Experts

EXPERTS WHO APPEAR IN THE IF ONLY WE HAD KNOWN: A FAMILY GUIDE TO BPD VIDEO SERIES

 

Marsha Linehan, PhD, is a Professor of Psychology and Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington. She is the developer of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), a highly successful treatment for suicidal behaviors and borderline personality disorder. Dr. Linehan recently revealed that she had been institutionalized as a teenager for self-harming and suicidal behaviors, likely as a result of BPD. She went on to develop DBT to help others recover from similar difficulties. In the New York Times, Dr. Linehan stated, “So many people have begged me to come forward, and I just thought — well, I have to do this. I owe it to them. I cannot die a coward”.

 

John Gunderson, MD , is a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School in Boston. At McLean Hospital he is Director of the Borderline Center’s clinical, training, and research program. His studies on the diagnosis and treatment of borderline personality disorder helped transform BPD to an internationally recognized disorder and earned him recognition as the “father” of Borderline Personality Disorder. He has increased awareness of the burdens for families and championed the involvement of families as collaborators.

 

Peter Fonagy, PhD, is the Director of the Child and Family Program at The Menninger Clinic, Houston Texas and the Director of the Research Department of Clinical Health Psychology at the University College, London.  Dr. Fonagy is particularly interested in borderline personality disorder, which for a long time was assumed to be treatment resistant. He and Anthony Bateman developed a treatment for BPD – Mentalization Based Treatment (MBT).

 

 

Alan Fruzzetti, PhD, is Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of the Dialectical Behavior Therapy Program at the University of Nevada, Reno. He provides extensive training for DBT in the United States and abroad. Dr. Fruzzetti is Research Director of the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder (NEA-BPD) and is co-developer of the Family Connections Program.  Dr. Fruzzetti  teaches skills to families in order to reduce stress, conflict, depression and feelings of hopelessness; and build the family’s support for their loved one with BPD.

 

Perry Hoffman, PhD, is President of the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder (NEA-BPD) and Research Associate at Weill Medical College at Cornell University in New York. NEA-BPD raises public awareness about BPD by providing education and promoting research. NEA-BPD has hosted over 30 conferences worldwide, featuring internationally recognized BPD researchers and scientists. Dr. Hoffman, along with Dr. Fruzzetti, developed Family Connections, a twelve week educational program for families who have a member with BPD.

 

Alec Miller, PsyD, is the Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, and is also the Director of the Adolescent Depression and Suicide Program. Dr. Miller has become internationally known in the areas of adolescent suicide, non-suicidal self-injury, and borderline personality disorder.  Since 1995, he has directed a clinical research team adapting DBT for outpatient suicidal multi-problem adolescents.

 

Antonia New, MD, is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY. Her research focus is on problems regulating emotions which result in symptoms such as impulsive aggressive behaviors and borderline personality disorder. She uses brain imaging techniques, genetic studies, and laboratory assessment of behavior to explore and develop treatments for emotion dysregulation, a key feature of BPD.

 

 

Mary Zanarini, EdD, oversees an extensive research program at McLean Hospital in Belmont Massachusetts. Dr. Zanarini and her colleagues at McLean have followed, for over 10 years, nearly 300 former inpatients with borderline personality disorder. Within that time half of the patients in the study achieved recovery- no longer meeting diagnostic criteria for borderline personality disorder as well as achieving good social and occupational functioning. Dr. Zanarini is also the author of McLean Screening Instrument for Borderline Personality Disorder.

 

Valerie Porr, MA, is a mental health advocate and the founder and President of the Treatment and Research Advancements National Association for Personality Disorder (TARA NAPD). She conducts psycho-educational training seminars for family members of those with BPD in New York and elsewhere.

 

 

 

 

Frank Yeomans, PhD , is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York and Director of Training at the Personality Disorders Institute of Weill-Cornell. Dr. Yeomans’ primary interests are the development, investigation, teaching, and practice of psychotherapy for personality disorders. He has authored and co-authored books on Transference-Focused Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality Disorder.