Specialized Personality Disorders Therapy in Florida at The Lakes

What is a Personality Disorder?

A personality disorder (PD) is a mental health condition defined by persistent patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that differ significantly from cultural expectations.[1] These patterns are inflexible, pervasive across situations, and cause significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

Unlike some mental health conditions, which are episodic, personality disorders are patterns that persist through an individual’s life and can adversely affect how one feels about themselves and how they relate to others. However, PDs can be treated as other mental health issues can, and with the right treatment, someone can learn to effectively manage their symptoms, build healthier relationships, and improve their quality of life.

Types of Personality Disorders

Personality disorders are grouped into three clusters based on the kinds of patterns people tend to struggle with.[2] These clusters help clinicians understand what someone is dealing with and choose the right treatment approach.

 

• Cluster A (Odd or Eccentric): Patterns often include distrust of others, emotional distance, or unusual thinking and behavior. This cluster includes paranoid, schizoid, and schizotypal personality disorders.
• Cluster B (Dramatic, Emotional, or Erratic): Patterns often involve intense emotions, impulsivity, and unstable relationships. This cluster includes borderline, narcissistic, antisocial, and histrionic (attention-seeking, theatrical behavior) personality disorders.
• Cluster C (Anxious or Fearful): Patterns often center on strong anxiety, avoidance, dependence, or perfectionism. This cluster includes avoidant, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders (OCPD).

 

What Is Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)?

BPD is a Cluster B personality disorder that affects how someone experiences emotions, relationships, and their sense of self.[3] People with BPD often feel emotions more intensely and for longer than others, which can make daily life and relationships feel unstable or exhausting at times.

Common experiences can include a strong fear of abandonment, rapid mood shifts, impulsive reactions, and periods of feeling unsure about who you are or what you want. These patterns are not a character flaw, and they are not something someone chooses. They are often connected to a mix of biology, temperament, and life experiences, including trauma or long-term invalidation.

With the right treatment and support, BPD symptoms can improve over time. Many people build healthier ways to cope, stronger relationships, and a more stable sense of self.

Common Misconceptions About Personality Disorders

There are many misconceptions regarding personality disorders, even among those who mean well. Unfortunately, many of these misconceptions come from depictions in movies, social media, or everyday conversations, and if left uncorrected, may impede someone’s ability to seek help or feel hopeful for recovery. Clearing up a few common myths can make the path forward feel less confusing and less stigmatizing.

“Split Personality” vs. Personality Disorders 

Many people confuse personality disorders and dissociative identity disorder (DID), which was formerly known as “split personality.” DID involves distinct identity states or “alters.”  Personality disorders do not. They are more complex, involving long-term patterns in emotions, thinking, and relationships. There are no separate identities. This confusion between DID and personality disorders has created barriers of unnecessary fear and stigma, which are detrimental and may prevent people from understanding what personality disorders actually are.

“Addictive Personality”

The term “addictive personality” is commonly used; it is not a clinical diagnosis, and there is no scientific evidence that differentiates an “addictive personality” from an individual with a personality disorder. Traits associated with personality disorders, particularly traits found in Cluster B, may increase the risk for a person using substances, but this does not mean that an individual is “doomed” to be addicted to drugs or alcohol. By using appropriate treatment and support, individuals can learn how to use healthier coping mechanisms and reduce the risk of substance use.

 

“People with personality disorders cannot change.”

This is one of the biggest challenges surrounding personality disorders, as many people believe personality disorders, including BPD, are character flaws and cannot be changed. This belief can lead to feelings of hopelessness, in which individuals may believe that they are stuck with these difficulties for the remainder of their lives.

Personality disorders are not character flaws. They are patterns of emotional, cognitive, and relational behaviors that have developed over time as a means of coping with stress, trauma, or an unstable environment. Since they are developed and reinforced over time, they can also be unlearned. Research-based treatments such as DBT, CBT, and trauma-informed therapies can help many individuals develop a healthier emotional regulating pattern, function within relationships, and establish a stable, balanced life.[4]

Personality Disorders and BPD Treatment at The Lakes

At The Lakes, we understand that personality disorders, including BPD, require specialized, long-term treatment approaches. Our Florida personality disorders treatment center provides evidence-based interventions proven effective for helping individuals develop healthier patterns and improve functioning.

Our Approach: Evidence-Based, Compassionate Care

Our personality disorders therapy services in Florida follow clinical best practices, incorporating the most effective evidence-based treatment modalities. Our mental health professionals recognize your inherent worth while helping you develop new ways of thinking and behaving.

What to Expect in Treatment

 

Starting treatment for a personality disorder or BPD can feel intimidating, especially if you have spent years trying to manage patterns that feel automatic or hard to change. At The Lakes, we focus on helping you understand what is happening, build real-life skills, and create steadier relationships with yourself and others. Care is structured, supportive, and paced around you, with an emphasis on long-term change rather than quick fixes.

