John Gunderson, MD, is often referred to as "The Father of BPD”. As a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital, he was a pioneer in the diagnosis, treatment, and research of Borderline Personality Disorder. He discovered that many patients were being misdiagnosed as having schizophrenia when, in fact, they were struggling with BPD—a mental illness that had historically been viewed by clinicians as untreatable.
Dr. Gunderson dedicated his career to developing, evaluating, and disseminating scientifically proven treatments for people with BPD. He spearheaded the effort to have BPD formally recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)—the guide used by health care professionals to diagnose psychiatric disorders.
In his career, Dr. Gunderson published nearly 250 papers, 100 reviews and 12 books regarding borderline and other personality disorders. Most recently, he developed a treatment model for borderline personality disorder called Good Psychiatric Management, intended to guide generalist mental health providers in treating the disorder. In 2009, McLean Hospital named a treatment center after him, called the “Gunderson Residence”.