Borderline personality disorder and helpful service relationships: a grounded theory study

Section A: Critically reviews the literature pertinent to how services are helpful for people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD). This includes service-user research and evidence based on clinicians' experiences. Relevant theories are discussed and the gap in the current evidence base is provided.
Section B: Most research evidence relating to BPD focuses on how specialist psychological models are helpful rather than how mental healthcare services relate helpfully to people with this diagnosis. This study explored this further using grounded theory methodology. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight mental healthcare clinicians and eight service-user participants diagnosed with BPD. The results suggested that the most helpful services are those that can form a secure, safe and consistent attachment to individuals with BPD. These services should be accepting and validating where responsibility is shared. Least helpful are those with disorganised attachment styles where themes around dependency, invalidation, and rejection are suggested. Further research would be beneficial to ascertain if these findings are supported by other specialist mental healthcare teams with a more diverse population.
Section C: Critically appraises the research project and provides reflections about the research process and how the researcher felt when conducting this research project.