Comprehensive Assessment

Treatment begins with a thorough evaluation by our psychiatry providers and therapists. This helps us understand your symptoms and what is driving them, so your plan is accurate and personalized. Your assessment may include a clinical interview, review of personality patterns and traits, screening for co-occurring mental health concerns, discussion of relationship functioning, and evaluation of any substance use or risky behaviors. From there, we develop a treatment plan built around your needs and goals.

Evidence-Based Therapies

Therapy is the core of personality disorder treatment. We use approaches that are well-researched and designed to help change long-standing patterns over time. Depending on what you are dealing with, your plan may include:

• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): A skills-based therapy that helps with emotional regulation, distress tolerance, mindfulness, and healthier relationships. DBT is especially effective for borderline personality disorder and other conditions involving intense emotions or impulsivity.
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Helps identify rigid or self-defeating thinking patterns, build more flexible perspectives, and strengthen coping and problem-solving skills. Often helpful for Cluster C disorders and co-occurring anxiety or depression.
• Schema Therapy: Focuses on deep-rooted beliefs formed early in life that still shape how you see yourself and others, then works to replace those patterns with healthier ones.
• Mentalization-Based Therapy (MBT): Helps you better understand your own emotions and the emotions of others, which supports steadier relationships and improved impulse control.
• Individual, Group, and Family Therapy: Individual therapy gives space to process history and practice new skills. Group therapy provides real-time relationship practice and support. Family therapy, when appropriate, helps loved ones understand the disorder, improve communication, and rebuild trust.

Medication Management

Medication is not the main treatment for personality disorders or BPD, but it can help with specific symptoms or overlapping conditions. If medication is appropriate, our psychiatry team will talk through options with you, monitor how you respond, and adjust as needed. The goal is to support stability while therapy addresses the underlying patterns.

Treatment for Co-Occurring Disorders

Personality disorders often overlap with other mental health concerns, and those pieces can intensify each other.[5] That is why we take an integrated approach that looks at the full picture, not just one diagnosis. Treating a personality disorder without also addressing what is happening alongside it rarely leads to lasting progress.

Our integrated approach addresses substance use disorders, depression and anxiety, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, PTSD and trauma, and ADHD. Dual diagnosis care matters because recovery is strongest when both personality patterns and co-occurring conditions are treated together.

Relapse Prevention and Long-Term Support

Personality disorder recovery is a long game, and that is normal. We help you build a plan for maintaining progress over time, including skill practice, early warning sign awareness, support systems, and ongoing therapy when needed. The goal is lasting stability you can carry into everyday life.

Why Choose The Lakes for Personality Disorder and BPD Treatment?

Living with a personality disorder like BPD can feel confusing, exhausting, or isolating, especially when patterns keep repeating, no matter how hard you try to change them. At The Lakes, we do not approach personality disorders as labels or character flaws. We see them as treatable patterns that developed for a reason, and we help you build a steadier way forward with skill, structure, and respect.

Here is what sets our care apart:

• Specialized expertise in personality disorders. Our team has deep experience treating personality disorders, especially borderline personality disorder (BPD), so you are working with clinicians who truly understand how these patterns show up in real life.
• Evidence-based therapy that supports real change. We use proven approaches like DBT, CBT, schema therapy, and MBT to help you regulate emotions, shift long-standing beliefs, and build healthier relationships. This is not surface-level coping. It is work that targets the root patterns over time.
• Thorough, accurate assessment. Treatment starts with a comprehensive evaluation that looks at personality patterns, symptoms, history, relationships, and functioning. This helps us avoid misdiagnosis and build a plan that fits your actual needs.
• Integrated care for co-occurring disorders. Personality disorders often overlap with depression, anxiety, trauma, ADHD, eating disorders, or substance use. We treat these together instead of separately, because progress holds up better when the whole picture is addressed.
• A skilled, steady care team. You will work with experienced mental health professionals trained specifically in personality disorder treatment, not generalists who are guessing their way through.
• A supportive environment centered on dignity. We recognize your inherent worth, even when symptoms feel messy or overwhelming. Our approach is structured, compassionate, and nonjudgmental, so you can do this work without shame.
• Multiple levels of care. We offer outpatient, IOP, and PHP options, so you can get the right amount of support for your symptoms and step up or down as needed.
• Family involvement when helpful. Personality disorders affect relationships, not just individuals. When appropriate, we include family or loved ones in the process to improve understanding, communication, boundaries, and long-term healing.
• Convenient Florida location. With our center in Central Florida, convenient to Tampa and Orlando, plus flexible scheduling, it is easier to stay consistent with treatment, which is a major part of progress.
• Insurance support from the start. We accept most major insurance plans and will verify your benefits, explain coverage clearly, and help the financial side feel manageable.