The Association for Research in Personality Disorders provides yearly educational meetings during the time period and city of the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meetings.  We also host a separate networking event during the same time period which has been a great success.

ARPD will present at the American Psychiatric Association Annual meeting 2023 on May 22, 2023 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. PST.


The presenters will be Emil Coccaro, MD; Harold Koenigsberg, MD and James Reich, MD.

Presentation Abstract: 
Personality disorders may affect as much as 10% of the general population and a much higher per cent in clinical populations. They are the source of difficulty in life from those suffering from them and may also be a source of difficulty for those in their social network. This session will be designed to look at some specific aspects of personality: avoidant, aggressive and borderline. The presentation will present some of what we know about etiology, endophenotypes and management of symptoms.
Avoidant personality is known to be highly genetic by family studies although we do not know the specific genes involved. Multiple studies indicate that there is one dimensional factor characterized by social inhibition, shame and social withdrawal. In spite of there being a single dimension the treatment is most effective when focusing on what aspects of this dimension are most present in an individual patient. These aspects will be broken down into components with treatment suggestions for various components.
Borderline personality disorder has significant disability. It is often characterized by affective instability and difficulties with appropriate use of empathy. The etiology of the disorder is not completely understood although an animal model has been created that uses maternal deprivation followed by a later stress. Neurophysiological evidence indicates abnormalities in the relationship of the frontal lobes to the limbic system. The presentation will discuss how these research findings may inform us about the development of symptoms and guide the treatment for these challenging patients.
Various data from scientific research studies conducted over the past three decades suggest that central neurotransmitters play a key role in the modulation of aggression in all mammalian species, including humans. Specific neurotransmitter systems involved in mammalian aggression include serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, GABA, and neuropeptides such as vasopressin and oxytocin. On a neurophysiological basis aggressive disorders have been found to have dysfunctions in the amygdala. However, influences are not just physiological, there is evidence of significant input by social cognition. The presentation will guide us through this territory to the clinical manifestations of personality aggression and intermittent explosive disorder. Clinical approaches to these aggressive symptoms will then be discussed.
As people with personality disorders tend to fall into lower socioeconomic strata where treatment if less available, equity then becomes an issue.

Dr. Reich presented an ARPD national website talk sponsored by the Anxiety and Depression Disorder Association​ (ADAA) on August 12, 2022 on Avoidant Personality Disorder.

ARPD 2021 Events were cancelled due to the corona virus.

   ARPD 2020 Events were cancelled due to the Corona virus and the APA being virtual.

The ARPD had a dinner and award ceremony on April 25, 2020. 

Reservations can be made on the website or Dr. Reich can be contacted directly at [email protected]

The ARPD will be presenting a general session at the 2020 APA. 

This is entitled: Personality pathology from genetics to brain measurements to epidemiology.
 This will be on April 25, 2020 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Location not yet determined.

It will be chaired by James Reich, MD and the discussant will be Alan Schatzberg, MD

The first presentation by Mercedes Perez, MD will discuss the dimensional neurobiology of schizophrenic traits across diagnoses and how this approach can lead to new therapeutic targets and individualized treatments. This is important for symptoms which are not adequately treated with currently available therapies (e.g., impulsive aggressive behaviors and negative symptoms and cognitive deficits). The transdiagnostic dimensional trait approaches and the hybrid dimensional/categorical model of personality it will be explained. Evidence for the genetic and neural bases of the transdiagnostic dimensions of impulsive aggression and schizotypy will be reviewed along with efforts to discover the genetic underpinnings of impulsive aggression (including identify rare genetic variants). Finally, the neural, genetic and symptom overlap across the schizophrenia spectrum disorders and non-psychotic schizophrenia spectrum disorders will be discussed. 
The second presentation by Faith Gunning, MD will discuss what brain imaging studies can tell us about borderline personality disorder. Our clinical diagnoses are heterogeneous. Biomarkers are at times difficult to find using traditional diagnostic categories. To improve our understanding a large sample of depressed patients was measured with bold MRI to determine different brain connectivity patterns. These patterns clustered into groups that were different from our traditional diagnostic categories. The presentation will explain what these connectivity patterns reveal to us about borderline personality disorder.
The third presentation by James Reich, MD will examine the heritability and epidemiology of Avoidant personality disorder (AVPD). There are numerous studies on the heritability of AVPD including family studies, twin studies and large population studies. Evidence for the heritability of AVPD and familial/genetic relationships between AVPD to other personality disorders (such as Dependent personality disorder) and anxiety disorders such as Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) will be reviewed. The epidemiological literature on AVPD has studies examining the latent structure of AVPD disorder. These include the number of factors for AVPD, the validity for the AVPD diagnosis and the overlap with SAD in symptoms and disability. Other epidemiological studies examine the comorbidity between SAD and AVPD. Epidemiological longitudinal studies indicate AVPD will be long term for many people in the community and is quite prevalence in the community (estimates vary between 0.7 to over 5%).


