Autobiographical rewriting workshops for individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline Personality Disorder imposes significant costs and suffering on both society and patients. Affecting 2 to 6% of the general population and often linked to trauma, with 70-90% of individuals having experienced childhood violence, it is characterized by difficulties in regulating emotions and behaviors. Those with this disorder may face significant obstacles in their professional lives, requiring tailored support to promote their continued employment.

Our project, aiming to assess the effectiveness of autobiographical rewriting workshops as a complement to therapies, builds upon previous research highlighting the importance of storytelling in identity construction. These workshops, centered around themes of resilience and transforming traumatic experiences into positive narratives, provide a safe space to explore and reconstruct personal history. We invite you to discover how this approach could contribute to enhancing the quality of life and well-being of individuals grappling with this disorder.

Dr. Déborah Ducasse, a recognized expert psychiatrist, Karine Gros, holder of the Chair on Disability, Employment, and Occupational Health, and Martin Leurent, clinical research associate, lead the project.

These leaders are supported by a panel of experts, including Prof. Emilie Olié in psychiatry, Olivier Terreault in meditation, Amélie Darras in peer support, and Maria Dujardin in workshop facilitation.

We propose a randomized controlled study to assess the beneficial impact of autobiographical rewriting workshops, in addition to third-wave cognitive-behavioral therapy. Our objective is to help participants gradually transform their sense of identity, moving from a perception tainted by mental illness to a resilient, empathetic, and creative identity. These workshops, inspired by Karine Gros’s work on the importance of storytelling in self-construction, provide a pathway to a more positive identity. By facilitating this evolution, we aim to promote the professional and social integration of participants, thereby offering them new opportunities for fulfillment.

Based on Karine Gros’s work on the importance of storytelling in identity construction (“Identifiction”), these workshops consist of six sessions, addressing themes such as resilience, transforming traumatic experiences into positive narratives, and achieving a properly identified self. The project benefits from the support of the WHO and aims to contribute to corporate social responsibility by promoting inclusion and accessibility.

• Introduction and self-exploration allow participants to reflect on their current identifiction and personal challenges.
• Resilience and pivotal moments help participants, by sharing stories of resilience, to recognize moments when they have overcome challenges and consider how these moments can be integrated into their narrative.
• Revisiting trauma experiences allows participants to explore their memories of trauma from a different perspective, understanding that this descent into the inner “U” is necessary to enable true transformation.
• During the transformation of traumatic narration into positive storytelling, participants reflect on how they can rewrite difficult moments in their lives to learn from them and promote their resilience.
• Participants are then led, through a future vision and poetic expression, to better understand themselves, prepare for their future, accept aging, clarify their values and motivations, and give meaning to their lives.
• Finally, during the achievement of a properly identified self, participants share and affirm an identifiction as resilient, compassionate, and creative individuals.