Effects of Emotion-focused vs. Cognitive Schema Therapy Interventions on Emotion Regulation Deficits in Borderline Personality Disorder - Associations Between Clinical Efficacy, Brain Network Function and Local Glutamate/GABA Metabolism
Phase: NA
Conditions: Personality Disorders
Sponsor: Jena University Hospital

Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Regulation
Effects of emotion-focused vs. cognitive schema therapy interventions on emotion regulation deficits in 
borderline personality disorder - associations between clinical efficacy, brain network function and local 
glutamate/GABA metabolism
Ethiks approval 04.06.2018, last time edited

Emotion Focused                            
(ST-EF) 
non-emotion focused - Active Control             
(ST-AC)
Individual sessions
Additionally per week
Focus 
Diagnostics and case 
conceptualization
Individual sessions
Additionally per week
Communicative movement therapy (2×60 min), 
awareness therapy (2×60 min, incl. daily 30 min to 
practice), music therapy (60 min), time for self-
reflection (60 min/day)
Movement therapy (2×60 min), Yoga or progressive 
muscle relaxation, PMR (2×60 min); social competence 
training (2×60 min)
• Diagnostic imagination of all relevant deprivations or 
traumas of childhood (as often as possible)
• Intensive psychoeducation on schemas, schema 
coping, modes (child modes, parent modes, coping 
modes, healthy adult and happy child modes), needs, 
emotions as well as on normal development of children  
• Chair dialogs to clarify function and goals of 
dysfunctional coping modes, to fight dysfunctional 
parent modes (punitive or demanding) or to comfort 
the vulnerable child mode 
• Discussion of self-observation protocolls
• Limited reparenting if vulnerable child or angry child 
mode are akctivated
• Generation of mode-specific micro behavioural 
analysis of situations on the basis of standardized 
worksheets
• Chair dialogs to clarify inner conflicts in daily life 
situations     
• Imagery rescripting of childhood situations
• Development of new functional strategies on the 
basis of emotional needs and functional goals
• Discussion of more functional strategies, pro/con 
debates 
• Imaginary work for practicing in an emotional 
activated context in the now
• Role plays within the session
• BEATE-Steps in order to improve self-management
• BEATE-Steps in order to improve self-management
Focus 
Clarification, "mode 
awareness", self-
empathy
Focus 
Development of new self-
managment strategies
Week 8-9 (becoming ones own therapist phase)
Patients arrive in their groups • undergo detailed full diagnostic assessment • get acquainted with individual and 
group therapist • provide biographical information • recognition of key issues • discussion of diagnostic findings 
including all relevant questionaries • generation of individuel schema-mode-model
Week 1-2 (diagnostic phase) 
Week 3-7 (changing phase)
• Supporting group therapies: ergotherapy (2×60 min), movement therapy (1×60 min)
• meetings of group and individual therapists to coordinate the content of treatment
Dose
• 2 individual sessions, i.e. weekly sessions of 50 minutes with the individual therapist
Dose
10 sessions (2/week) of 50 minutes with individual therapist; 5 sessions of 50 min (or 10, i.e.  2×25 min/week) 
with the co-therapist; 5 weekly group sessions of 100 min including max. 10 patients
Core aspects of
therapy
conditions