An intensive outpatient program for patients with borderline personality disorder.
Intensive outpatient programs are designed to promote patients' functioning in the community by offering a more intensive level of structure and support than was previously available for outpatients. This paper describes the intensive outpatient program at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, which is tailored for patients with borderline personality disorder. These patients are susceptible to control struggles and regressive behaviors in more restrictive treatment settings. Through frequent contact with clinicians and other patients in this group-oriented program, patients with borderline personality disorders appear to feel sufficiently "held" and understood to develop their functional capacities as outpatients.
Smith
G W
GW
Intensive Outpatient Program, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts 02478, USA.
Ruiz-Sancho
A
A
Gunderson
J G
JG
D000553:Ambulatory Care; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy*; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D006801:Humans; D008404:Massachusetts; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards