May is BPD Awareness Month - Blog by Karyn Hall

Do you fear being abandoned? Many individuals who fear abandonment are anxious in relationships. You may struggle to express your feelings in an accurate way because of your fear of others’ reactions. In fact, expressing love and caring for others may be scary, because you don’t feel safe–you are never sure where you stand with others.

Radical acceptance is the acceptance that reality is what it is. It doesn’t mean you don’t work to change it. Acceptance doesn’t mean approval.  Acceptance is acknowledging or regaining facts that are true; conceding the facts.

DEAR Man is a DBT skill for expressing what you want to someone else. I’ve found that DEAR Man also works for setting an intention, something you want from yourself. Setting an intention is

When you are in a dark place, it can feel like nothing will help and nothing will ever change. The tunnel vision is part of the darkness, because lack of hope that it will be different can be devastating.

Do you sometimes think that people don’t understand you? Part of a sense of belonging and feeling accepted is believing that others understand you—they get you. That can often mean that you share the same views.

There are certain behaviors that increase depression and anxiety. For example, one behavior that can increase both depression and anxiety is rumination. Another example is lack of