Borderline Personality Disorder Treatment Center in Greeley, Colorado

What is Borderline Personality Disorder?

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a mental health condition characterized by intense emotional instability, difficulty maintaining relationships, an unstable self-image, and impulsive behaviors. From a clinical perspective, individuals with BPD often experience rapid mood shifts, deep fears of abandonment, chronic feelings of emptiness, and episodes of intense anger or anxiety. These emotional patterns can interfere significantly with daily life, work, and interpersonal relationships.

BPD is classified as a personality disorder, which means it affects long-term patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. It’s often diagnosed in early adulthood and is more commonly seen in women. While it shares some symptoms with mood disorders like depression or bipolar disorder, BPD is distinct in its persistent difficulties with identity, emotional regulation, and interpersonal functioning. 

Young woman client of Aspen View Mental Health who is getting services for her Borderline Personality Disorder.

What Are The Symptoms of BPD?

Borderline Personality Disorder is typically diagnosed through a comprehensive clinical assessment, including interviews, questionnaires, and a review of personal and psychiatric history. Mental health professionals refer to the criteria outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), which requires that an individual exhibit at least five out of nine key symptoms for a BPD diagnosis. These core symptoms include:

Fear of Abandonment

People with BPD often have an intense fear of being left or rejected, which can lead to frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment. This fear may surface in close relationships and can result in extreme reactions to perceived neglect or distance.

Unstable Relationships

BPD is marked by a pattern of intense, short-lived relationships that swing between idealization (“you’re perfect”) and devaluation (“you’re terrible”). These shifts are often rooted in the individual’s internal fears and emotional sensitivity.

Identity Disturbance

Many individuals with BPD struggle with a shaky or inconsistent sense of self. They may frequently change their values, goals, career paths, or even how they present themselves, leading to chronic feelings of confusion or disconnection from their identity.

Impulsive, Risky Behavior

Engaging in impulsive and potentially harmful behaviors—such as reckless driving, substance use, binge eating, or unsafe sex—is common. These actions often serve as coping mechanisms for emotional pain or emptiness.

Self-Harm and Suicidal Behavior

Recurring thoughts of self-harm, suicidal ideation, or actual self-injury are serious symptoms of BPD. These behaviors often occur during emotional crises and are typically responses to overwhelming feelings or perceived abandonment.

Emotional Instability

BPD causes intense emotional swings that may last hours or days. Moods can shift rapidly from deep sadness to irritability to anxiety without a clear trigger, making it difficult to maintain emotional balance.

Chronic Feelings of Emptiness

A persistent sense of internal emptiness is common. Individuals may describe feeling hollow, disconnected, or as though something vital is missing, leading them to seek external stimulation or relationships to fill the void.

Inappropriate, Intense Anger

Uncontrolled anger, frequent irritability, or rage—often disproportionate to the situation—can disrupt relationships and lead to feelings of guilt or shame afterward. This anger is usually tied to feelings of fear, vulnerability, or rejection.

Paranoia and Dissociation

Under stress, people with BPD may experience transient paranoia or dissociation—feeling detached from reality, themselves, or their surroundings. These symptoms can be confusing and distressing, particularly during emotional episodes.

Because these symptoms often overlap with other mental health conditions, like bipolar disorder or complex trauma, it’s important to work with an experienced team—like ours at Aspen View Mental Health—who can provide an accurate diagnosis and personalized treatment approach.

Why Is Borderline Personality Disorder Difficult to Treat?

Despite being highly treatable, BPD presents unique challenges that require specialized care:

  • Fear of Abandonment: This core symptom can lead to difficulty trusting therapists or maintaining consistent therapeutic relationships.
  • Emotional Intensity: Rapid mood swings and intense emotional reactions can make it difficult to regulate behavior or stay grounded during therapy.
  • Unstable Relationships: Difficulty with interpersonal boundaries may affect how individuals interact with peers and providers in treatment settings.
  • Co-occurring Disorders: BPD often overlaps with conditions like depression, anxiety, PTSD, and substance use, which can complicate diagnosis and treatment planning.
  • Impulsivity and Self-Harm: Urges to self-injure or act impulsively can interfere with progress and increase the need for crisis management.
  • Stigma and Misdiagnosis: BPD is often misunderstood, especially in women, leading to mislabeling or inadequate care in non-specialized settings.
  • Need for Structured, Long-Term Support: Effective treatment requires a high level of consistency, skill, and time, which not all programs are equipped to provide.
A group of clients at Aspen View Mental Health who are in group therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder.

