title: The role of psychodynamic concepts in the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder.
abstract: This review examines the role of psychodynamic concepts in the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. The author discusses the current status of psychodynamic diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and outlines those psychodynamic features of borderline personality upon which most contemporary theorists agree. Psychodynamic concepts add essential dimensions to the diagnostic process in the following ways: (1) they give coherence to seemingly unconnected behavioral phenomena in a way that the descriptive approach to diagnosis does not, (2) they predict clinical dilemmas that arise in working with individuals with borderline personality disorder that are not predicted by DSM-III-R criteria, and (3) they explain important limitations inherent in the diagnostic process that may prevent accurate diagnosis in an initial assessment.
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Boston, Mass., USA.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Waldinger
mesh_terms: D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D003379:Countertransference; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy; D014167:Transference, Psychology