Project in a nutshell

The interdisciplinary study combines applied linguistics and psychology to analyze how young adults with borderline personality disorder (BPD) construct their self in group therapy interaction, and how their self-presentation evolves during the therapy process. The study focuses on a new schema therapy method called VideoFacilitation, which utilizes videos that patients record at home in between the therapy sessions. In the study, patients’ self-presentation in the patients’ videos and in the group therapy sessions is analyzed qualitatively with the methods of discourse analysis, conversation analysis, and interactional linguistics. In addition to providing a humanistic viewpoint to the construction of self, the study contributes to developing participatory, efficient, and cost-effective treatment for BPD.

The project is located in the Department of Nursing Science in the University of Turku, and it collaborates with Scandinavian Linguistics and Clinical Psychology at the University of Oslo. The project is funded by the Research Council of Finland (2025–2029).