Re: Parents with BPD who are Mental Health Professionals

[Guest guest]

My Nada worked (for 18 months) in social service non-profits as a counselor.

Longest job she's ever held in her life. She doesn't have her degree but she's

been working on the same B.A. in Psych since 1968.

Feel free to laugh... it's BPD at it's finest.

Lynnette

>

> Does anyone else have a BPD parent who also happens to be a very smart and

sucessfull psychologist/therapist/etc?

>

> This makes for some interesting problems. Not the least of which is denial.

> She is currently getting some help though not for BPD. Psychiatrist and

Neuropsych dont seem to have made diagnosis yet, so I am just going on my own

research re BPD.

>

> Love to hear some coping techniques.

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks Lynette.

My mom is, or at least was high functioning and had a successful private

practice for over 30 years. I know she has even worked with BPD patients, but

often said they were too difficult.

It makes our contact so much trickier because the manipulation/ verbal abuse

level is so subtle at times. I am always on guard. I have come to prepare

myself for 1 to 2 months of feeling very " off " before and after any personal

contact with her.

Also trying to communicate my boundaries and where I am at is maddening because

she understands me perfectly but is unable to change her behavior even when she

wants to.

> >

> > Does anyone else have a BPD parent who also happens to be a very smart and

sucessfull psychologist/therapist/etc?

> >

> > This makes for some interesting problems. Not the least of which is denial.

> > She is currently getting some help though not for BPD. Psychiatrist and

Neuropsych dont seem to have made diagnosis yet, so I am just going on my own

research re BPD.

> >

> > Love to hear some coping techniques.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

My mother (in the height of her suicidality) started a suicide hotline in our

county. I think it lasted all of a month, maybe two months, before she quit

that too.

Re: Parents with BPD who are Mental Health

Professionals

Thanks Lynette.

My mom is, or at least was high functioning and had a successful private

practice for over 30 years. I know she has even worked with BPD patients, but

often said they were too difficult.

It makes our contact so much trickier because the manipulation/ verbal abuse

level is so subtle at times. I am always on guard. I have come to prepare myself

for 1 to 2 months of feeling very " off " before and after any personal contact

with her.

Also trying to communicate my boundaries and where I am at is maddening because

she understands me perfectly but is unable to change her behavior even when she

wants to.

> >

> > Does anyone else have a BPD parent who also happens to be a very smart and

sucessfull psychologist/therapist/etc?

> >

> > This makes for some interesting problems. Not the least of which is denial.

> > She is currently getting some help though not for BPD. Psychiatrist and

Neuropsych dont seem to have made diagnosis yet, so I am just going on my own

research re BPD.

> >

> > Love to hear some coping techniques.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

My mother (in the height of her suicidality) started a suicide hotline in our

county. I think it lasted all of a month, maybe two months, before she quit

that too.

Re: Parents with BPD who are Mental Health

Professionals

Thanks Lynette.

My mom is, or at least was high functioning and had a successful private

practice for over 30 years. I know she has even worked with BPD patients, but

often said they were too difficult.

It makes our contact so much trickier because the manipulation/ verbal abuse

level is so subtle at times. I am always on guard. I have come to prepare myself

for 1 to 2 months of feeling very " off " before and after any personal contact

with her.

Also trying to communicate my boundaries and where I am at is maddening because

she understands me perfectly but is unable to change her behavior even when she

wants to.

> >

> > Does anyone else have a BPD parent who also happens to be a very smart and

sucessfull psychologist/therapist/etc?

> >

> > This makes for some interesting problems. Not the least of which is denial.

> > She is currently getting some help though not for BPD. Psychiatrist and

Neuropsych dont seem to have made diagnosis yet, so I am just going on my own

research re BPD.

> >

> > Love to hear some coping techniques.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

My mother has her Master's in psych and cousels male inmates. So far she has

officially adopted one 25 year old man. I was PISSED and asked her why, she said

" Because he never had good mothering. " It was then that I realized he and I were

going to get along juuuuust fiiiiiine.

>

> Does anyone else have a BPD parent who also happens to be a very smart and

sucessfull psychologist/therapist/etc?

>

> This makes for some interesting problems. Not the least of which is denial.

> She is currently getting some help though not for BPD. Psychiatrist and

Neuropsych dont seem to have made diagnosis yet, so I am just going on my own

research re BPD.

>

> Love to hear some coping techniques.

>

[Guest guest]

LOL! RE getting along fine with your " adopted little brother. "

OMG! RE your mother being a mental health professional. That is so scary to me:

a severely, dangerously mentally ill person *with a psychologist's degree.*

Holy Freaking Cow. Those poor inmates. Trapped with her just like minor

children, unable to escape.

-Annie

>

> My mother has her Master's in psych and cousels male inmates. So far she has

officially adopted one 25 year old man. I was PISSED and asked her why, she said

" Because he never had good mothering. " It was then that I realized he and I were

going to get along juuuuust fiiiiiine.

[Guest guest]

LOL! RE getting along fine with your " adopted little brother. "

OMG! RE your mother being a mental health professional. That is so scary to me:

a severely, dangerously mentally ill person *with a psychologist's degree.*

Holy Freaking Cow. Those poor inmates. Trapped with her just like minor

children, unable to escape.

-Annie

>

> My mother has her Master's in psych and cousels male inmates. So far she has

officially adopted one 25 year old man. I was PISSED and asked her why, she said

" Because he never had good mothering. " It was then that I realized he and I were

going to get along juuuuust fiiiiiine.

[Guest guest]

My nada has a Master's in psychology. She was successful when I was younger, she

had her own counseling business. She was also a Juvenile Probation Officer for

awhile. I always thought it was odd that she helped others with their mental

problems but couldn't seem to manage her own. In 1995 she had a mental breakdown

and never really recovered so she hasn't worked since.

Interestingly, unlike your parent, mine was never in denial. She loves to

psycho-analyze everyone, and that included herself. I believe she was first

misdiagnosed by a doctor, and a dif doctor later correctly diagnosed her. She

researched it very well and was always open to me and my brother about it. She's

actually the one who recommended the " Walking on Eggshells " book to me!! She has

tried many times in my life to get help, and been to many doctors and hospitals,

but she always ended up not liking the therapist, or not liking the meds and

would quit. But the older she gets, the more she thinks there is no hope, and

gives up easier. Now her and my dad are in bad financial trouble and she has no

insurance so she hasn't tried anything in a few years. She's getting much worse

as she ages, she went from high functioning in the 90s to barely functioning

now.

Casey

>

> Does anyone else have a BPD parent who also happens to be a very smart and

sucessfull psychologist/therapist/etc?

>

> This makes for some interesting problems. Not the least of which is denial.

> She is currently getting some help though not for BPD. Psychiatrist and

Neuropsych dont seem to have made diagnosis yet, so I am just going on my own

research re BPD.

>

> Love to hear some coping techniques.

>