Psychotherapy of the Quiet Borderline Patient

Psychotherapy of the Quiet Borderline Patient is the first book-length study of the as-if personality, also referred to as the quiet borderline patient. This book offers the most detailed exposition of etiology in the literature, tracing as-if development first from an object relations standpoint and then from a family interaction perspective. In addition, this is the first work to propose a specific treatment approach for the quiet borderline patient. Half a century has passed since Deutsch's famous paper introduced the as-if category. In spite of the popularity and influence of that paper, there has been little development of the concept, apparently because subsequent writers felt there were few as-if patients. Psychotherapy of the Quiet Borderline Patient, however, suggests that there is no shortage of as-if individuals in contemporary society. The authors demonstrate that such cultural factors as changing conceptions of childrearing, emphasis on rapid adaptation to change, and an intolerance of any process requiring an investment of time are likely to promote the as-if style.