ABSTRACT
The borderline concept will probably always remain controversial. Not only is it difficult to agree on the criteria for making the diagnosis, but the intensity of the affect and the primitive nature of borderline patients, as well as the countertransference responses elicited in their therapists or analysts, add fuel to the theoretical debate. Moreover, theory is often dependent on observations made by clinicians and the very nature of these observations may be determined by the clinicians' varying empathic capacities and different theoretical frameworks.
