Patricia E. Zurita Ona - Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder: A Flexible Treatment Plan for Clients with Emotional Dysregulation

Patricia presents a long overdue book about applying acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and psychological flexibility principles to one of the most needing populations in psychotherapychallenging some myths about working with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Attention-gripping exercises utilizing an array of experiential and didactic avenues for learning important life knowledge and skills will benefit any practitioner that struggles with BPD clients. Additional nerdy comments and an ample theoretical introduction integrates ACT with useful perspectives on BPD and emotion regulationbroadening the therapist repertoire not only practically, but also conceptually.

Bartosz Kleszcz, MA , ACT therapist and researcher in Poland

Addressing a highly important and transdiagnostic application, Patricia Zurita Ona has successfully translated the nonlinear model of ACT into a step-by-step approach for the treatment of emotion regulation issues. Backed by scientific referencesand complete with creative exercises, worksheets, key teaching points, act-in-action activities, and suggested weekly practices that can be readily applied to group settings or modified for individual usepractitioners will undoubtedly appreciate this practical and comprehensive clinical volume. Programs specializing in the treatment of BPD now have a ready-to-roll-out ACT-based manual.

Lou Lasprugato, MFT , peer-reviewed ACT trainer at Sutter Health Institute for Health and Healing

How do we help those who feel too much, too fast, and act in self-defeating ways? This book by Patricia Zurita Ona provides the essential guide to using ACT to help super-feelers to strengthen healthy awareness of their emotions, thoughts, and bodiesfinding the wisdom in feelings to skillfully connect with what matters. The book is full of treasures: really useful metaphors and exercises; pragmatic approaches to understanding and talking about emotion regulation; engaging and effective modules to meet the needs of super-feelers; and plenty of hard-won wisdom to recognize and respond to common pitfalls in therapy. Written with terrific humor, intelligence, and compassion, Dr. Zs manual is thoroughly recommended.

Eric Morris, PhD , senior lecturer and psychology clinic director at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia; fellow of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS); and coauthor of ACT for Psychosis Recovery

Patricia provides an accessible, nuanced deconstruction of emotion regulation, and how ACT promotes psychological flexibility with individuals who experience emotions deeply and intensely. Occupational therapists in particular will find this resource invaluable, as it moves away from diagnostic labeling while clarifying how to make room for all internal experiences, and engage in meaningful actions that promote new skills for a life well lived. This lighthearted manual is flexible in nature with new and engaging content, while also inviting the facilitator to explore their own experiences as a part of the process. This makes it a brilliant asset not only for people who are accessing services, but also to embrace therapists who consider themselves super-feelers.

Louise Sanguine , occupational therapist for the adolescent addictions and mental health outpatient program at the Alberta Health Services South Health Campus in Calgary, AB, Canada; and consultant occupational therapist for Imagine Psychological Services in Calgary

A large number of people are affected by emotion regulation difficulties every day. Patricia Zurita Ona addresses the challenges you may have as a therapist around the incredible sensitivity of super-feelers, wrapped up in the effective science of ACT. The book pays special attention on helping you build ACT skills using examples, exercises, and teaching points. Patricia expertly delineates a contextual understanding of emotion regulation in an easily readable way, so much so that even beginner therapists can benefit from this informative book. I can confidently say that Patricias book makes ACT more accessible and approachable for therapists working with the BPD population.

Sindhu BS, MS , founder and president of the ACBS India Chapter; and therapist in private practice in Bangalore, India

In this powerful book, Patricia Zurita Ona guides us step by step into a process-based and ACT-consistent intervention through the challenges of emotion regulation. Patricia kindly and precisely leads the reader to an intense paradigm shift in the way BPD is conceptualized, highlighting the importance of emotion regulation as a process beneath many diagnoses, and a main target for powerful therapeutic interventions. The beauty of this book is that the tools and strategies accurately described here will empower interventions in a wide range of clinical demands.

Desire da Cruz Cassado, MsC , clinical psychologist, ACT therapist, teacher, and process-based intervention enthusiast committed to developing strategies to increase emotional awareness in groups and individuals

Publishers Note

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering psychological, financial, legal, or other professional services. If expert assistance or counseling is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books

Copyright 2020 by Patricia E. Zurita Ona

Context Press

An imprint of New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

5674 Shattuck Avenue

Oakland, CA 94609

www.newharbinger.com

Cover design by Amy Shoup

Acquired by Ryan Buresh

Edited by Melanie Bell

All Rights Reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Zurita Ona, Patricia, author. | Harris, Russ, 1938- author.

Title: Acceptance and commitment therapy for borderline personality disorder : a flexible treatment plan for clients with emotional dysregulation / Patricia E. Zurita Ona, Russ Harris.

Description: Oakland : New Harbinger Publications, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019056595 (print) | LCCN 2019056596 (ebook) | ISBN 9781684031771 (paperback) | ISBN 9781684031788 (pdf) | ISBN 9781684031795 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Borderline personality disorder--Treatment. | Acceptance and commitment therapy.

Classification: LCC RC569.5.B67 Z87 2020 (print) | LCC RC569.5.B67 (ebook) | DDC 616.85/852--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019056595

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019056596

In 2018 in the United States, more than 2,000 children were separated from their parents and placed in cages; the government called the cages chain-link partitions. This manuscript is dedicated to the invisible ones, the unseen, the underdogs, the outliers. Wherever you are, I wrote this book thinking of you . Dr. Z

Contents

Foreword

If I had a dollar for every time someone said to me, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) doesnt include emotion regulation or You cant do ACT with borderline personality disorder (BPD), then right now Id be busy spending all that money on double-coated chocolate Tim Tams, to me over the years, Ive never received a single dollar for my troubles. And so it is that instead of going out tonight and impulsively spending my money on things I dont need, here I am, sitting at my computer, writing a foreword.