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The present study was designed to test an emotion regulation framework to understand individual differences in personality disorder (PD) traits in a non-clinical sample. Specifically, we tested whether: selected dimensions of emotion dysregulation were differentially related to PD traits; and whether emotion dysregulation and impulsivity had independent associations with PD traits. A community sample of 399 individuals (mean age = 37.91; 56.6% males) completed self-report measures of PDs, emotion dysregulation and impulsivity. Emotion dysregulation facets and impulsivity had uniform bivariate associations with PD traits, but also evidenced unique associations in multiple regression analyses. Nonacceptance of emotional responses was the emotion dysregulation dimension underlying a wide array of PD. A limited repertoire of effective emotion regulation strategies was characteristic of cluster C PD, whereas emotional unawareness distinctly predicted schizoid PD. Antisocial PD traits were uniquely related to difficulties controlling impulsive behavior when upset. Finally, histrionic, narcissistic, and obsessive-compulsive PD were related to better self-reported emotion regulation. Impulsivity further explained a significant amount of variance in schizotypal, antisocial, borderline (positively), and obsessive-compulsive PD traits (negatively). If replicated in clinical samples, our findings will support the usefulness of targeting both emotional dysregulation and impulsivity in PDs psychotherapy.

ABC-DEF framework is at the core of rational emotive behavior therapy. It is a highly flexible framework and has proven to be applicable to many emotional disorders. We cannot take for granted, however, that this framework can be used successfully with all clients, particularly with those suffering from severe disorders or personality disorders. In fact, the difficulties of these clients in recognizing, naming and reflecting upon states of mind, their dysregulated emotions and self-defeating behavior, and their difficulty in establishing a strong working alliance with a therapist may hamper the correct implementation of the ABC-DEF framework and the disputing of their irrational beliefs. This paper aims to describe in detail the challenges that clients with personality disorders may pose during treatment and offer possible technical suggestions, derived from either REBT or non-REBT literature, that can help REBT and CBT practitioners adapting their interventions to resistant clients

Schizophrenia results in a profound disruption of one’s capacity to make sense of mental states, coherently narrate self-experiences, and meaningfully relate to others. While current treatment options for people with schizophrenia tend to be symptom-focused, experience in designing and implementing a study focusing on enhancing sense of self demonstrates the feasibility of developing and implementing models of treatment that prioritize the subjective distress and self-experience of people with schizophrenia. There is emerging research evidence, based upon dialogical theory of self, that posits the potential of people with deficits of self to engage in meaningful therapeutic relationships and work toward greater integrity of self and degrees of recovery. The challenge is to translate these ideas into a research methodology that can be successfully applied within therapeutic contexts with people who meet the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia. Based upon dialogical theory, we developed a principle-based manual for metacognitive narrative psychotherapy: a psychological approach to the treatment of people with schizophrenia, which aims to enhance metacognitive capacity and ability to narrate self-experiences. Five phases of treatment were identified: (1) developing a therapeutic relationship, (2) eliciting narratives, (3) enhancing metacognitive capacity, (4) enriching narratives, and (5) living enriched stories. Proscribed practices were also identified. We then implemented the manual within a university clinic context. Six therapists were trained to implement the model and, in turn, provided therapy to 11 patients who completed 12 to 24 months of treatment. Participants were assessed on metacognitive capacity, narrative coherence, narrative richness, self-reported recovery, and symptomatology at three points in time over the course of therapy. Contrary to expectations, participants were highly engaged in the therapeutic process, with minimal dropout. Overall, over

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Item does not contain fulltext, Individuals are guided in their actions in the world by a set of narratives portraying them in their relations with others. The narratives contain representations of self, of the world, of the various characters with which individuals interact and of the forms of relationship that they foresee establishing. Within the narratives the various characters, each from the position of an independent author, negotiate the meaning of events. A narrative can be altered either as regards its contents or its form. In this article, we describe impoverished narratives. These are lacking in various elements—descriptions of a narrator's inner state, of others' points of view, of the action scenario and of what goes on between the characters—and concentrate repetitively on only one or a few themes. With such features, individuals are hampered in their actions in the world. A therapist listening to a patient relating impoverished narratives finds it difficult to grasp what the problems are and what steps need to be taken. As a result, it takes longer or is not possible for each to become attuned with the other and to put together an agreed treatment programme. We illustrate this narrative deficit with a psychotherapy case study and hypothesize about the way a therapist ought to operate in order to tackle the deficit.