The Psychoanalytic-Interactional Method (PiM) for Adolescents with Borderline Personality Disorder

Studies have shown the practicality of diagnosing borderline personality disorder (BPD) in children from the age of 12 years (cf. ICD-11, DSM-5). Research in the psychodynamic therapy of adolescents with BPD has been rare to date, however, there do exist some studies on the efficacy and effectiveness of psychodynamic therapy in adults with borderline personality disorder. We adapted the psychoanalytic-interactional method (PiM), originally developed in the treatment of severely disturbed adults, to the conditions of adolescents diagnosed with borderline personality disorder or structural deficits. Randomized controlled trial in an inpatient setting (Salzer et al., 2013; Salzer et al., 2014) showed that PIM is efficacious for adolescents with BPD symptoms. We describe the approach to treatment in detail. The results of the therapeutic study and the short case vignette show that PiM is a useful method in both inpatient and outpatient treatment and meets the specific requirements of adolescent treatment.