Red22
Rev
SamwizeGamgee
Skip
Swimmy55
Tartan Pants
Turkish
whirlpoollife



Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.21 | SMF © 2006-2020, Simple Machines Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!