News
30/04/2009
Over the course of the past year ISSPD has continued its international mission to promote the studies, advancements and publications on research and clinical interventions on personality disorders. ISSPD is progressing with ample regional activities, several active National Organizations and a membership representing over 20 nations.
After serving 13 years as the Editor of the Journal of Personality Disorders, John Livesley is stepping back. During his editorial leadership we have had a remarkable development of the Journal towards its present position among the leading publications on specific psychopathology. John’s efforts to capture the diversity within the studies of personality disorders and give credit to the various theoretical and empirical models have certainly contributed to the progress. In addition, John has also gradually achieved a balance between thematic and in depth discussions, international diversity, and attention to critical and controversial aspects of personality disorders. This has made the Journal a most attractive and valuable periodical for ISSPD. While we express our gratitude to John and his editorial assistant Roseann Larstone, we also welcome his successor, the new Editor-in-Chief Paul Links, a devoted long-term member of ISSPD, and presently the Vice President of ISSPD and the President of the North American Regional Organization, Association for Research on Personality Disorders, ARPD. Paul has published extensively, and his expertise in studies of suicide can add a most valuable perspective to the studies of personality disorders.
The VII European Congress on Personality Disorders was held in Targu Mures Romania in September of 2008. This is the second European congress held in Eastern part of the European Region; the previous was in Prague, the Czech Republic in 2006 organized by Marek Preiss. Thanks to the initiative and leadership of Aurel Nirestan and his colleagues, this congress became a major milestone in the activities of the Romanian Association for the Study of Personality, which has been one of the most persistent National Groups in ISSPD’s history. The scientific program offered presentations on treatment and semiology personality disorders, longitudinal studies, pharmacotherapy, suicide, first episode psychosis, and on borderline and narcissistic personality disorders specifically. The VIII European ISSPD Congress will be in Belgrade, Serbia in 2010.
During the most recent years we have seen a spur of interest in public education and advocacy on personality disorders, especially from support organizations for families and friends of people with foremost borderline personality disorder. Such organizations, especially predominant in the US, include: National Educational Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder NEABPD, and National Association for Personality Disorders, TARA, and National Alliance on Mental Illness, NAMI. Notable organizational advocacy and negotiation resulted in the decision by the US Congress to designate the month of May as the Borderline Personality Disorder Awareness Month. Such public recognition, which promotes awareness and potential calls for more funding for research and education, should be encourage by ISSPD outside the US, in other Regions as well.
There are several upcoming ISSPD events:
The XI International ISSPD Congress will be in New York, August 21 – 23, 2009. The theme is: “Change and Resilience: Interpersonal and Neuroscience Perspectives on the Personality Disorders.” The attention to resilience is especially interesting as this aspect of personality functioning remained relatively neglected and just recently has been found most relevant for both course and prognosis of personality disorders. All members and persons with interest in studies of personality disorders, especially trainees and junior researchers, are strongly encouraged to attend this Congress to make it a viable milestone in ISSPD’s activities. A membership focused symposium will be held that addresses the organizational and functional aspects of ISSPD. This Congress holds a very specific remembrance, since in the aftermath of the disaster of 9/11 2001, the VII International ISSPD Congress organized by former President John Oldham and planned to be held in New York in early October that year, had to be cancelled.
The XII International ISSPD Congress will be in Melbourne, Australia, on March 1-4, 2011. The theme for the congress is: “Bridging Research and Practice”, a most important and timely matter for continuing meaningful application of research findings to treatment modalities and interventions, and vice versa, for the initiative of research addressing specific treatment questions and concerns. This is a very important and exciting event as it represents an outreach to the Far East Region of Australia and Asia. In ISSPD’s history, this is the second time a congress is planned outside the European and North American Regions; the first was in Mar del Plata, Argentina in 2005 organized by the Vice President Nestor Koldobsky.
In 2013 ISSPD will celebrate its 25 th anniversary. Erik Simonsen, who was the organizer of the 1st International ISSPD congress in Copenhagen in 1988, has undertaken the task of preparing this historical Jubilee Congress, the XIII International ISSPD Congress, to be held in Denmark.
A new quarterly journal: Personality Disorders: Theory, Research and Treatment (PDTRT), published by American Psychological Association, will be launching in the spring of 2010. This journal may potentially complement the predominant periodicals on the subject, i.e., ISSPD’s official journal, Journal of Personality Disorders, and Personality and Mental Health: Multidisciplinary Studies from Personality Dysfunction to Criminal Behavior, the official journal for the World Psychiatric Association Section on Personality Disorders, the British & Irish Group for the Study of Personality Disorders, BIGSPD, and the Personality Disorder Institute, PDi, and the regionally based Persona, the scientific organ for the Argentine Institute for the Study of Personality and its Disorders, IAEPD.
Finally, I would like to thank all of our members, friends and attendees for continuing support and contributions to ISSPD’s activities and mission, and I am looking forward to welcoming you in New York in August of this year.
