FEELING HUMAN AFTER ALL: THE BOARDERLAND PERSONALITY

I have never felt comfortable being human. Rather, I have always felt more comfortable around other animals. In fact, throughout my life, I have felt alienated by human society. I feel out of place among people; trapped within a culture of humans that makes no sense to me. I often feel uneasy in social and public situations. This emotional state is compounded by my gift of empathy. I can detect emotionally incongruency in humans; people behave one way when in fact they feel quite the opposite, a practice not shared by other animals. The negative and sometimes aggressive feelings behind the smiling face have often caused me to mistrust others. In the past, I have responded to emotional incongruency by withdrawing from others.

To compound my feelings of alienation, I also suffer from a strong yet unfocused sense of calling, a feeling that I have something important to accomplish during my lifetime, but none of the traditional careers have been right. I want to work with animals in a positive environment. As a result, I have floated aimlessly from one career to the next, resulting in severe bouts of depression.

It was until I read Linda Kohanov’s book, “the Tao of Equus”, that I understood my discomfort with people and my, until recently, unidentified career path. I nearly dropped her book as I read about the “Borderland” personality type, not to be confused with Borderline personality disorder. The term Borderland personality was coined by Jungian analyst, Jerome S. Bernstein (Kohanov, 2007). Bernstein defines “Borderline Personalities” as people who have “a psychic connection with nature that is inseparable from physical and spiritual health….a person who [resists] the rational western ego [and] is in the process of reconnecting with its [their] split-off roots in Nature….” (as cited in Kohanov, 2007). In his article “On the Borderland”, Bernstein writes about his discovery of this personality type in his patient “Hannah”. According to Bernstein, Hannah’s world view coincides with that of the Hopi Elders with whom he had studied during his analytical training (as cited in Kohanov, 2007).

Linda Kohanov, a practitioner of Equine Facilitated psychotherapy, a self described Borderland personality,has found that many of her clients whom also fit this personality type have “admitted to feeling more balanced, more comfortable being human after we connected to and finally embodied the wisdom of the horse” (Kohanov, 2007). For those who are unfamiliar with the field, Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy, EFP, as defined by the Equine Facilitated Mental Health Association (EFMHA) is defined as “a type of experiential psychotherapy that includes equines. It may include but is not limited to, a number of mutually respectful equine activities, such as handling, grooming, longeing, riding, driving, and vaulting. EFP is facilitated by a licensed, credentialed mental health professional working with an appropriately credentialed equine professional”.

I am relieved and thrilled to discover that they are others who share my views. I have discovered a way to reconnect to the human race through other animals. The information documented in Kohanov’s book has further validated my prior decision to pursue a career as a practitioner of Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy. As a result of learning about Borderland personalities, I no longer feel so alone among humans.


REFERENCES
Kohanov, L. (2007). The tao of equus: A woman’s journey of healing and transformation through the way of the horse. Novato, CA: New World Library.

Bernstein, J. (2000). On the borderland, IONS (Noetic Science Review), , September-Novermber, pp.10-13, 44-46.