Personality Disorder

Aaban delivers specialist residential, recovery-focused treatment and care services for women experiencing severe and complex personality disorders. Typically, our service users achieve the recovery outcomes that they are currently struggling with in their existing circumstances or living situations.

What is a personality disorder?

Personality disorders are defined as impairments in personality functioning (self and interpersonal) and the presence of pathological personality traits. Early attachment difficulties and trauma are often linked to the development of many personality disorders, which can affect how emotions develop into adulthood and lead to dysfunctional and potentially risky behaviour.

Personality disorders are common mental health problems; more so than many people realise. Around 1 in 20 people in the England are estimated to have some form of personality disorder. The severity of these can vary between mild, moderate or severe. (The website for the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) gives a comprehensive overview of the various types of personality disorders.)

For many of those affected, their conditions are mild and only apparent in times of great distress (such as grief). However, others may experience more complex and long-term challenges with their mental health that require specialist help from highly qualified professionals, and it’s exactly this sort of support that we provide here at Aaban.

Our Approach

Our treatment and care services are informed by Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT); an evidence-based type of talking therapy that has evolved from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. DBT has been adapted to meet the needs of people who experience emotions very intensely, and helps them to develop ways to manage any resultant distressing behaviour.

Though our treatment follows an established structure, we tailor our approach according to the needs of individual service users. The overarching structure for our care plans incorporates several key strands:

• Medication management: a major component in successfully managing a number of the associated symptoms that are associated with borderline personality disorder. Our specialists closely monitor the dosages and effectiveness of this medication at all stages of treatment, ready to adjust if needed.
• Individual therapy: Service users meet a skilled therapist to develop individual skills work in a closed, confidential environment. Here, these women have the opportunity to explore their emotions and the triggers that cause any harmful behaviour, and are given guidance on establishing more constructive coping mechanisms.
• Group therapy: service users are encouraged by their therapist to meet together and practice the skills they’ve learned in their individual sessions, as well as participate in group discussions on issues that they might struggle with. This peer-to-peer interaction is hugely beneficial, as service users learn to understand not only their emotions, but also how their actions might elicit responses in others.

At all stages of our treatment, we encourage every one of our service users to make their own choices, encouraging autonomy wherever possible, helping them to achieve their goals. This approach stems from the Aaban concept; you can read more about these values on our About Us page.