Systemic Family Therapy of a Junior High student with School Refusal and Suspected Borderline Personality Disorder

Abstract

　　This paper dose not refer directly to the borderline personality disorder, but it examines some striking distortions of family system caused by the borderline personality disorder and the therapeutic approaches to such a system.

　　In the case of child borderline personality disorder, it seems that the boundary of each subsystem of spouse and peer group is not clear, that the family members cannot communicate with each other so well, and that the parental subsystem is not functioning perfectly.

　　It is not sure who should take the role and function to resolve the family problems when the boundary between spouse and peer subsystems is diffused. Assisting in making the clean boundary between spouse and peer subsystems, the therapist, especialy, focuses on increasing the father’s power in terms of interpersonal relationship within the family, because it is based on the hypothesis that the father’s influence will still be powerful in such an enmeshed family.

　　In this case, when the spouse and the peer group boundary became clear and the relationship between IP’s father and mother was basically improved, his symptoms also was improved and he could return to school.