Thursday, October 1, 2009

STEPPS for patients with borderline personality disorder


Donald W. Black, MD, Professor, Department of psychiatry, University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA

Nancee Blum, MSW, Adjunct instructor, Department of psychiatry, University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA

Don St. John, MA, PA-C, Physician assistant, Department of psychiatry, University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA

Treatment of borderline personality disorder (BPD) often is viewed as challenging and the results so discouraging that some clinicians avoid referrals of BPD patients. Psychotherapy has been the treatment mainstay for decades, and supportive approaches are probably the most widely employed. Psychodynamic therapy often has been recommended.

This article introduces a new evidence-based group treatment program that we developed for BPD patients. Systems Training for Emotional Predictability and Problem Solving (STEPPS) is founded on the successes of better known psychoeducational models but is easier for practicing psychiatrists to implement.

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