BORDERLINE PATHOLOGY SPECIFICITY IN ADOLESCENCE: CONSE QUENCES ON COMMUNICATION AND RELATIONSHIP STRATEGIES ACCORDING TO SEQUENTIAL BRIEF-ADLERIAN PSYCHODYNAMIC PSYCHOTHERAPY (SB-APP)

Abstract

Sequential Brief-Adlerian Psychodynamic Psychotherapy (SB-APP) is a time-limited psychotherapy (modules of 40 weekly sessions), tailored on patients’ Personality Functioning Levels (PFL). SB-APP technical issues are specifically discussed in order to treat adolescents and young adults subjects with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD-A). Some considerations on diagnosis and psychopathological assessment are preliminarily discussed, considering vulnerability, traumas and life events, personality organization and functioning. Specific differences between adolescents and adults are stressed and implications for therapy are consequently highlighted. More into detail, SB-APP therapists have to consider the relevance of brain maturation during adolescence, specific life tasks and cultural references, body language and acting out, projection and idealization as not pathological per se, and the role of the family