Staff Bios - McLean Hospital - Harvard University

CLINICAL and RESIDENTIAL STAFF BIOGRAPHIES
All Gunderson Residence staff clinicians are doctoral level professionals on the teaching faculty
at Harvard Medical School and have completed intensive training in Mentalization Based
Treatment (MBT) as well as Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT).
Clinical Leadership and Staff
Lois Choi-Kain, M.D. M.Ed.
Medical and Program Director
Dr. Choi-Kain received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Harvard University. After
medical school, she completed her adult psychiatry training at the Massachusetts General
Hospital/McLean Hospital, where she served as the Chief Administrative Resident. Dr. Choi-
Kain completed a three-year post-doctoral fellowship funded by APIRE/NIMH and the
Psychosocial Fellowship of McLean Hospital with Professors John Gunderson and Mary
Zanarini, conducting research on the relationship between attachment, cognition, stress
reactivity, and borderline personality disorder. During this post-doctoral fellowship, she
received training in specialized assessments of attachment and reflective function (a measure of
mentalization) at the Anna Freud Center in London, UK. She continues to actively conduct
research and publish papers on borderline personality disorder while also providing clinical
training for clinicians in General Psychiatric Management and Mentalization Based Treatment
approaches. Dr. Choi-Kain has been honored with numerous distinctions including the Frieda
Fromm-Reichmann Psychotherapy Award, SAMSHA Minority Fellowship of the American
Psychiatric Association, American Psychoanalytic Association Fellowship, Association of
Women Psychiatrists Symonds Fellowship, Laughlin Fellowship of the American College of
Psychiatrists, and Dr. Henry P. and M. Page Durkee Laughlin Foundation Award. Dr. Choi-
Kain’s areas of specialization include attachment, personality disorders, and psychotherapy.
Karen Jacob, Ph.D.
Director of Clinical Services
Dr. Jacob received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Clark University and completed her
post-doctoral training at Cambridge Health Alliance at Harvard Medical School. Her clinical
training has been primarily in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for patients suffering from
mood, anxiety, and personality disorders. Clinically, she has received training in mindfulness,
mentalization, DBT, and biofeedback. Dr. Jacob has an extensive research training background,
having studied wide ranging topics including diabetes, adoption, attachment, panic disorder, and
psychotherapy outcomes. Dr. Jacob has authored numerous papers and presentations and has
been honored with the Hiatt Scholarship. Her current research interests include understanding
the effectiveness of empirically-supported treatments in clinical contexts and in elucidating
mechanisms of change in treatment. She has a particular interest in understanding the relative
impact of different components of treatment on outcome as measured by both symptom and
functional improvement.

John Gunderson, M.D.
Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School Director of the Borderline Center's
clinical, training, and research program at McLean Hospital
Dr. Gunderson is widely recognized as the “father” of the borderline diagnosis. His seminal
studies on the diagnosis, families, psychodynamics, treatment and pathogenesis of borderline
personality disorder helped transform the diagnosis from a psychoanalytic construct into an
empirically validated and internationally recognized disorder. He has actively fostered the
involvement of families as both collaborators and advocates. He chaired the DSM IV work
group on personality disorders, and has led several major NIMH-funded studies including those
on the longitudinal stability and family transmission of borderline personality disorder. He is
actively involved in treating borderline patients using all modalities and brings this experience to
bear in his talks and writing. His books on treatment have established standards of care that have
been the primary resource for clinicians since 1984.
Brandon Unruh, M.D.
Staff Psychiatrist
Dr. Unruh received his B.A. from Harvard University and his M.D. from UCLA. He completed
psychiatric training at Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital, where he was
Chief Resident and recognized for his dedication to multiple types of psychotherapy. He
completed a post-doctoral fellowship in personality disorders at the Gunderson Residence, where
he deepened his expertise in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and Mentalization-Based
Treatment (MBT) while simultaneously being awarded a national fellowship with the American
Psychoanalytic Association. He is currently the director of the new McLean Hospital
Mentalization clinic, which functions as a training site for clinicians interested in learning MBT.
Dr. Unruh has published on a variety of topics including psychotherapy, medical ethics, general
hospital psychiatry, psychopharmacology, and literature and medicine.
Valerie Photos, Ph.D.
