A profile of occupational therapy practice in Australia for people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.

Recruitment relied on volunteer participation through professional networks and social media, so the sample skews toward therapists already interested in BPD practice. Respondents were unevenly distributed across Australian states, with South Australia overrepresented, so the profile may not reflect practice in every jurisdiction. The sample size (63) was too small to explore whether experience level, setting, or other demographics shaped which models, assessments, or interventions were chosen. The study is cross-sectional and descriptive; it captures a single snapshot of practice and cannot show whether any of the listed interventions actually improve outcomes. Findings are specific to the Australian service and funding context (NDIS, state-based mental health services) and may not transfer to other countries.

One co-author (Carolyn M Murray) is an Associate Editor of the Australian Occupational Therapy Journal but was not involved in the editorial or peer-review process for this paper. No other conflicts of interest were declared, and no funding source is named.

Do not read this survey as evidence that the listed interventions (stress management, sleep hygiene, psychoeducation, sensory modulation) are effective for BPD. It describes what 63 Australian occupational therapists currently do in their practice, not what has been shown to work. The authors themselves state that the impact of occupation-based rehabilitation on symptoms and crisis presentations remains unexplored, and that the research base is heavily weighted toward psychotherapies validated on other populations.