Psychological testing of the borderline patient: a guide for therapeutic action

The diagnostic ambiguity and difficulties of treating borderline patients call for refined idiographic understanding. Psychological testing can make a significant contribution to treatment of borderline individuals at all phases of the clinical process. First, during the initial consultation, an accurate taxonomical identification can be made which also elucidates the chaotic functioning of these patients. Second, choice of treatment modality and strategy can be made on a more informed basis as a result of test report inferences concerning ego functions and object relations. Third, the management of the ongoing treatment process can be guided by test-report elaborations of ego weaknesses, vulnerability toward particular transference distortions, and predilection toward inducements into specific countertransference traps.