Talking to a Loved One with Borderline Personality Disorder is mostly applicable to a spousal or couple relationship, minimally to a parent/child. I was a little disappointed that other relationships arent explored. I thought the lessons in mindful speech were helpful in many situations. Jerold J Kreisman writes respectfully and conversationally about the subject, which I really appreciated. I do think this book is a valuable reference and will recommend it when I feel it fits the reader's situation.
3.5
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

This is a difficult book to review because it is so specific to this personality disorder. If you are familiar or have experienced living with someone with BPD this book is a great resource. I did not read it cover to cover but skipped around to the sections that were most relevant to me. It is nice to see that others struggle with the same issues our family has, I mean it is not just us.

A great insight into BPD, and useful for those who live with someone who has this disorder. Compassionate and informative.

“Talking to A Loved One With Borderline Personality Disorder” is a very informative and realistically adaptable book on how one can interact and understand another person with Bipolar Disorder. Aside from including chapters where the aspects and traits of a BP are identified, they are all followed up with the appropriate reaction to such encounters. There are many anecdotes and personal examples included to help the reader better apply the tools in their own interactions.

Borderline Personality Disorder is a topic that I have studied extensively in my Psychology degree and has always fascinated me. I particularly chose this read because, although I personally do not know anyone with a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder, my studies have taught me that it is the most misunderstood and the most dangerous of psychological diagnosis. This book was written in such a way that, whether you are familiar with the diagnosis or not, it can offer insight to anyone. Although there is much more that was left out of the Borderline Personality spectrum. Therefore, I don’t know that this would be my first recommendation to someone that is unfamiliar with the disorder entirely. I would however, recommend it as a follow up to any research into Borderline Personality because it does such a great job of revealing the lives of the partners and families involved. One of the biggest things we can do for our world, is to educate ourselves on the important issues that surround us universally. Including mental health. And this was a wonderful book to help my personal understanding of Borderline Personality.

The authors took a sensitive topic and offered realistic advice. As a psychology major, I found this book to be a great read and full of useful tools.

Excellent book on a very difficult topic. It is written form a very realistic and practical perspective, emphasizing how difficulty, frustrating, and hurtful it can be to engage with a personal dealing with the disorder. The characterization of BPD as a defense mechanism, or an emotional reaction employed by the person to protect themselves, is useful point of reference for communication. There are ample scenarios of a different types of people in variety of situations, and examples of interactions that work and those that don't. The most helpful aspect of this book is that it represents both people in the relationship fairly and realistically. BPD is a tricky thing to live with for both parties. The authors offer communication scenarios as suggestions or opportunities, something to try., but also acknowledge nothing may work. This reality-based perspective makes this one of the best books on the topic.

I chose to read Talking to a Loved One with Borderline Personality Disorder specifically for Part Two, Chapter 10: When to Hold, When to Fold.
I felt like I needed someone to tell me it is ok to let go, to accept that I am doing harm to myself by remaining in a relationship with someone who is not trying to adapt and manage their BPD. What I got was the strength to carry on and the tools that are needed to help my partner.
I am indebted to Jerold J. Kreisman, MD. His book served as both a refresher of what BPD is as well as provided new coping mechanisms for both myself and my partner. This book has saved a relationship and I am so profoundly grateful.

To start, it's important to note that I have Borderline Personality Disorder. Thus, I read this from my standpoint rather than that of my partner. It's something I've been dealing with for a long time, and I'm at the age where I'm fairly self aware. I do still have my fair share of problems due to the disorder, but as noted in the book, with age it gets a bit easier to manage. That being said, I've been looking for a book to give to my partner to better understand how to deal with problems when it comes to me.

My book was formatted strangely, so I did miss a lot of the diagrams, but I like the concept of that. It makes a point, especially one with a model much easier to follow. I also enjoyed that there was an example for everything said, but my issue with that is for me it always seemed to be the wrong example. For example - if the situation was about the BP feeling replaced and not trusting that they matter, that situation can apply to both family, friendships, and intimate relationships. The example I would need would be for intimate relationships, as that's where I tend to be the worst. But the example given was geared toward a family situation. And this kind of thing happened repeatedly. Obviously the book isn't tailored to me, but in circumstances such as that it might've been more helpful for an example under each of those, or one that tailored to all three somehow.

My only other real issue is that some of the worst aspects of BPD weren't mentioned much, if at all. Such as dissociation and the inability to trust/unstable relationships.

In general the book was an easy read, both in terms of easy to understand and unwillingness to put it down, which I find important in things like this.