Our Approach to BPD Treatment

At Aspen View Mental Health, we understand just how complex and emotionally intense Borderline Personality Disorder can be—because we specialize in treating it. While many providers shy away from BPD due to its challenges, we lean in with a trauma-informed, evidence-based approach tailored to the unique needs of each individual. Our team is not only equipped to handle the emotional depth and relational sensitivity that come with BPD, but we’re deeply committed to guiding our clients through it with patience, skill, and unwavering support.

Trauma-Informed, Compassionate Care

At Aspen View Mental Health, we lead with empathy. Many individuals with BPD have experienced trauma, rejection, or emotional invalidation throughout their lives. Our trauma-informed care model ensures that clients are treated with respect, patience, and understanding—never judgment. We believe that healing begins when people feel safe, seen, and supported.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Many clients with BPD also struggle with negative thought patterns, low self-esteem, or depression. CBT is used alongside DBT to challenge distorted thinking and help clients reframe how they view themselves and the world around them. It’s a practical, structured approach that helps reduce impulsivity and emotional overwhelm.

Expert Clinical Team

Our team consists of licensed therapists, psychiatrists, and mental health professionals who specialize in complex conditions like BPD. We are experienced in navigating emotional dysregulation, interpersonal sensitivity, and co-occurring diagnoses, and we use that expertise to build trusting relationships and guide clients toward lasting change. With a client-first philosophy, our clinicians meet each person where they are.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

DBT is the cornerstone of effective BPD treatment—and we offer it as a central part of our program. This therapy helps clients build skills in emotional regulation, mindfulness, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness. Through individual sessions, skills groups, and coaching support, DBT empowers clients to manage emotions without resorting to self-destructive patterns.

EMDR for Trauma and Emotional Triggers

Many individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder have unresolved trauma or emotionally charged memories that contribute to their symptoms. At Aspen View Mental Health, we offer Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) as part of our trauma-informed care. EMDR helps clients reprocess distressing experiences in a safe, controlled environment—reducing emotional reactivity and helping them respond more calmly to triggers. It’s particularly effective for BPD clients with co-occurring PTSD or complex trauma, and it complements other therapies like DBT by addressing the root causes of emotional dysregulation.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Many clients with BPD also struggle with negative thought patterns, low self-esteem, or depression. CBT is used alongside DBT to challenge distorted thinking and help clients reframe how they view themselves and the world around them. It’s a practical, structured approach that helps reduce impulsivity and emotional overwhelm.

Levels of Care: PHP, IOP, and Outpatient

Our treatment programs offer a full continuum of care to support every stage of the healing process.

  • Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) provides intensive daily support in a structured setting, ideal for clients needing stabilization.
  • Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) offers flexibility while continuing deep therapeutic work.
  • Outpatient Care allows for ongoing treatment with more independence and integration into daily life.

This tiered approach ensures that care is always tailored to each client’s needs and progress.

Individual and Group Therapy

Clients receive weekly one-on-one therapy to work through personal challenges, develop insight, and build therapeutic trust. In group therapy, individuals find connection and validation from peers who understand their struggles—fostering a sense of community and reducing isolation.

Life Skills and Emotional Regulation Training

We integrate life skills coaching and emotional regulation tools into our programs to help clients develop coping strategies for real-world challenges. From conflict resolution to mindfulness practice, our training is practical, empowering, and rooted in long-term stability.

Mission-Driven Support for Healing

Our mission is simple: to walk alongside every individual on their path to healing and betterment. We believe that with the right tools and a supportive environment, anyone can move beyond the chaos of BPD and create a life grounded in meaning, stability, and self-compassion. At Aspen View, we don’t just treat symptoms—we invest in transformation.

You Deserve Expert Care for Borderline Personality Disorder

If you or a loved one is struggling with the emotional ups and downs of BPD, you don’t have to face it alone. At Aspen View Mental Health in Greeley, Colorado, we offer compassionate, specialized treatment that meets you where you are and helps guide you toward healing. Our expert team, evidence-based therapies, and supportive programs are here to help you build stability, trust, and a life worth living.

Reach out today to learn more about our BPD treatment programs or schedule a confidential assessment. A better path starts here.

We know that asking for help takes courage. Getting in touch is the first step. We’re here for you, no matter what. Once submitted, our admissions team will be in touch within 24 hours.

Fill out the form or call us directly to get started: (970) 714-CARE (2273)

Initial assessment and medication evaluation

Individualized treatment plan

Medication management

Follow up psychiatry visits