In the PsyD program in Clinical Psychology, I hope to sharpen my focus on overall mental health, with a particular focus in couples, family, and child psychology. Though we often understand mental health challenges through the darkest of lenses, viewing extreme and debilitating mental illness, there exists another sub-set of mental health patients, each of whom presents his or her own challenge. These are people struggling each day with their marriages and other aspects of their family relationships. As a student in the PsyD program, I will learn more about how clinical directives can be used to enhance these individuals’ ability to function as a part of a familial unit while dealing with the other mental health stressors that may hamper their functionality.
During the course of my studies, I plan to develop significant knowledge of applied clinical psychology, culminating in a dissertation where I study couples therapy where one member is suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Relationship therapy presents its own set of challenges, and those challenges are magnified when one adds in the barrier of serious mental illness in one partner. My research will address the ways in which various treatment initiatives can be combined to produce the best possible results for couples who present with more than just a handful of problems. It will attempt to uncover the best approach for these situations, whether that is dealing individually with the BPD prior to moving onto generalized couples therapy or dealing with both issues in a hybrid counseling arrangement. My research will explore the approaches that clinical psychology can offer both clients in this type of situation, since both the person suffering from BPD and the remaining spouse will need to know practical strategies for coping in order to make a relationship work.
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Specifically, I will explore treatment options and approaches for those individuals in a relationship who are forced to ensure repeated self-destructive acts by their partners. Though BPD can present in a number of ways, one of the primary symptoms is repeatedly self-destructive behavior that can sometimes become physical (Linehan, 1993). Whether or not clients suffering from BPD go so far as to attempt suicide, their destructive actions can lead to fear and anxiety in their spouses or partners. My research will study the effects of maintaining a relationship with a person suffering from BPD, and it will seek innovative clinical approaches to assisting clients caught in this sort of situation.
For the person suffering from BPD, the disorder can often cause chemical dependency, temperamental problems, and addictions that can wreck a relationship of its stability (Hayes et al, 1996). In my dissertation, I hope to discuss various approaches to helping individuals maintain relationships while dealing with the effects of BPD. This may mean focusing on practical coping strategies, and it may mean involving the partner in a treatment plan. These issues remain highly interesting to me, and through the course of the program there, I hope to examine them further and gain additional perspective that can add value to my research, which can, in turn, add value to the psychological community.
My passion for generalized mental health study is upstaged only by my desire to see clinical techniques applied in practical realm of daily life. By focusing both my attention and my dissertation on the nexus of family therapy and mental health practice, I will be able to aid clients in dealing with serious problems.
- Hayes, S. C., Wilson, K. G., Gifford, E. V., Follette, V. M., & Strosahl, K. (1996). Experiential avoidance and behavioral disorders: a functional dimensional approach to diagnosis and treatment.
- Linehan, M. (1993). Cognitive behavioral treatment of borderline personality disorder. Guilford Press.
References
Journal of consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64(6), 1152.
