Regression in therapy is a fairly common ocurrance in people with BPD and/or BPD traits. It's one of the reasons therapist who work with individuals with BPD and BPD traits need to create a carefully boundaried therapeutic environment, consistentancy in contact and approach and most of all patience and constancy. Many of the concerns we all write here in this form indicate difficulties with abandonment and rejection--for example, great pain when our therapists go on vacation or have to cancel an appointment. The anguish of a rupture in the relationship is often caused by our cognitive distortions (childlike thinking) and the intense pressure we feel to contact our therapists out of session through phone calls, email and/or text--a need to know he/she is out there for us or because whatever we're feeling at that moment is, in our mind's, critical--although at the moment we feel intensely that it is critical, in most cases, when we step back and our crisis is over, we might realize it wasn't that horrible by other people's standards. This is not to dismiss or belittle our feelings, but if you think about how a young child reacts to a crisis, they don't have the same coping skills that an adult person does. So, when we are regressed in our ability to cope, so are our abilities to tap into our skills to deal with the situation. Hope your T is able to help you define all of this for you, Cats. Good luck!

PS I just wanted to add that although some degree of regression is encouraged when treating people who would be diagnosed neurotic, the same state is not advocated when working with people with BPD or BPD traits. If it happens, with some individuals with BPD or traits, it causes brief periods of psychosis and possible need for hospitalization. In most cases, the T wants to work on shoring up coping skills, not regressing the individual to a childlike, vulnerable state. It's one of the reasons DBT is so successful. Once the person learns the skills to cope, then they can begin to work on trauma or other issues that trigger regression.