Lois Choi-Kain, MEd, MD

Lois W. Choi-Kain, MEd, MD, is the director of the Adult Borderline Center and Training Institute at McLean Hospital, now the Gunderson Personality Disorder Institute, renamed in memory of John Gunderson, MD, the former director. In 2009, she developed the Gunderson Residence, an intensive, specialized residential program for adult women with severe personality disorders which uniquely integrates multiple evidence-based treatments for borderline personality disorder (BPD) in a rigorous and scientifically informed way. Apart from the Gunderson Residence, the Gunderson Institute includes another intensive, specialized program, the Gunderson Outpatient Program, as well as three insurance-based adult outpatient training clinics for mentalization-based treatment (MBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), and DBT for post-traumatic stress disorder (DBT-PTSD). Dr. Choi-Kain also founded the BPD Training Institute in 2013, a major center for proliferating evidence-based treatments for severe personality disorders. By providing education to clinicians, it aims to increase access to and quality of care for patients with BPD and related comorbidities. Courses offered include Mentalization-Based Treatment (MBT), Transference Focused Psychotherapy (TFP), Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (DBT-PTSD), and General Psychiatric Management (GPM). In addition, as an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Choi-Kain actively conducts research and publishes original studies, reviews, and clinical perspectives on BPD and its evidence-based treatments. Her research focuses on personality disorders, attachment, psychotherapy, and accessibility and implementation of care.