Is It Ever Too Late To Heal From BPD? | Late Life BPD Expert Professor Arjan Videler
BPD Diaries: Stories and Science with SteffShow Notes
Helping young people with BPD is 'sexy.' Helping older adults? Not so much. That's the ageism we need to talk about. In this episode, I'm joined by Professor Arjan Videler - Professor of Psychotherapy in Older Adults at Tilburg University, senior researcher at PersonaCura in the Netherlands, and one of the world's leading voices on BPD across the lifespan. We cover: • The 19-year life expectancy gap for people with BPD • What BPD actually looks like at 70 • The advantage older adults have for recovery • The ageism in mental health • How schema therapy and STEPPS are being adapted for older adults • What 'positive schemas' are and why they matter And somewhere in the middle, there's a story about a glass of expensive wine in Central Park, a psychologist named Theodore Millen, and how the DSM ended up categorical instead of dimensional. This is a quiet, profound episode about a population that has been largely invisible in BPD research and public conversation. If you're 40 or 70, it doesn't really make a difference. It's never too late to heal.
🌱 Have questions, stories, or something you’d like us to cover? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected] and let’s keep the conversation going. 🎧 Looking for meditations made for emotional regulation, BPD, and more? Check out Empowered Heroes Meditations on Spotify. If you’d like more support in your journey toward BPD recovery, Steff offers 1:1 sessions using evidence-based tools from DBT, Schema Therapy, and Mindfulness to help you heal. Email for a free 30-Minute Consultation: 📩 [email protected] or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org
📚 Referenced Research Includes:
Conjaerts, J. A., Videler, A. C., Schepman, R., Elfeddali, I., Rosowsky, E., & van Alphen, S. P. (2025). Clinical staging for personality disorders in older adults. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, 38(1), 32-43. https://doi.org/10.1177/08919887241254467 Ekiz, E., van Alphen, S. P., Ouwens, M. A., Van de Paar, J., & Videler, A. C. (2023). Systems Training for Emotional Predictability and Problem Solving for borderline personality disorder: A systematic review. Personality and Mental Health, 17(1), 20-39. https://doi.org/10.1002/pmh.1558 Khasho, D. A., Van Alphen, S. P. J., Heijnen-Kohl, S. M. J., Ouwens, M. A., Arntz, A., & Videler, A. C. (2019). The effectiveness of individual schema therapy in older adults with borderline personality disorder: Protocol of a multiple-baseline study. Contemporary clinical trials communications, 14, 100330. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conctc.2019.100330 van Donzel, L., Ouwens, M. A., van Alphen, S. P., Bouwmeester, S., Bachrach, N., & Videler, A. C. (2025). Integrating positive schemas in schema therapy for Cluster C personality disorders in older adults: A multiple baseline study. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 32(4), e70121. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.70121 Videler, A. C., Hutsebaut, J., Schulkens, J. E., Sobczak, S., & Van Alphen, S. P. (2019). A life span perspective on borderline personality disorder. Current psychiatry reports, 21(7), 51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-019-1040-1 Videler, A. A., van Royen, R. R., & van Alphen, S. B. (2012). Schema therapy with older adults: call for evidence. International Psychogeriatrics, 24(7), 1186-1187. Doi:10.1017/S1041610211002638 PersonaCura: https://ggzbreburg.nl/over-ggz-breburg/voorloper-in-de-ggz/topklinische-ggz/personacura Make Therapy Simple Again Article: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340081785_Make_therapy_simple_again
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