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The hallmark of Marie Coleman Nelson's paradigmatic technique is her ingenious ability to deftly use multiple role models for therapeutic gain. It has not been sufficiently recognized that in adopting such a foundation, paradigmatic therapy affords a radical re-visualization of therapeutic process. Friedman's (1979) paper is a recent exception which deserves careful study.
The material presented here is based on a recent workshop presented by Marie Coleman Nelson and three other contemporary therapists on current approaches to treatment of the borderline patient.* A review of the various clinical presentations given at this workshop disclosed among other things the singularity of Nelson's therapeutic approach.
Nelson presented several sessions with a borderline patient, each of which helped to demonstrate the effect of paradigmatic techniques. The patient in question had a pattern of protracted resistance that is frequently encountered with borderline patients whose preverbal