Separation-individuation conflict as a model for understanding distressed caregivers: psychodynamic and cognitive case studies
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 8, 2026

Use of a Psychophysiological Script-driven Imagery Experiment to Study Trauma-related Dissociation in Borderline Personality Disorder
Published on: March 8, 2018
1Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center, CA.
Abstract:
Caring for a frail relative can be a stressful undertaking. Caregivers are faced with a series of losses, and old interpersonal wounds are often reopened. Project Assist was designed to study the efficacy of time-limited psychodynamic and cognitive/behavioral therapies for experienced and recent caregivers. It offers psychotherapy that can assist caregivers in separating their own emotions, identity, and well-being from those of the care receiver. This process appears necessary for the individuation and mental health of caregivers.
Related Concept Videos
Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood
Psychodynamic Therapy
Couples Therapy
Core Principles and Techniques
Couples therapy often incorporates cognitive-behavioral principles to identify and modify negative...
Personality Disorders: Paranoid and Schizoid
Paranoid Personality Disorder
Paranoid personality disorder is...
Self-Discrepancy and Its Effects
Ending Relationships

