Healing Borderline PD When Talk Therapy Isn't Enough

Healing borderline personality disorder (BPD) seemed like a vague concept. I used to romanticize healing, to think of it as this linear journey where each step forward meant fewer breakdowns and more sunshine. But in my experience, living with BPD feels like the mind is a treacherous landscape, and talk therapy just isn't enough. It's one thing to talk about wanting to be free of your triggers and to imagine yourself as some serene, enlightened version of yourself. But it's a whole different thing to feel that weight lift off you in real time. While difficult, healing borderline personality disorder is possible.

Healing Borderline PD: Go Beyond Talk Therapy

Somatic healing and trauma-based therapy can be revelations for those of us who are fixed on healing borderline personality disorder. In my opinion, the body holds memories and traumas embedded deep in our tissues, echoing through us like ghostly whispers. Traditional therapy can sometimes feel like a battle of wills against these echoes, a fight to reframe and rationalize. In my experience, somatic healing is about feeling those whispers in your bones and learning to let them go. It's about turning inward, tuning into the physical sensations that accompany our triggers, and gently coaxing them into the light.

From my understanding, somatic therapy is a holistic approach that focuses on the connection between mind and body. It recognizes that trauma isn't just stored in our memories but in our very tissues. It helps release the pent-up energy and stress held in our bodies through body awareness, movement, and therapeutic touch.

I am currently healing my borderline PD with trauma-based therapy. My sessions address the deep psychological wounds by creating a safe space to process traumatic events and rewire my responses to them. Sessions involve techniques like eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) and exposure therapy, which work to diminish the emotional charge of my traumatic memories.

Healing Borderline PD: The Process

During one EMDR session, I focused on a particularly painful memory. I could feel the familiar rush of panic, the tightening in my chest, and the sick twist in my stomach. Instead of spiraling, I stayed with the feeling. I breathed into it, let it expand and crest, and then, astonishingly, it began to ebb. With the guidance of my EMDR therapist, I was able to feel the anxiety, worry, and fear neutralize in my body before it turned into something else.

After several sessions working on this memory, something had shifted. The anxiety, the worry, and the relentless fear that had always seemed to define me were suddenly muted. They were still there, of course, lurking in the background, but they no longer held the same power. I felt a tenderness towards myself that I'd previously only reserved for others. For the first time, I was able to look at myself and feel a kind of warmth, a genuine affection. It was like discovering a forgotten room in a house you've lived in all your life, a room filled with light and possibility.

Healing Borderline PD Becomes My Reality

Healing borderline personality disorder through somatic and trauma-based therapy doesn't erase the trauma or the triggers. It doesn't promise a life free from pain. But it offers a different kind of freedom, one that comes from within. It's the freedom to inhabit your body and to feel your feelings without being overwhelmed by them. It's the freedom to be present and to experience the full spectrum of your emotions without fear. And for someone with borderline personality disorder, that kind of freedom is nothing short of miraculous.