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Kim L. Gratz,
Ph.D.
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| Bio |
Background Information:
Dr. Gratz is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where she serves as Director of Personality Disorders Research. Dr. Gratz received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Boston in 2003, and was awarded the Psychosocial Fellowship from McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School to conduct a study examining a new emotion regulation group therapy for the treatment of self-harm among women with BPD. In 2005, Dr. Gratz joined the Clinical Psychology Program at the University of Maryland (where she served as Director of the Personality Disorders Division of the Center for Addictions, Personality, and Emotion Research for three years), and was awarded the Young Investigator’s Award of the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder (NEA-BPD).
Research Interests:
Dr. Gratz’s clinical and research interests focus on the role of emotion dysregulation and experiential avoidance in borderline personality disorder (BPD) and deliberate self-harm. In particular, her research focuses on understanding the nature and consequences of emotional dysregulation and avoidance in BPD and self-harm (through the use of novel behavioral/experimental paradigms), and applying this understanding to the development of more effective treatments for these conditions. Recent projects include: experimental investigations of emotion dysregulation, experiential avoidance, and emotional unwillingness in BPD and deliberate self-harm; an experimental investigation of the validity, markers, and associated consequences of an anxious-avoidant subtype of BPD; an examination of the personality traits and underlying processes associated with borderline personality symptoms in childhood; and the further development of an acceptance-based, emotion regulation group therapy for deliberate self-harm among women with BPD. Dr. Gratz currently serves as Principal Investigator on an R34 funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and Co-Investigator on an R21 funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (PI: Tull).
Selected Publications:
Gratz, K. L., Paulson, A., Jakupcak, M., & Tull, M. T. (in press). Exploring gender differences in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and intimate partner abuse: The mediating role of emotion dysregulation. Violence and Victims.
Gratz, K. L., Tull, M. T., Baruch, D. E., Bornovalova, M. A., & Lejuez, C. W. (in press). Factors associated with co-occurring borderline personality disorder among inner-city substance users: The roles of childhood maltreatment, negative affect intensity/reactivity, and emotion dysregulation. Comprehensive Psychiatry.
Gratz, K. L., & Roemer, L. (2008). The relationship between emotion dysregulation and deliberate self-harm among female undergraduate students at an urban commuter university. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 37, 14-25.
Gratz, K. L., Tull, M. T., & Gunderson, J. G. (2008). Preliminary data on the relationship between anxiety sensitivity and borderline personality disorder: The role of experiential avoidance. Journal of Psychiatric Research 42, 550-559.
Gratz, K. L.(2007). Targeting emotion dysregulation in the treatment of self-injury. Journal of Clinical Psychology: In Session, 63, 1091-1103.
Gratz, K. L., & Chapman, A. L. (2007). The role of emotional responding and childhood maltreatment in the development and maintenance of deliberate self-harm among male undergraduates. Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 8, 1-14.
Gratz, K. L., Rosenthal, M. Z., Tull, M. T., Lejuez, C. W., & Gunderson, J. G. (2006). An experimental investigation of emotion dysregulation in borderline personality disorder. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 115, 850-855.
Chapman, A. L.,Gratz, K. L., & Brown, M. Z. (2006). Solving the puzzle of deliberate self-harm: The experiential avoidance model. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44, 371-394.
Gratz, K. L. (2006). Risk factors for deliberate self-harm among female college students: The role and interaction of childhood maltreatment, emotional inexpressivity, and affect intensity/reactivity. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76, 238-250.
Gratz, K. L., & Gunderson, J. G. (2006). Preliminary data on an acceptance-based emotion regulation group intervention for deliberate self-harm among women with borderline personality disorder. Behavior Therapy, 37, 25-35.
Gratz, K. L., & Roemer, L. (2004). Multidimensional assessment of emotion regulation and dysregulation: Development, factor structure, and initial validation of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 26, 41-54.
Gratz, K. L.(2003). Risk factors for and functions of deliberate self-harm: An empirical and conceptual review. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10, 192-205.
Current Grants:
“Developing an Emotion Regulation Group Therapy for Self-Harm among Women with BPD”