2019 ARPD events.

The ARPD will make a presentation at the American Psychiatric Association 2019 Annual meeting.

It will be entitled: From genetics to stress response to treatment of personality disorders.

Emil Coccaro, MD will present on The genetics or peripheral biomarkers of aggression.

Barbara Stanley, MD will present on: Stressors and stress response in borderline PD: relationship to negative affect and suicidality. 

James Reich, MD will present on: Treatment of personality disorder for the average clinician.

The ARPD 2019 dinner and award ceremony will be held in San Francisco on May 18, 2019. (Tickets may be purchased at this website.) 

2018 ARPD events.

The ARPD reception was held at the Yale Club in New York City, New York on the evening of May 5, 2018.


The ARPD presented a symposium at the 2018 APA meeting in New York.

The symposium was titled: Empirical evidence for reducing personality pathology.

It will be presented Sunday May 6, 2018 from 8 to 11 a.m.

Talks included:

Can we train borderline patients to improve emotion regulation by better engaging neural networks implicated in cognitive control? - Harold Koenigsberg, MD

Natural Variations in personality symptoms and how they affect treatment. - James Reich, MD

Treatment response in impulsively aggressive personality disordered patients. - Frank Coccaro, MD

Understanding the relationship between psychosis and violence. - Rona Hu, MD

False a prior Assumptions in Research Regarding Reducing Personality Pathology - David Allen, MD

Discussant - Alan Schatzberg, MD


Previous ARPD events.

2017 ARPD events.

The ARPD dinner was be held on Saturday May 20, 2017 in San Diego California in conjunction with the APA annual meeting

The ARPD presented an education symposium in conjunction with the APA annual meeting in May 21, 2017  entitled:

Personality and syndrome disorders – it is all in how you look at it.

Abstract:

The relationship of two disorders can be affected greatly by how the two disorders are defined. At this point in American Psychiatry we have several possible models. For example we have the “big five” dimensional personality models, we have the existing DSM5 model as well as an alternate DSM5 model. There is a considerable literature on the relationship between personality and personality pathology and the syndrome disorders such as anxiety and depression. The goal of this symposium is to examine how different personality conceptualizations alter the relationship between personality pathology and syndrome disorders. The symposium will start with a presentation of where we are at in terms of some current models of measuring personality pathology including DSM IV, DSM5 and dimensional models. In the area of personality and anxiety we will have a presentation of comorbidity of personality in social anxiety disorder and panic disorder and how different views of personality can change perception of the relationship between personality pathology and these disorders. This will be followed by a presentation on amygdala activation in anticipation of regulating emotions in avoidant PD patients and MRI structural data on avoidant PD patients. There will be an examination of how biological factors can help us define the best way to conceptualize borderline personality disorder. Finally there will be a presentation on the relationship of personality to the psychotic disorders.

Speakers include:

James Reich, MD: 
Personality and its relationship to Social Anxiety Disorder and to Panic Disorder.

Michael First, MD:
Some current models of personality disorders including DSM5 and DSM5 alternate.

