Borderline personality disorders make things appear as black and white with no integration between the two. It manifests as rejecting the love and support from a partner, the very thing that a person with this disorder actually needs in the first place.

Gabrielle Usatynski, a licensed professional counselor and relationship expert, explains that borderline personality disorders cause radical misperceptions which cause confusion in relationship. Displaying compassion plays a central role in healing the very source of the trauma to result in more loving and fulfilling relationships.

Gabrielle is the host of the new TV show "Iconic Couples of History" and the Founder of the Power Couples Institute. She has been featured in Cosmopolitan, Counseling Today, and Women's Health. She has an upcoming book entitled "The Power Couple Formula" due for release later this year.

Check out the transcript to this episode in Dr. Jessica Higgin's website.

In this episode:

06:51 Personality disorders impair the way we look at our identity and the identity of others. This has a significant impact on displays of empathy and intimacy in relationship.

13:15 "Splitting" in personality disorders means a person cannot integrate opposing thoughts and only sees things as one or another. There is a lack of integration between the two, something which normally develops very early in life.

18:57 There is a nurture aspect to borderline personality disorders which is attributed to trauma, abuse, and/or neglect. Any sabotage to a growing person's self-activation will manifest in relationships well into adulthood.

26:46 Borderline personality disorder affects the socio-emotional capacity to separate raw emotions and physiological experiences. It is a lack of neural integration that results in poor reality testing.

35:08 Clinicians can easily misdiagnose borderline personality disorders. There is a need for partners to display love and compassion to address the root trauma that is causing so much disconnect in relationship.

41:01 Borderline personalities sabotage the very thing they need the most, which is the love and security they receive from their partners.

44:53 How to care for a partner with borderline personality disorder.

51:34 Having a third party observe the dynamics of a relationship and attempt to fix the system can create profound changes in the individuals.

53:42 Couples with a shared mission, an organized principle between them, give a reason to hold in the relationship through the good and bad times.

56:35 Get in touch with Gabrielle.

Mentioned

• Power Couples Education website
• The Power Couple Formula book website
• Power Couples Counseling
• Power Couples Education YouTube Channel
• ERP: 180: What If I Think My Partner Has a Personality Disorder? An Interview with Gabrielle Usatynski

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