Therapy with a patient with BPD is a long-term process. For a patient to achieve individuation and intimacy with others, 2 or 3 years of treatment are often required, perhaps longer. But patients generally show significant improvement all along the way.
We feel a sense of optimism and hope about utilizing schema therapy with patients with BPD. Although treatment is often slow and difficult for both the patient and the therapist, the rewards are great. We have found that most patients with BPD make significant progress. In our opinion, the essential curative elements of schema therapy for these patients are the “limited reparenting” the therapist provides, mode work, and progressing through therapy in the stages we have described.