Description:
OPD Points: 5
Psychotherapy with individuals diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is often complex, emotionally intense, and clinically demanding. A deep understanding of the developmental roots of BPD—particularly through the lens of attachment theory—can offer valuable insight into the therapeutic process and improve treatment outcomes.
In this clear and clinically grounded presentation, Clinical Psychologist Yvette Esprey explores the diagnosis, etiology, and treatment of BPD using an attachment-informed approach. Drawing on her extensive clinical experience, Yvette demonstrates how early relational trauma and insecure attachment patterns contribute to the emotional dysregulation and interpersonal instability characteristic of BPD.
This CPD offers both theoretical depth and practical strategies, empowering psychologists to work more confidently and compassionately with clients experiencing BPD.
Session Topics
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Diagnosis and Clinical Features of BPD
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Attachment-Based Etiology of BPD
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Therapeutic Implications of Attachment-Informed Practice
Key Learning Objectives / Outcomes:
By the end of this CPD session, participants will be able to:
Identify key diagnostic features and clinical presentations of Borderline Personality Disorder.
Understand the developmental etiology of BPD through an attachment theory framework.
Apply attachment-informed insights to enhance therapeutic alliance and treatment planning with BPD clients.
Recognise common relational patterns in therapy and respond effectively to client dysregulation.
Assessment:
Presenter / Provider:
Yvette Esprey
Presenter Qualifications:
Yvette has Masters degrees in both Clinical and Industrial Psychology. She has lectured at Wits University, Rhodes and UCT and is also part of the faculty as a guest lecturer on trauma and race and psychotherapy at Smith College, Northhampton MA, USA. Yvette has worked as the head psychologist on the Psychotherapy unit at Tara Hospital and has been a consultant to the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls.
She is currently in private practice in Johannesburg and is a member of the Discovery Health expert panel for Psychological services. She has specific interests in psychoanalytic theory, borderline personality disorders, trauma, and the intersection of race and psychotherapy.
Yvette is currently working on her PHD on issues of race, racism and racialised identities in the South African therapeutic context.
