Oral presentation: 7th International Congress of Cognitive Therapy, Istanbul, June 2-5th

Symposium
Enhancing the cognitive therapist’s creativity with concepts of positive psychology for borderline personality. www.iccp2011.com/5june.php

Abstract : Promoting Self-Efficacy in a BPD
Patient Pascale Zrihen – June 2-5, 2011, Istanbul – Turkey

Self-efficacy is defined as people’s beliefs about their capacities to accomplish, coordinate and drive their aptitudes to meet a specific goal. Starting from childhood, it is reinforced throughout life in function to the responsiveness of the social and family environment. Self-efficacy provides self-confidence and enhances self-esteem.

Bandura’s sociocognitive theory considers that the stronger our belief in our self-efficacy is, our goals and actions to achieve them will be higher. To reinforce self-efficacy, one needs to have particularly good cognitive and symbolization capabilities.

BPD patients suffer most often from a lack of self-efficacy because their family has insufficiently or excessively responded to their behaviour. Their impulsiveness, their instability in interpersonal relationships and their constant pain in the face of their feelings of emptiness and abandonment leave them with a weak self-esteem and weak confidence in their self-efficacy.

This presentation shows some psychotherapeutic techniques driving a BPD patient to enhance her self-efficacy into a risky situation: being alone at home, she thought she would not be able to manage her feelings of boredom and emptiness, and feared she would fall once more into a bulimic crisis, which she had been able to avoid. This cognitive behavioural therapy based on the positive psychology mindset relies in particular on the key concepts of self-efficacy, self-evaluation and self-regulation which will be explained and illustrated in a vignette.