Borderline Personality Disorder Treatment in Orange County, CA
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) often feels like a roller coaster of emotions and relationship challenges, whether it’s you or a loved family member. At Friendly Recovery, we help you manage these oscillating symptoms. We offer a range of care levels, including PHP, IOP, and Outpatient Services, to provide you with the support you need. Our team helps you find lasting balance.
What Is Borderline Personality Disorder?
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a mental health condition marked by intense emotions and unstable relationships. People with BPD often fear abandonment or feel empty inside. These feelings can affect daily life and relationships. During emotional stress, you might feel intense anger, sadness, or mood swings.
Some people also experience impulsive behaviors, self-harm, or trouble trusting others. BPD can make it hard to keep relationships and feel secure. If you or someone you know is feeling this way, seeking help is essential. BPD is treatable, and professional care can help you feel more stable and in control.
“Before therapy, it was hard to trust people. Now, I feel stronger and more secure in my relationships.”
Common Symptoms of BPD
Symptoms of BPD vary from person to person. Many experience unstable moods, difficulty controlling anger, and relationship problems that can feel overwhelming.
Emotional and Cognitive Symptoms
- Intense mood swings: Sudden shifts from happiness to sadness, irritability, or anxiety.
- Fear of abandonment: Worry about being rejected or left alone, even in everyday situations.
- Extreme sensitivity to criticism or rejection: May feel devastated by even mild feedback.
- Unstable self-image: Unclear or shifting sense of identity; frequent changes in goals, values, or career plans.
- Chronic feelings of emptiness: Feeling hollow or “empty” inside much of the time.
Difficulty controlling anger: Frequent irritability or explosive anger, often followed by guilt or shame. - Identity disturbances: Frequent shifts in sense of self or values.
- Transient stress-related paranoia or dissociation: Feeling suspicious of others or feeling disconnected from reality during stress.
- Intense attachment: Often forms quick, intense bonds that may become overwhelming.
Behavioral and Physical Symptoms
- Impulsivity: Engaging in risky behaviors like overspending, unsafe sex, substance abuse, or reckless driving.
- Self-harm and suicidal behaviors: Cutting, burning, or suicidal threats/attempts often in response to perceived rejection or separation.
- Unstable relationships: Shifting between idealizing and devaluing others; intense, stormy relationships that swing between closeness and conflict.
- Difficulty trusting others: Feeling suspicious or paranoid, especially under stress.
“Not everyone with BPD will have every single symptom. A mental health professional uses a set of guidelines (usually from something called the DSM-5) to make a diagnosis, and it takes at least five of nine possible symptoms to meet the criteria.”
Types of BPD We Treat
We help people who are dealing with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and the other issues that often come along with it, like sudden mood swings, impulsive behaviors, and more:
BPD with Mood Instability: Rapid mood shifts that affect daily life.
BPD with Impulsivity: Acting without thinking, leading to risky behavior.
Co-Occurring Disorders: Anxiety, depression, PTSD, and others.
"Recovery isn’t about fixing you because you’re not broken; it’s about building skills and support to handle life’s challenges in healthier ways."
How We Help
We focus on therapies that are backed by evidence-based, proven research. We’ll help you better understand your symptoms, develop practical tools to manage them, and build a sense of emotional balance. Together, we’ll work on strengthening your relationships, creating a more stable sense of self, and helping you feel more in control of your life..
Therapies Include:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Helps change unhelpful thinking.
Holistic Therapies: Includes mindfulness, exercise, and creative activities.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): Builds emotional regulation skills.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): Encourages mindfulness and acceptance.
Trauma-Informed Care: Supports those with a history of trauma.
Group Therapy: Provides personal and community support.Medication Management: Coordinates care with licensed providers.
Outpatient Programs
Our outpatient services for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) provide personalized support to help you manage emotional challenges, strengthen your sense of self, and build more stable, rewarding relationships. Instead of simply targeting symptoms, we help you create meaningful change by teaching practical skills that foster resilience and lasting personal growth. Explore how our outpatient programs can support your journey toward a healthier, more balanced life.
Your Guide to Outpatient Mental Health Treatment:
General Outpatient Services: For ongoing support and symptom management.
Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP): Several days of therapy per week to balance treatment with work, school, or family life.
Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP): Full-day support to stabilize depression, with the ability to return home each evening.
Is This Care Right for You?
Getting help might be a good idea if you:
- Struggle to manage intense emotions. We teach skills to recognize emotional triggers, reduce emotional overwhelm, and respond more effectively.
- Feel like your relationships are always on edge. We help you build stronger, healthier connections by enhancing communication, mitigating conflict, and fostering trust.
- Find it hard to trust or feel secure with others. We explore the roots of your fears and work on developing a more stable sense of self, enabling you to feel more confident in your relationships.
- Want to build skills to manage symptoms and improve daily life. Through therapy, you’ll learn practical tools like mindfulness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance—so you can handle stress and live more fully.
Together, we’ll focus on creating a sense of emotional balance, helping you build the life you want, one step at a time.
Why People Choose Friendly Recovery?
We understand that one-size-fits-all approaches often fall short, especially with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). BPD is so unique that it usually presents differently in each person, making it essential to tailor treatment approaches to the individual. This uniqueness means that therapy must address not just the emotional challenges, like intense mood swings and fears of abandonment, but also the underlying struggles with identity, relationships, and self-worth.
That’s why we prioritize getting to know your individual experiences, challenges, and needs before crafting your therapy plan. Research shows that personalized therapy increases engagement and motivation, with 97–99% of participants recommending it to others. This highlights how individualized care can make people feel heard, valued, and empowered. Learn more about your team here.
Choose Exceptional Care
Don’t settle for a one-size-fits-all approach to Borderline Personality Disorder. At Friendly Recovery, you or a loved one will find a team that understands the complexities of BPD and provides individualized expertise. Because you deserve more than just “good enough,” you deserve to thrive.
Medically Reviewed By: Shahana Ham, LCSW
Shahana Ham, LCSW, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Southern California. She specializes in client-centered care for individuals facing mental health and substance use challenges, fostering a supportive environment for healing and growth.
