background Until recently the concept of 'personality (disorder)' has received little attention in behaviour therapy.
aims To describe several cognitive-behavioural approaches to personality disorders that have been developed.
method Literature review.
results Cognitive-behavioural approaches to personality disorders are characterised by a declining confidence in conditioning models and environmental determinism, and increasing acceptance of nonconscious processes, emotional processes and the importance of the therapeutic relationship. Young's Schema-Focused Therapy and Linehan's Dialectical Behavioral Therapy specifically target patients with borderline personality disorder. They are both presented by their authors in a well structured way.
conclusions Cognitive-behavioural approaches to personality disorders differ in the amount of outcome research they have generated. They were developed independent of each other and share several common features.