Global Reach: New Series of Webinars Provides Greater Access to McLean Experts

Thanks to an anonymous gift, McLean Hospital launched the Borderline Personality Disorder Patient and Family Education Initiative in 2015, providing interactive and on-demand resources to support individuals and families affected by borderline personality disorder (BPD).

“A family who desired additional information about how they could be more helpful in their daughter’s treatment and recovery gave McLean a generous gift with the hope that we would be able to offer our expertise to families and patients in managing common problems and challenges,” said Christopher M. Palmer, MD, director of Postgraduate and Continuing Education.

The series, which began in October, consists of original, clinician-led webinars that provide information specific to living with and helping someone with BPD. The first webinar, “Common Questions About BPD,” was presented by Lois W. Choi-Kain, MEd, MD, director of the Gunderson Residence, an intensive, residential treatment program for adult women living with BPD.

The second webinar, “The Application of Mindfulness and the Treatment of BPD,” was presented in November by Blaise Aguirre, MD, medical director of the dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) program for adolescents and young adults known as 3East. The presentation was viewed by people from around the world including participants from as far away as Australia.

“The participant list continues to grow each month, with people from all over the world signing up to be notified of future webinars,” noted Dawn Sugarman, PhD, associate director of the initiative. “They’re free and available to the public, so anybody can participate in a live webinar. Users may also view past presentations archived on the McLean website.”

Palmer added that his staff continues to circulate information about the webinars to mental health providers and organizations, as well as to continuing education conferences.

“We’re trying to reach as many people as we can and hope to start an electronic newsletter over the next several months that will provide updates about future webinars and helpful information,” he said. “It’s another way to continue the engagement and provide an additional, important resource for patients and families.”