Harold Koenigsberg, MD:
Biological Correlates of Anxiety Vulnerability in Avoidant Personality Disorder.

Mercedes Perez, MD:
Characterizing Clinical Profiles Based on Dimensional Measures of Personality.

Rona HU, MD:
Personality and the psychotic disorders, what we know.


2016 ARPD events.

The ARPD dinner was on Saturday May 14. 2016. 

The ARPD symposium in conjunction with the APA was on Monday May 16, 2016 from 9 a.m. until noon at the APA meeting in Atlanta Georgia.

 Participants included:

Mercedes Perez-Rodriguez, M.D. presenting, "Social cognition as a new therapeutic target in personaity disorders."

Emil Coccaro, M.D. presenting. "Neurobiology and treatment of impulsive aggression in human subjects."

Harold Koenigsberg, M.D. presenting, "Therapuetic implications of recent neuroimaging findings on emotional dysregulation in the personality disorders."

Antonia New, M.D. presenting, "Neurobiological evidence for impaired mentalization in borderline personality disorder."

James Reich, M.D. Chair of symposium and presenting, "Moving form treatment as usual to good clinical care for personality disorder traits for the office based clinician."

There will be two distinguished discussants: Erin Hazlett, Ph.D. and Alan Schatzberg, M.D.


We had a program at the 2015 APA

There was a reception at the Royal Canadian Military Institute on  May 16, 2015. 

Our educational event occurred as an APA symposium on Monday May 18, 2015.

Title: The biological and symptom relationships between the personality disorders and the anxiety, mood and psychotic disorders.
Chair: James Reich, MD
Discussant: Alan Schatzberg, MD
Speaker 1: Terence Ketter, MD
Borderline Disorder and Bipolar Disorder - dimensionally similar and categorically different.
Speaker 2: Rona Hu, MD
Overlap of psychotic symptoms and personality pathology.
Speaker 3: Larry Siever, MD
Overlap between syndromal psychiatric disorders and personality disorders in biomarkers.
Speaker 4: James Reich, MD
Empirical evidence on the relationship of the anxiety disorders and personality pathology.


Our 2014 program at the APA was entitled: Moving from Treatment as usual to good clinical care of personality traits.

Dr. Reich presented, "Moving from treatment as usual to good clinical care for personality disorder traits for office based clinicians." Dr. Kool presented on "Comorbid BPD and Depression: Diagnistic Tools and Clinical Pitfalss." Dr. Siever presented on "Towards a rational basis for the pharmacological treatment of pathological personality traits." Dr. Livesley presented on "Strategies for promoting more integrated personality functions." Dr. Schatzberg performed the role of discussant and moderator.

Our 2013 program at the APA was: Update on treatement of personality disorder traits.

Dr. Livesley presented on psychotherapy, Dr. Siever presented on biological substrates of personality traits, Dr. Reich spoke on treatment of personality traits by the outpatient clinician and Dr. Allen spoke on personality traits in groups.


Our 2012 program consisted of a symposium presentation at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in Philadelphia..

 Clinical and Administrative Aspects of the DSM5 personality disorders.

May 6, 2012 1 to 4 pm in the Pennsylvania Convention Cneter

Details of our May 15, 2011 education program chaired by James Reich are available below by clicking APA see (below)










New Orleans 2010 

ARPD symposium May 22, 2010 (2 to 5 pm):

Updating the APA Guidelines for the Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder

Chair: James Reich, MD

Talk 1: Neurobiology and Genetics of Borderline Pathology.  Simone Kool, Ph.D

Talk 2: Emergeny Management of Suicidal Crises in Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder.  Paul Links, MD 

Talk 3: Approaches to Prioritizing Treatment fo Borderline Personality Disorder in the Presence of Significant Axis I and Axis II Disorders.  James Reich, MD

Talk 4: New Considerations in the Pharmacologic Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder. Kenneth Silk, MD

Talk 5: Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality Disorder. John Livesely, MD


ARPD Symposium Sunday May 23, 2010 
9:00AM-12:00PM

RM R01 in the Morial Convention Center

Personality Disorders in Children and Adolescents – understanding personality disorders in children and adolescents: current status and future directions
Advancing from understanding personality disorders in young people toward early detection and intervention.
oDr. Andrew Chanen 
Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, 
Centre for Youth Mental Health ,Health, 
The University of Melbourne, Australia.

