This has been an eventful year!! Below is a list of just some of the things that happened in 2019.
- We had a wonderful Parlor Meeting, our 7th Parlor Meeting, on November 19th in NYC at a private home. The evening featured a YI whom we have been supporting, Dr. Keith Bush. His presentation was entitled “Neurofeedback: Can We Teach Patients to Regulate Their Emotions?” His research, focusing on measuring changes in brain activity as patients attempt to regulate their emotions, gives us hope that the answer to this may be “yes.” The audience of 40 guests was intrigued and had lots of questions and comments for him following his talk.
- Sadly, Dr. Perry Hoffman, the Co-founder and former President of the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder (NEA-BPD), passed away on November 3rd. She was a remarkable woman who made groundbreaking changes in working with families by teaching them how to most effectively help their loved ones with BPD. She will be greatly missed both professionally and privately.
- In addition, another outstanding mental health professional, Dr. John Gunderson, died on January 11th. He was a pioneer in defining BPD and developing a germane diagnosis, as well as being one of the very top leaders in the BPD field. Also, Dr. Marsha Linehan retired in the spring. As the founder of dialectical behavior therapy, she made amazing contributions to both BPD treatment and research.
- The non-profit, Emotions Matter, which empowers those with BPD, celebrated its 4th anniversary in NYC on December 2nd. It was a congenial and informative gathering at which a new video addressing the stigma of BPD (illustrating both myths and facts) was shown. The video is soon to be launched to clinicians and the public.
- The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation had two annual events on November 1st in NYC – the International Mental Health Research Symposium during the day, and the International Awards Dinner at night. There were amazing talks by dynamic researchers and outstanding awardees at the Symposium and Dinner. If you want to be up to date on the latest cutting-edge research on mental illness, these two events are not to be missed.
- TARA (Treatment & Research Advancements for BPD) had a get-together at the home of the founder, Valerie Porr, in SOHO on August 31st. The event was billed “Meet Chrisitian Schmahl, MD, and Family.” Dr. Schmahl is a renowned BPD researcher from Germany who has one of the largest BPD research labs h in the world. It was a warm and friendly evening getting to know him and his wonderful family, and visiting with other attendees.
