What St. Thérèse of Lisieux Can Teach Us About Mental Health: Psychologist Offers Catholic Perspective, by Trent Beattie

To the casual observer, everything is just fine with Margaret. She’s intelligent, energetic and charming. Colleagues notice that she has an edge at times, but who doesn’t? Yet those people very close to Margaret experience far more than an edge. They experience sudden rage, hostility, accusations and demands that make it very difficult to stay nearby. Quite ironically, however, people remaining close to her is exactly what Margaret wants.

What is going on in Margaret’s mind, and how can she be helped?

That is what Greg Kolodziejczak specializes in. The Cambridge, Massachusetts, psychologist has treated clients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) for more than a decade. The disorder was named “borderline” because psychiatrists thought it was on the border between neurosis (difficulty in adapting well to one’s environment) and psychosis (loss of touch with reality), though that is no longer considered an accurate description. Now, the term “emotional dysregulation disorder” is sometimes used, due to the central role of emotional flooding and intense inner pain. …

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