Measurement and assessment of PD precursors: Links to normal personality and Axis I problems
oDr. Jennifer L. Tackett
University of Toronto, Department of Psychology

Why and Under What Circumstances Should We Make the Diagnosis of Personality Disorders in Children and Adolescents
oDr. Joel Paris, Professor of Psychiatry, McGill University
SMBD-Jewish General Hospital, Montreal


Tuesday May 25,  2010,   –2010 – ARPD Annual Pre-dinner meeting and Dinner at:

Arnaud's
813 Bienville
New Orleans, LA 70112
Phone: (504) 523-0611



Pre-dinner Meeting – 6PM-7:15PM 

DSM-V Personality Disorders Workgroup Update for 2010
Andy Skodol and Members of the Personality and Personality Disorders Work Group 


Gunderson Young Investigators Award for 2010 presentation

Report from the ARPD President

Dinner (7:15PM)


After Dinner Speaker: Dr. John Oldham
Topic: tba              

Sunday May 17, 2009 San Francisco, CA

9:00 – 11:00AM– Progress on DSM-V – Personality Disorders Workgroup
Andy Skodol, Chair and Members of the Personality and Personality Disorders Work Group: Bob Krueger, Lee Anna Clark, John Livesley, Larry Siever.

11:30-12:30PM – ARPD student award winner and commentary

12:30-1:30PM – Lunch break

1:30-5:00PM – Personality Disorders in Special Subpopulations – implications 
for research and clinical practice
1:30-2:15PM – “Problem Gamblers” 
oR. Michael Bagby, Ph.D., C. Psych.
Director, Clinical Research
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Professor, Department of Psychiatry
University of Toronto
2:15-3:00PM – "Personality Disorders in Correctional Populations."
oDonald W. Black, MD
Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa.
3:00-3:45PM – “Dissociation in Borderline Personality Disorder: An Update”
oMarilyn I. Korzekwa, MD, FRCPC
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences,
McMaster University,
St. Joseph’s Hospital,
3:45-4:30PM – Discussion

Sponsored in part by the Arthur Sommer Rotenberg Chair in Suicide Studies
University of Toronto

Tuesday May 19, 2009  – ARPD Annual Dinner

After Dinner Speaker: Dr. Hans Steiner
Topic: Personality in Elite Athletes

Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences,
Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and Human Development
PEGASUS PHYSICIANS AT STANFORD

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Stanford University School of Medicine



Washington, D.C. in 2008.

ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH ON PERSONALITY DISORDER SYMPOSIUM 2008

9-10:45AM - Morning Session – Learning from the Experience of Families and Patients
Perry Hoffman, PhD, President, National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder – Title: “Learning from the Experience of Families”
Yvonne Bergmans, MSW, Suicide Intervention Consultant, Suicide Studies Unit, Arthur Sommer Rotenberg Chair, St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto, collaboration Kat Cziek, Film Director, the National Film Board of Canada – Title: “The Patient’s Experience with a Group Intervention Program”

11- 12 – First Annual ARPD Student Award Presentation and Commentary

1:30 – 4:30PM Afternoon Session – Genetic Studies and Personality Disorders – Participants will present their latest research findings:
Dr. Larry Siever – Executive Director, Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, MIRECC, Professor of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Bronx VA Medical Center
Title: “Neurobiology of Personality Disorders”
Dr. Emil Coccaro – Ellen C. Manning Professor and Chair, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Chicago
Title: “Neuroimaging and Treatment of Aggression in Personality
Disorders”
Dr. Xingqun Ni - Research Scientist, Neurogenetics Section, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada
Title: "Our First Step to an Association Study of Serotonin Genes and Borderline Personality Disorder".
Discussant – Dr. Joel Paris, Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University