Abstract
When first selecting my essay title for this paper, I was immediately drawn to the topic regarding the assessment and treatment of personality disorder for two reasons. Firstly, the day service in which I am placed is undergoing a redesign as a Personality Disorder and Psychosis service (Houghton, 2007). This service redesign has highlighted some interesting implications with regards to the identification of personality disorder, as well as leading me to question the availability of clinical skills suggested for the treatment of personality disorder. The second reason this topic appealed to me was in terms of my own clinical experience. Having a client who could potentially be diagnosed with personality disorder and thinking through the possible implications and experience of such a diagnosis. As such this topic felt very relevant to me in terms of my learning needs, allowing an opportunity to review the process of assessment and treatment for personality disorder from a predominantly client perspective.For the purposes of this paper, I intend to focus upon the assessment and treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), using the model of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) and the treatment model of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT). Although I have been tempted to review DBT from a clinical evidence-based perspective in terms of effectiveness and implementation, the scope of this paper aims to retain a service user view. Therefore the primary focus of this discussion will be on the clients' experiences of being identified with, and treated for BPD; an approach that echoes my own personal and professional values. After the initial discussion around the assessment and treatment of BPD, I plan to relate the key ideas back to my clinical practice.