In Tribute to Dr. John Gunderson
With great sadness, the faculty and staff of the NewYork-Presbyterian Borderline Personality Disorder Resource Center mourn the loss of our colleague and friend Dr. John Gunderson. A pioneer in the field of Borderline Personality Disorders, Dr. Gunderson’s research and clinical models led the way to the identification, understanding, and treatment of this disorder.
Through his groundbreaking work, Dr. Gunderson was instrumental in having Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) officially recognized in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) 3rd Edition. Additionally, he developed the Good Psychiatric Management treatment model, a more basic treatment model than other evidence based treatments such as dialectical behavior therapy and solution focused therapy, to enable a larger number of clinicians to treat BPD.
Dr. Gunderson’s personal warmth and generous spirit were instrumental in assembling BPD researchers and clinicians to collaborate and coordinate their efforts to understand and treat this disorder. In recognition of his remarkable achievements, Dr. Gunderson was the recipient of numerous honors and awards around the world. We are honored that he was the first recipient of the prestigious NewYork-Presbyterian Borderline Personality Disorder Resource Center Award for Distinction in Personality Disorder Treatment and Research.
We offer Dr. Gunderson’s family and colleagues our deepest sympathy as we reflect on and express our gratitude for this man’s unique contributions.