Personality Disorder Therapy in Conway, AR—Therapists and Counselors
Decades ago the medical community believed that personality disorders were untreatable. Fortunately, counseling has advanced light years and there are now many ways in which a professional counselor can help with personality disorders.
The prevalence of personality disorders
According to the American Psychological Association, as many as 30% of people who seek out help for a mental health issue have at least one personality disorder.
Personality disorders are categorized into three different groups and each group includes numerous personality disorders:
- Odd and eccentric disorders, which include paranoid personality disorder and schizoid personality disorder, are grouped together.
- Dramatic, emotional, and erratic behavior disorders, which include narcissistic personality disorder and borderline personality disorder, are grouped together.
- Anxious or fearful disorders include obsessive-compulsive personality disorder and avoidant personality disorder and are grouped together.
Note that not all personality disorders are included in these three groups.
The first step in personality disorder counseling: Getting your emotions under control.
Though the right way to proceed with any personality disorder will depend on the needs of each individual client, typically the first step is to get emotions under control. This can include both pharmaceutical solutions and talk therapies.
Core beliefs must be changed
Core beliefs are rigid, inflexible beliefs people hold about themselves, others in their lives, and the world at large. They generally develop over time, starting in childhood, and are maintained by a person’s hyper focus on information that supports them and by ignoring information that doesn’t support them.
A therapist can help the client understand what core beliefs they hold, investigate the source of said beliefs, and challenge them to explore alternative meanings. Thriveworks Conway Counseling and Coaching provides personality disorder counseling that goes beyond simply changing how our patients feel and instead focuses on changing their lives.
