Walking the middle path: This BC nonprofit provides hope, treatment and community for people with BPD

This article was created for Victoria Foundation, and produced independently by Capital Daily. It was approved by Victoria Foundation before it was published.

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Receiving a diagnosis of a mental illness is never easy, especially if it is an illness as stigmatized as Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).

Baylie McKnight was diagnosed with BPD when she was 18, although she had experienced symptoms since the age of 11. When McKnight and her mother searched for support services in BC for people with BPD, they found almost none.

That was when they decided to create a support group and the Borderline Personality Disorder Society of BC was born.

“I decided, along with another woman who had BPD and our families, to start a support group so that people could receive validation and hope, and share their experience about living with BPD,” McKnight said. “We started off with a small group in Victoria.”

Since then, the support group has grown far beyond McKnight’s expectations, offering support services to people throughout the province. During the pandemic, the Society started offering online support services to people from all over Canada and the world.

McKnight went on to earn a master’s degree in clinical social work and now has a private practice for patients with complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) and BPD. She still volunteers with the BPD Society of BC and is currently expecting twins.

“We noticed there was not enough treatment for people, so we decided about five years ago to start providing the evidence-based treatment for people with lived experience of BPD, and that was Dialectical Behaviour Therapy. I had been comprehensively trained in it, and so had one of our other volunteers,” McKnight said.

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based form of therapy used in treating BPD and other mental health issues. Research has shown that DBT can reduce the rate of hospitalization, suicidality, and other severe symptoms of BPD. The BPD Society attempts to fill part of the large gap in mental healthcare in BC and Canada.

“Unfortunately, psychiatric care in Canada is not free, and it is an out-of-pocket expense for people, unless it’s an emergency,” said Bryan Alix, vice president of the BPD Society of BC. “If we can get some of the skills taught in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy out to the people who need it earlier, we can avoid hospitalizations and interactions with police. We can avoid some substance abuse or issues around impulsivity,” said Alix.

Alix first sought out the BPD Society to seek help for his mental health struggles while serving in the Canadian Armed Forces. After joining the support groups, he decided to give back by becoming a peer group facilitator and eventually joined the board of directors. He continues volunteering to train new peer group facilitators, raise funds for the society, and speak at awareness events.

The society offers DBT skills groups for adults and adolescents. In 2024, the Victoria Foundation distributed a Community Grant of $23,300 for the society’s Coping Skills Group for Adolescents and Caregivers. The society recently concluded the 26-week group during which adolescents and their caregivers learned DBT skills.

McKnight says the group covered five modules: interpersonal effectiveness skills, emotional regulation, distress tolerance, mindfulness, and a skill called “walking the middle path,” which aims to reconcile opposing ideas rather than resort to extremes.

To learn more about the Borderline Personality Society of BC, visit www.bpdbc.ca.