Should he continue therapy if he's not currently receptive to it?

[JE141]

My 26 year old BPD son has been going to group and individual therapy for the past 9 months or so, though he has missed at least one session and sometimes two a month.  The therapists are associated with a major university and are skilled in DBT and my son likes them, but he has begun to think that therapy is a waste of his time.  I have asked him to finish out the year, and I have talked with his therapist who says that he has made some good progress and that she believes they can work through his barriers.  I'm torn.  Should I urge him to go if he's just putting in the time, or should he be allowed to take a break and get back to it when he feels more receptive?

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

[Kate4queen]

Usually, when my BPD son became reluctant to attend therapy it meant that he'd been forced to deal with some insight or comment that he found unacceptable, so to protect himself and his world view that counsellor or therapist or group would suddenly become the enemy.

I wonder if that is the case with your son?

The trouble is, he's old enough to make his own choices in the end. I'd probably do my best to encourage him to continue to attend but ultimately the choice is up to your son.

It's tough isn't it?

[JE141]

Thanks for your reply.  Yes, it is tough. But you may be right about his not liking something that was brought up in therapy; he did tell me that his therapist is spending a lot of time on his substance abuse issues.  I guess I'll continue to urge him to go, and if he doesn't, I'll hope for a turnaround in the future.  Sigh... .