The Schema Model of Borderline Personality Disorder

Schema therapy, developed originally as individual psychotherapy, is an integrative psychotherapy approach indicated to be effective in overcoming the clinical challenges with moderate to severe personality issues and chronic complicated psychiatric disorders, which was first applied to patients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder over 20 years ago. Based on the schema model, early maladaptive schemas (EMSs) have been presented as a core psychopathological structure in the development of personality pathology, especially borderline personality disorder (BPD), and encompass five domains including 18 EMS, which have shown substantially key roles in the development and maintenance of self-destructive emotional and cognitive patterns among individuals with BPD. Moreover, early maladaptive schema modes have shown substantial roles in the etiology of other psychiatric disorders, and personality disorders, as well. Different complicated manifestations of BPD can be elucidated through schema and schema mode models, including rapid mood turbulences, shifts in behavior patterns, and remarkable fluctuations in the emotional and psychological states of BPD patients. Furthermore, according to several empirical and clinical investigations, schema therapy, and schema mode therapy have demonstrated significant effectiveness in decreasing the severity and frequency of BPD clinical features, such as fear of abandonment, impulsivity, and self-destructive behaviors.