Elsa Ronningstam, Ph.D.
President, ISSPD
The President’s letter, April 2009
After serving 13 years as the Editor of the Journal of Personality Disorders, John Livesley is stepping back. During his editorial leadership we have had a remarkable development of the Journal towards its present position among the leading publications on specific psychopathology. John’s efforts to capture the diversity within the studies of personality disorders and give credit to the various theoretical and empirical models have certainly contributed to the progress. In addition, John has also gradually achieved a balance between thematic and in depth discussions, international diversity, and attention to critical and controversial aspects of personality disorders. This has made the Journal a most attractive and valuable periodical for ISSPD. While we express our gratitude to John and his editorial assistant Roseann Larstone, we also welcome his successor, the new Editor-in-Chief Paul Links, a devoted long-term member of ISSPD, and presently the Vice President of ISSPD and the President of the North American Regional Organization, Association for Research on Personality Disorders, ARPD. Paul has published extensively, and his expertise in studies of suicide can add a most valuable perspective to the studies of personality disorders.
The VII European Congress on Personality Disorders was held in Targu Mures Romania in September of 2008. This is the second European congress held in Eastern part of the European Region; the previous was in Prague, the Czech Republic in 2006 organized by Marek Preiss. Thanks to the initiative and leadership of Aurel Nirestan and his colleagues, this congress became a major milestone in the activities of the Romanian Association for the Study of Personality, which has been one of the most persistent National Groups in ISSPD’s history. The scientific program offered presentations on treatment and semiology personality disorders, longitudinal studies, pharmacotherapy, suicide, first episode psychosis, and on borderline and narcissistic personality disorders specifically. The VIII European ISSPD Congress will be in Belgrade, Serbia in 2010.
During the most recent years we have seen a spur of interest in public education and advocacy on personality disorders, especially from support organizations for families and friends of people with foremost borderline personality disorder. Such organizations, especially predominant in the US, include: National Educational Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder NEABPD, and National Association for Personality Disorders, TARA, and National Alliance on Mental Illness, NAMI. Notable organizational advocacy and negotiation resulted in the decision by the US Congress to designate the month of May as the Borderline Personality Disorder Awareness Month. Such public recognition, which promotes awareness and potential calls for more funding for research and education, should be encourage by ISSPD outside the US, in other Regions as well.
There are several upcoming ISSPD events:
The XI International ISSPD Congress will be in New York, August 21 – 23, 2009. The theme is: “Change and Resilience: Interpersonal and Neuroscience Perspectives on the Personality Disorders.” The attention to resilience is especially interesting as this aspect of personality functioning remained relatively neglected and just recently has been found most relevant for both course and prognosis of personality disorders. All members and persons with interest in studies of personality disorders, especially trainees and junior researchers, are strongly encouraged to attend this Congress to make it a viable milestone in ISSPD’s activities. A membership focused symposium will be held that addresses the organizational and functional aspects of ISSPD. This Congress holds a very specific remembrance, since in the aftermath of the disaster of 9/11 2001, the VII International ISSPD Congress organized by former President John Oldham and planned to be held in New York in early October that year, had to be cancelled.
The XII International ISSPD Congress will be in Melbourne, Australia, on March 1-4, 2011. The theme for the congress is: “Bridging Research and Practice”, a most important and timely matter for continuing meaningful application of research findings to treatment modalities and interventions, and vice versa, for the initiative of research addressing specific treatment questions and concerns. This is a very important and exciting event as it represents an outreach to the Far East Region of Australia and Asia. In ISSPD’s history, this is the second time a congress is planned outside the European and North American Regions; the first was in Mar del Plata, Argentina in 2005 organized by the Vice President Nestor Koldobsky.
In 2013 ISSPD will celebrate its 25 th anniversary. Erik Simonsen, who was the organizer of the 1st International ISSPD congress in Copenhagen in 1988, has undertaken the task of preparing this historical Jubilee Congress, the XIII International ISSPD Congress, to be held in Denmark.
A new quarterly journal: Personality Disorders: Theory, Research and Treatment (PDTRT), published by American Psychological Association, will be launching in the spring of 2010. This journal may potentially complement the predominant periodicals on the subject, i.e., ISSPD’s official journal, Journal of Personality Disorders, and Personality and Mental Health: Multidisciplinary Studies from Personality Dysfunction to Criminal Behavior, the official journal for the World Psychiatric Association Section on Personality Disorders, the British & Irish Group for the Study of Personality Disorders, BIGSPD, and the Personality Disorder Institute, PDi, and the regionally based Persona, the scientific organ for the Argentine Institute for the Study of Personality and its Disorders, IAEPD.
Finally, I would like to thank all of our members, friends and attendees for continuing support and contributions to ISSPD’s activities and mission, and I am looking forward to welcoming you in New York in August of this year.
Elsa Ronningstam, Ph.D.
President, ISSPD