The most current conceptualization of personality pathology emphasizes the assessment of the severity of selected domains of functioning involving lack of accurate perceptions of self and others that are common across the personality disorder categories. Advances in our understanding of personality pathology have stimulated further development of Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (TFP) for patients with borderline personality disorder, including treatment focus on both behavior and mental representations of self and others, the trajectory of change in TFP, and the extension of TFP principles to the entire domain of personality pathology.
Transference-focused psychotherapy (TFP) is a theory driven, manualized, and empirically supported treatment that was originally developed for patients with the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Based upon modern psychoanalytic object relations theory, TFP was first described in manual form [1], expanded and refined with extensive clinical experience [2], and recently explicated with illustrative case examples [3]. The aim of TFP is to effect change in both symptoms and interpersonal difficulties through structured psychological care that leads to the modification of patients’ mental representations of self and other that guide behavior. Key features of this contemporary object relations treatment model include: (1) framing the treatment with a verbal contract, (2) a focus on disturbed interpersonal behaviors both in the patients’ current life and in relationship to the therapist, and (3) use of the process of interpretation to modify internal representations of self and others, and (4) real world changes in interpersonal behavior particularly in the areas of work and intimate/ love relations.
