Motivation for Borderline Personality Disorder
Our 19 year old daughter was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) at 15 following battles with depression and self-harm. We sought the best help possible and she was hospitalized outside Boston where she learned Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) from your former colleagues at Harvard. She also stayed in a therapeutic boarding school for 14 months catching up on classwork and learning skills to better assist her in life. She did well under a structured environment but now constantly struggles to motivate herself physically, emotionally and academically in her first year of college. How do you promote personal responsibility when a person is extremely emotionally sensitive? You sometimes exclude those with mental illness when offering recommendations on how to be the best version of yourself. We feel like we have given her all the tools she needs to help herself but realize that holding her hand around every life experience could be as detrimental as mental illness.
"DIE" aka the downward spiral
My company, which overall I like, is hinting towards making Diversity Equity and Inclusion "training" mandatory. The Senior Executives are all quite gung ho about it, as they are all ideas that they want to push. I have a financial and moral responsibility to support myself and my family. I am capable of questioning things quite well, but not necessarily fully equipped to go up against my employer in an ideological head to head just to get the boot. What do I do? Is it possible I may even learn something, even though on the surface I find "DIE" worse for everyone. Do I grin and bear it, or do I do it with a few questions thrown in?
When does conflict begin?
The assassination of Franz Ferdinand was a catalyst for World War One. However, we should consider German/Austro-Hungarian preparedness for the opportunity, or perhaps pretext. It seems unreasonable to blame the spark for igniting the tinder. Could the recent event at the Oscars have occurred without crowd complicity? Is there a point at which we can observe conflict begin prior to the first flame? Thank you for your enduring advice. Mike in NZ.
Getting away with things.
I've heard you say that during your time as a clinical psychologist, you have never seen anybody get away with anything, not even once. Is this not simply because your sample is comprised entirely of people who have come to you for help on alleviating themselves of their psychological or moral qualms? Making for a biased sample. One could argue that this is besides the point. Generally speaking, one will be burdened by their conscience should they undertake any amoral actions in their life. I question whether this is only rooted in one's individual sense of morality. Do you feel as if your statement is a generalistic truism (with some exceptions)? Or more specifically, one which remains true no matter the circumstances, given enough time?
When your means of income and your life's dreams rely on the same daily energy.
I am a full-time graphic design freelancer, single-handedly managing the work of nine clients weekly. My creative tank is exhausted by the end of the day, although I do have a substantial amount of energy leftover. However, I have next to nothing left in the tank to focus on my passion/dream which is also creative-focused. Do you have any advice on how I can re-assign this leftover energy inside of myself to restore my creative focus for an hour or two a day, in order to steadily chip away at my creative passion? For further context, I found your advice helpful (and actionable) regarding a client you once had, who was a lawyer, and had trouble taking time off. My line of work is similar to this person; billable hours are key and my attention is often constantly in demand by my clients. My Understand Myself results were: Agreeableness: Exceptionally High Compassion: Exceptionally High Politeness: High Conscientiousness: Very High Industriousness: Moderately High Orderliness: Exceptionally High Extraversion: High Enthusiasm: Very High Assertiveness: Typical or Average Neuroticism: High Withdrawal: Very High Volatility: Typical or Average Openness to Experience: Very High Intellect: Moderately High Openness: Exceptionally High Thank you!