Does this sound familiar?

Borderline personality disorder, or BPD, involves a long-standing pattern of intense emotions, an unstable sense of self, and stormy relationships (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2022). You may notice:

• Emotions that rise fast, hit hard, and take a long time to settle
• Deep fear of being abandoned, and relationships that swing between closeness and conflict
• Uncertainty about who you are or what you want
• Acting on impulse when emotions are high, and regretting it later
• Feeling empty, or feeling everything at once

Sensitivity is not a flaw

BPD is closely tied to human development. Unresolved disorders of attachment in childhood can evolve into BPD in adulthood, and long-term research links early disrupted attachment to borderline symptoms later in life (Carlson et al., 2009). Many BPD patterns are skills that did not get the chance to develop because early relationships could not provide steady, attuned support.

You are not too much. You are a deeply feeling person whose developmental steps deserve patient, loving support.

This way of understanding BPD replaces shame with a clear path forward: building the capacities that were missed.

How Dr. Darleen helps

Dr. Darleen specializes in borderline personality disorder and dissociation. Her strength-based developmental approach moves through three phases, supported by Dialectical Behavior Therapy (Linehan, 2015), mindfulness, and somatic strategies:

• Begin with strengths. Your sensitivity, loyalty, insight, creativity, and courage are the doorway in.
• Anchor trust and security within yourself, within your family, within your community, and within the counseling space.
• Grow and expand. Build the developmental skills that may have been missed: calming the body, naming feelings, understanding yourself and others, and repairing after conflict.
• Calm the body. Breath, posture, and movement practices that Dr. Darleen models and you follow along with, widening your window of calm.

What sessions look like

A real reason for hope

BPD is far more treatable than its reputation suggests. In a 10-year study, 93% of people with BPD reached a remission of symptoms lasting at least two years. Full recovery, including steady work and relationships, took longer and was reached by fewer, which is why skill-building matters (Zanarini et al., 2010).

Recovery is not only possible. For most people, it is the expected path.

Meet Dr. Darleen

Dr. Darleen Claire Wodzenski, MS ESE, MA CMHC, PhD, LPC, NCC, ACS, is the Clinical Director of Orchard Human Services, Inc. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Georgia, Florida, and Virginia, a Nationally Certified Counselor, and an Approved Clinical Supervisor who trains other counselors. Before becoming a counselor, she taught piano and dance, taught general and special education, served as a special education director, and worked as a graduate tutor and faculty member.

Dr. Darleen brings a developmental lens to BPD, shaped by more than thirty years of teaching and helping people grow, from piano and dance lessons to general and special education classrooms, graduate teaching, and counseling. She treats the person, not the label, and builds on what is already strong in you.

Private self-pay counseling

You pay the full session rate directly. Paying privately means no insurance record of your diagnosis or treatment. Sessions are by secure telehealth, so you can meet from home anywhere in Georgia, Florida, and Virginia.

Why private pay?

Fees change only on January 1, with advance notice. You will receive a Good Faith Estimate of expected costs before your first appointment.

Take the first step

Planning to use insurance? Please use our Appointments page instead.

Questions first? Email DrDarleen@orchardhumanservices.org.

This page is for general information and is not a diagnosis or treatment. If you are in crisis, call or text 988 or call 911. See our crisis resources.

Common questions

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787

Carlson, E. A., Egeland, B., & Sroufe, L. A. (2009). A prospective investigation of the development of borderline personality symptoms. Development and Psychopathology, 21(4), 1311–1334. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579409990174

Linehan, M. M. (2015). DBT skills training manual (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.

Zanarini, M. C., Frankenburg, F. R., Reich, D. B., & Fitzmaurice, G. (2010). Time to attainment of recovery from borderline personality disorder and stability of recovery: A 10-year prospective follow-up study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 167(6), 663–667. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2009.09081130

Orchard Human Services, Inc. is an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. 4813 Ridge Road, Suite 111-83, Douglasville, GA 30134.