Stronger Than BPD: The Girl's Guide to Taking Control of Intense Emotions, Drama and Chaos Using DBT

(Paperback)

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You are strong! No matter what anyone says, you can heal the symptoms of borderline personality disorder (BPD). In this unique guide, influential BPD advocate and blogger Debbie Corso offers an easy-to-use primer on dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), as well as powerful peer-to-peer support for managing your worst BPD symptoms.If you have BPD, you may experience extreme emotional ups and downs. These intense feelings can make navigating everyday life that much more difficult, and as a result, you may have trouble maintaining relationships, seeing yourself clearly, or reaching career goals. You should know that you are not alone, and that BPD isn t your fault. Most importantly, you need to know that you are strong. With the right tools, you can overcome the symptoms of your BPD this book will show you how.Written by a BPD survivor and advocate, Stronger Than BPD offers practical, evidence-based dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills to help you manage the intense emotions and negative self-image that can occur with BPD. This easy-to-use guide helps you apply the fundamental components of DBT such as mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness to everyday situations that can trigger your symptoms. And through personal examples and real-life stories, you ll see how others have put these skills to work in their own lives to get relief. You ll even learn how social media can help you heal!BPD is a part of your life, but it doesn t have to define you. If you are ready to take control of your symptoms using powerful, evidence-based DBT skills, this friendly guide will light the way.

Reviews

"Stronger than BPD feels like a best friend holding my hand while I learn practical tools that really work for managing my emotions."
--Tamra Sattler, PhD, MFT, therapist, researcher, and entrepreneur
"Debbie has written a wise and wonderful book for those who struggle with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Stronger than BPD provides an honest look at recovery while inspiring all of us to be our very best through more skillful living. I'm exceptionally proud to recommend this book to my clients and their family members."
--Amanda L. Smith, LMSW, dialectical behavior therapist and treatment consultant, and author of The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Wellness Planner
"DBT is touted by thousands of clinicians all over the globe. This book raises the bar because it describes survivors' lived experience--the most important testimonial of all. Congratulations to Debbie!"
--Perry D. Hoffman, PhD, president and cofounder of the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder (NEA.BPD)
"This book offers you a set of skills from someone who has been there. These are not theoretical experiences but instead the help and reflections that come from someone who has been there to those going through real-time struggles. A great addition to the literature."
--Blaise Aguirre, MD, medical director at McLean 3East Continuum of Care, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and coauthor of Mindfulness for Borderline Personality Disorder

"Written with the wisdom of one who has both suffered and lived in the solution, Debbie Corso's Stronger than BPD is a unique and highly accessible guide for those struggling with BPD traits, and the people who support them. Through powerful personal examples and with the clarity of a seasoned professional, Corso teaches the reader, step by step, to apply dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills to the storms of emotional turmoil and turbulent relationships. The author's hard-won success is an inspiration and testament to the power of DBT to heal and create lives truly worth living. Perfect as a stand-alone workbook as well as a complement to clinical support, Stronger than BPD is a remarkable guide that will change lives and bring new understanding to the practice of DBT."
--Kiera Van Gelder, MFA, author of the highly acclaimed memoir, The Buddha and the Borderline

Author Bio

Debbie Corso is a mental health blogging pioneer, courageously chronicling her journey while lighting a torch to provide hope to a severely emotionally wounded community. She has a BS from New York Institute of Technology in Interdisciplinary Studies in English, Communications, and Behavioral Science, as well as a certificate in Early Childhood Development. She is in recovery from borderline personality disorder (BPD). Through hard, consistent work with dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), she no longer meets the criteria to be considered "Borderline." Her work as an Intake Coordinator and Case Manager at a non-profit organization, working closely with children at risk for abuse and neglect, was the catalyst that propelled her to document and share her powerful journey through her blog and hopeful, encouraging books on overcoming the oppressive symptoms of BPD. She currently co-facilitates online, worldwide DBT groups with therapist Alicia Paz at www.DBTPath.com. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Kathryn C. Holt, MSSW, LCSW, is a psychotherapist who accompanies people on the journey of reclaiming their hunger, desire, and permission to live fully in their bodies and lives. She writes about her journey and her psycho-spiritual approach to healing at www.kathryncholt.com. Holt studied DBT at Columbia University in New York City and worked with teens, adults, and families using DBT for several years prior to moving to Boulder, CO, where she now lives and practices. She offers individual therapy, groups, retreats, and weekly movement classes with the intention of reconnecting people with their power, wisdom, and purpose.Foreword writer Kiera Van Gelder, MFA, is an artist, educator, and writer diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. An international speaker and advocate, she is featured in the documentary Back from the Edge: Living With and Recovering From Borderline Personality Disorder. She currently lives in Massachusetts at a Buddhist meditation center. For additional information, please visit www.buddhaandborderline.com and www.kieravangelder.com.