People with BPD can be compassionate, caring, smart, and funny, but they are also prone to explosive emotional outbursts and highly self-destructive acts. BPD expert Dr. Shari Manning helps overwhelmed loved ones understand why their spouse, adult child, or other family member acts so "impossible"—and learn to respond differently. She presents simple yet powerful strategies that can radically transform a troubled relationship. Loads of true stories demonstrate ways to defuse crises, set limits, and help the person with BPD build crucial problem-solving and emotion-management skills. Empathic, hopeful, and science based, this is the first book for significant others grounded in dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), the most effective treatment for BPD. Dr. Manning is a longtime associate of DBT originator Marsha M. Linehan.