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Pages 288-300
Published online: 28 Dec 2017
 
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An arrest-in-development at the symbiotic stage characterizes borderline conditions. Use of this model, rather than the more familiar triadic Parent-Adult-Child, facilitates work with these clients. Adaptation to powerful figures is not a new response for them. A recognition important for the therapist to retain is that the dynamics and structural aspects of the borderline are consistent, rather than being chaotic as their appearance often suggests. Describes a “cookbook” approach developed for working with borderlines. The approach emphasizes analyzing: 1. observable power plays; 2. acting out; 3. symbiosis, and 4. ego splitting and ego boundaries. Elements of the cookbook are discussed in detail, and illustrative examples provided. Appropriate and effective variations of each element are described, together with the necessary caveats.

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Author information

Ken Woods

Ken Woods, SFM, and Mary Woods, SFM, live and work in Seattle, WA., and are in private practice there.

Mary Woods

Ken Woods, SFM, and Mary Woods, SFM, live and work in Seattle, WA., and are in private practice there.