Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious personality disorder characterized by affective instability, impulsivity and interpersonal disturbance. Currently, intensive research is being conducted concerning the etiology of BPD. This study focuses on psychosocial risk factors to propose a conceptual model of the development of BPD. A systematic review of the literature focusing on evidence based psychosocial risk factors for BPD is provided. Utilizing this knowledge, a multi-pathway outbreak model is developed to illustrate how these data may be processed into a conceptual model of the development of BPD and used in the psychotherapy of BPD.