ABSTRACT
Unified therapy is an integration of psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and family systems theories and treatment techniques. Ideas and techniques from experiential and existential therapies are also incorporated into the therapy. To reiterate, the basic premise behind the unified therapy theory of the creation of borderline personality disorder is that the parents in the patient's family of origin have a severe psychodynamic conflict over the parenting role. The parental behaviors that trigger borderline-type responses occur at variable frequencies and intensities, and are often mixed in with a variety of additional double messages over other issues. The idea that a family double bind might be a major contributor to psychopathology received a bad rap because double binding was initially observed in the families of schizophrenics, and was postulated by early family therapists to be the cause for that disorder. The active role of future BPD patients in this process is induced when they are children but continues into their adulthood.
