Short case example
After a perceived slight, a previously trusted clinician is described as uncaring and useless, while another clinician is suddenly seen as the only safe person.
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Formulation mechanism
An all-or-none way of organising self, others, or situations into wholly good or wholly bad categories when mixed representations feel intolerable.
What matters now
Fit, function, and alternatives
Use sequence, function, patient language, and disconfirming evidence to decide whether this hypothesis adds explanatory value.
Across the formulation
Short case example
After a perceived slight, a previously trusted clinician is described as uncaring and useless, while another clinician is suddenly seen as the only safe person.
Formulation language
Under attachment threat, splitting may make it hard to hold mixed feelings about self and others, intensifying rupture and repair cycles.
Treatment implications
Use rupture repair to name both disappointment and continuing care without forcing premature certainty.