Mentalization Therapy (MBT) - Borderline Personality Disorder

[Spiltbean]

I'm a 36 year old male from Sydney. Diagnosed with BPD in 2007. Completed DBT many years ago which helped with affect regulation. Since then I've gone broke paying for treatment with psychologists, attempting to fix fragmented sense of self, but have to say, I've had poor results. Still feel as lost as ever.  This new treatment MBT seems to offer a lot of promise, has anyone with complex personality disorder undertaken this treatment? I'd like to know about its effectiveness if anyone has done it? 

Paul

[blondguy]

Hi Paul, My name is Paul as well and Welcome to the BB Forums

I have had 25 years of anxiety disorder and now the depression is following me around while I have been in mainly white collar employment.

Your post is extremely articulate Paul. I am just a loss here in regard to the MBT and I apologise for my lack of feedback/knowledge about it...seriously.

I have been plagued with the GAD/Depression since 1985 even though I have mastered the 'art' of Calm and True Acceptance re the Anxiety. I too have spent huge dollars on therapy but have stopped writing checks now.

'Fragmented Sense of Self'...That I can relate to. Complex Paul, but I understand where you are coming from.

These forums have many wonderful people on them from all areas of life. Until I do my research I am at an absolute total loss where MBT is concerned....with all due respect of course.

There are many people here who also suffer from BPD...Please check for responses. In the meantime I will 'do my homework on MBT

Cheers and Thankyou for having the courage to post Paul

Kind Thoughts

Paul

[hope4joy]

Hi Paul,

Welcome to the forums! I'm in my mid 30s and was diagnosed with bpd in early 2013. I've done a heap of treatments, including 14 months of intensive 2-day a week DBT, groups for eating disorders and depression/anxiety and lots of private therapy. I can relate to having spent a lot of time, money and energy in trying to get better.

I've been doing mentalisation based therapy with a psychiatrist for about 2 years now. It is all about exploring my thoughts in relation to events and her, and also to her being open about her reactions - to try to see where I can get a distorted and unhelpful reading of situations. I think its is one of those processes where the change is very slow and the benefits and not immediately apparent. Compared to other therapies where one sees change very quickly. A large part of the therapy for me has been relationship building and trust and learning to be more vulnerable. 

Recently I have started schema therapy, because I felt that both DBT and MBT have helped me become aware of and able to cope with distressing feelings or thoughts - but they don't actively help me change. I've only had 6 sessions so far with a psychologist - and apparently this therapy is also meant to be a long term one. I'm finding it incredibly powerful. I disassociate and disconnect a lot and this leads to a sense of aloneness and un fulfilment in relationships - and schema therapy is identifying this and providing alternative ways to be. It is very confronting and triggering stuff! I feel that DBT and the MBT work i've done have given me a solid foundation to do schema - which I think is about going deeper to make lasting change. I am still continuing the MBT too.

I'm not sure if that answered your question Paul? I'm happy to discuss it more if you raise some issues that interest you.

Kind wishes, Christina 

[Spiltbean]

Hi Christina,

 thanks so much for your perspective. You are the first person I have spoken to that has actually engaged in MBT. I'm so glad your getting a great deal out of Schema work and it is something I'm yet to try. 

Does MBT feel different from normal psychotherapy or is it much the same? May I ask where you receive treatment? In Sydney it's extremely difficult to find an MBT practitioner.

I really value your input thanks so much!

[Spiltbean]

Christina, 

 I forgot to ask, are your reviving disability support, my psychiatrist really doesn't get the severity of the illness, and I'm in an out of work trying to heal and it's making the recovery so much more difficult. 

 Also have your had MRI brain scans, or blood test, to check proper physiological functioning? 

 warm regards,

Paul 

[hope4joy]

Hi Paul,

I'm glad I can offer my perspective. Has anyone else reading this tried MBT and have thoughts to share?

I guess for me MBT is linked to seeing a psychiatrist because prior to my current psychiatrist I had only seen psychologists/ therapists etc and a short term period with another psychiatrist, so it is hard to separate MBT and the style of psychiatrists. Generally I find that psychiatrists are more dry than psychologists and I guess MBT is a dry sort of therapy, meaning the focus is on engaging the rational self, the thought-making part of me, rather than my emotional part. I mean this in comparison to somatic therapies that connect to the body, or more intuitive expressions like art therapy etc. From the way I read it MBT is meant to challenge unhelpful default ways I read other people's thoughts and reactions. So a lot of the time I have to articulate my thinking and my psychiatrist does the same. I believe it is a longer term therapy and not a short term intervention sort, it seems to need time and building trust to be really uncensored with thoughts, to be effective.

So as to where I do it - its just with a private psychiatrist here in Brisbane. I didn't seek her out for MBT - I was just after a female psych who could bulk bill and see me weekly - and it turned out MBT is her thing. At times I've felt frustrated with the process - it feels very slow and sometimes over-analytical - and asked her to change approach, but we always fall back into this style. I guess I'll also add that i'm tired of therapy - so that is some of my frustration - i wish i didn't need it anymore! 

As to your other questions Paul - I've never had a brain scan but have had blood tests and general wellbeing checks from my GP and I always come up as healthy, aside from maybe low iron levels. 

As to the dsp (disability support pension), I'm not receiving this and instead on a student payment because I returned to uni. I have friends with bpd who are on the dsp and others who have been rejected. There is a lot of confusion and stigma around bpd and some health professionals sadly still don't take it seriously. I spoke about dsp to my psychiatrist about two years ago but she said she thought it would make me depressed, because i take a fair bit of worth from my work, so she erred against it. In retrospect it also could have made life much more manageable financially.

All the best in your search - and keep posting if you have Qs!

Kind wishes, Christina 

[dans22]

Hi,

I came across your post when I googled MBT. I did not have an account and specifically created one to reply to you. I have done MBT. I had, and I say the word had as past tense for a reason complex trauma. I was 40 years old when I started MBT so I had tried everything else, however I could never relax or trust people and was always washed up in some sort of painful emotion regarding myself and others. I can honestly say after doing MBT I do not feel like I suffer from complex trauma or personality features that are beyond the general population. The relationship with the therapist is also important. It is not entirely a dry therapy if it is done by a warm, experienced therapist with good boundaries so they can regulate the relationship attachment throughout the process. I will not post the name of the person who gave the therapy since I'm not sure if it's appropriate but they were a clinical psychologist at Leichhardt in Sydney.

The MBT actually helps to rewire your brain in a sense so you can access your frontal lobes during times of stress and strong emotions. This has helped me with all aspects of my life and I rarely experience distress, but even if I am upset or emotional, it is not so intense and catastrophic because the rational part of my brain enables me to think through it naturally without having to employ a strategy like CBT where I have to try and force myself to feel. So I can kind of think and feel at the same time which I guess is something I didn't do so well. I either felt intensely or was not emotional but able to think.

I also believe the therapist I saw is very good with emotions so I learnt not to be scared of my emotions. This was something I had done all my life.

I very much recommend this.

I haven't worked out how to message anyone on here but in you would like more information message me and I am happy to help.

All the best.