Effectiveness of short-term object relation psychotherapy on interpersonal relationships, self-destruct behaviors and personality organization in patients with borderline personality disorder: A clinical trial study

Abstract

Background and Objective: Among short-term therapies, psychoanalytic approaches use the therapeutic relationship more than any other approach as a context for change. This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of short-term object relation psychotherapy on interpersonal relationships, self-destruct behaviors and personality organization of patients with borderline personality disorder. Methods: This clinical trial study was done on the 20 patients with borderline personality disorder who referred to medical clinics in Sari city in northern Iran during 2020. Patients were divided into two intervention and control groups by random sampling. Patients in interventional group were received short-term object relation psychotherapy in 16 individual sessions of 45 minutes once a week. The control group did not receive any intervention. Patients completed the structured clinical interview scales of First et al (SCID-II), the Bell’s object relations inventory (BORI), self-destruct questionnaire of Sharabaf et al and Kernberg’s inventory of personality organization (IPO). Results: Scores of interpersonal relationships, self-destructive behaviors and personality organization were significantly reduced in interventional group in compared to control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Short-term object relation psychotherapy is an effective therapy to reduce the symptoms of patients with borderline personality disorder.

Keywords

• psychoanalytical therapy
• self destructive behavior
• interpersonal relations
• borderline personality disorder