CASE STUDY
Albert (borderline personality disorder with co-morbid alcohol use)

Albert is a 33-year-old single, Caucasian male who reports experiencing pervasively depressed mood following the dissolution of a six-month romantic relationship. Albert describes feeling overwhelmed with feelings of “emptiness” and is convinced that he will be “alone forever.” He additionally reports being “in and out” of psychosocial treatment for suicidal thoughts though denies ever having made any suicide attempts. He also denies engagement in non-suicidal self-injurious behaviors.

Albert reports chronic difficulty managing his strong emotions and recognizes that others would describe him as “moody.” He further recognizes that he can quickly escalate with inappropriate and/or intense anger over minor transgressions, which subsequently results in feelings of guilt and embarrassment.  His anger makes it difficult to sustain both platonic and romantic relationships. To cope, Albert frequently seeks reassurance from others (e.g., calling in desperation to make sure they still care about him) and drinks excessively (i.e., six or more drinks per sitting). Due to the heaviness and frequency of his drinking in the recent weeks, Albert has called out sick a few times from work to recover from drinking the night before. Albert is looking for a treatment that will help him manage/regulate intense emotions in an adaptive manner. In addition, he hopes to learn strategies to better navigate interpersonal relationships (e.g., effective communication).