Lost in the Mirror peers into a black and white world of extreme emotions and turbulent relationships. The inhabitants of this world experience their lives from moment to moment, grasping for shreds of identity to connect each fragment of experience to the next. Because they have little awareness of the texture and flow of human emotions, painful emotions, such as loneliness and fear, may seem endless and intolerable. Their need to escape this pain leads to desperate, impulsive, and frequently self-defeating behaviors.
Lost in the Mirror explores the origins of Borderline Personality Disorder and offers its sufferers a framework for beginning to heal. While the first edition focused on the dynamics of the psychotherapeutic relationship that underlies all good treatment, this edition elaborates on the kinds of psychotherapy that are practiced today. It describes mainstream approaches, such as psychoanalytic psychotherapy, cognitive therapy, and behavior therapy, as well as innovative treatments, such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).
EMDR, a technique for neutralizing the emotional impact of traumatic events, has infused my own practice of psychotherapy with new vitality and has expanded my understanding of the connections between past experiences and current emotions and behavior. DBT, a comprehensive treatment approach designed specifically for patients with BPD, offers to restore balance to a world of extremes and to help patients learn to regulate emotions and control self-destructive impulses.
For those of you who are new to Lost in the Mirror, I welcome you to learn about what it feels like to live with this painful condition. For those who have returned to learn more, I invite you to explore the most recent innovations in pharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatments and to explore the abundant resources now available for continuing your education about Borderline Personality Disorder.
