ABSTRACT
Many of the early classical analysts did not refer specically to the term borderline, nor did they focus primarily on communication styles. However, the tools, techniques, and methods they used have provided us with invaluable insights. e borderline personality is not a clear and concise entity because borderline states, traits, and characteristics tend to vacillate. As one colleague remarked, “I’m not sure if my patient is narcissist or borderline, so I refer to her as a “nar/bor.” Many clinicians with a psychoanalytic/psychodynamic orientation are now moving away from their couches, turning to the newer cognitive and behavioral approaches for the treatment of the borderline, including Dialectic Behavior erapy.