Staff Psychologist
Dr. Photos received her bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago and her master's
and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from Harvard University under the supervision of
Dr. Matthew Nock. She has received numerous awards, including the Sackler Fellowship in
Psychobiology to support research on non-suicidal self-injury, and the Karen Stone Fellowship
for the study of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. She completed her clinical internship at McLean
Hospital and continued with a post-doctoral Fellowship in Personality Disorders at the
Gunderson Residence of McLean Hospital. Prior to joining the staff at the Gunderson Residence,
she was a therapist at 3East at McLean Hospital, a residential program for adolescents exhibiting
self-endangering behaviors and emerging borderline personality traits. She is an Instructor in
Psychology at Harvard Medical School and is the study coordinator on an NIMH-funded
research project with Dr. Mary Zanarini to develop a psychoeducation program for BPD and
evaluate the program's impact on the course of the disorder. Her current research interests also
include identity disturbance in personality disorders and interpersonal hypersensitivity.
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Jolie Weingeroff, Ph.D.
Staff Psychologist
Dr. Weingeroff received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Brandeis University, and her
doctorate in clinical psychology from Boston University. She completed her pre-doctoral
internship at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine. After receiving
her doctorate, Dr. Weingeroff joined CBT/DBT Associates, a private psychology practice in
midtown Manhattan, where she completed her post-doctoral fellowship. Dr. Weingeroff has
obtained specialized, advanced training in CBT for eating, anxiety, and mood disorders.
Dr. Weingeroff holds a faculty appointment as Instructor in Psychology at Harvard Medical
School. Her research interests include the longitudinal course of BPD, eating disorder treatment
outcome, and comorbidity of axis I disorders with BPD. She was honored with the Matina
Horner Fellowship at the Harris Center for Eating Disorders at the Massachusetts General
Hospital. She has a longstanding interest in research on BPD and worked in the Laboratory for
the Study of Adult Development under the mentorship of Dr. Mary Zanarini, during her
undergraduate and graduate education, from 2003-2010.
Peter Fonagy, PhD, FBA
Consultant
Peter Fonagy is Freud Memorial Professor of Psychoanalysis and Head of the Research
Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology at University College London; Chief
Executive of the Anna Freud Centre, London. He is Director, UCLPartners Mental Health
Programme and is National Clinical Lead on the Improved Access to Psychological Therapies
for Children and Young People. He is Consultant to the Child and Family Program at the
Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Baylor College of
Medicine. He is on the editorial board of over 20 journals and currently chairs the Research
Board of the International Psychoanalytic Association. He is a clinical psychologist and a
training and supervising analyst in the British Psycho-Analytical Society in child and adult
analysis. His work integrates empirical research with psychoanalytic theory, and his clinical
interests center around borderline psychopathology, violence, and early attachment relationships.
Fonagy has received many international honours including the Sigourney Prize for outstanding
contributions to psychoanalysis on two occasions, the Goethe Prize, the Sigmund Freud Prize of
the City of Vienna, the Millennium Prize for Contributions to Child Psychiatry and is honorary
member of several scientific bodies. He was twice invited to address the Annual Creative Global
Leadership Summit, New York and has been a Fellow of the British Academy since 1997. He
has published over 500 peer-reviewed articles and chapters and has authored or edited 27 books.
His most recent books include; Mentalizing in Clinical Practice (with Jon Allen & Anthony
Bateman, American Psychiatric Press), Social Cognition and Developmental Psychopathology
(with Carla Sharp & Ian Goodyer, OUP) and this year The Handbook of Mentalizing in Mental
Health Practice (with A.W. Bateman, American Psychiatric Press).
Anthony Bateman, M.D. FRCPsych
Consultant
Anthony Bateman is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist and Honorary Senior Lecturer
at University College and Royal Free Medical Schools, Barnet, Enfield, and Haringey Mental
Health NHS Trust, and St Ann's Hospital, London. In collaboration with Peter Fonagy he has
developed Mentalization Based Treatment (MBT.) He organized and successfully completed
randomized controlled trials of both day and outpatient MBT treatment of borderline personality
disorder in the UK. He is now investigating the effective elements of treatment. In 2004, he
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authored the landmark book Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality Disorder: Mentalization
Based Treatment. His influential body of writings and his gifts as a teacher have inspired a
growing international community of devoted MBT therapists.
Joan Wheelis, M.D.
Consultant
Dr. Wheelis is an Assistant Clinical Professor at Harvard Medical School and teaches at the joint
Massachusetts General Hospital/McLean Hospital Psychiatric Residency Program. Additionally,
Dr. Wheelis is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and
Institute. In 1997, Dr. Wheelis began training with Dr. Marsha Linehan at the University of
Washington in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and has been a DBT Trainer with Behavioral
Tech, LLC since 2002. She is unique in having acquired excellence in both of what are often
considered incompatible therapeutic approaches, i.e., behavioral therapy and psychoanalysis. In
1996, Joan Wheelis founded Two Brattle Center, a widely respected DBT program in Harvard
Square, and served as its President and Medical Director until 2009.
Shauna Dowden, Ph.D.
Consultant .
Dr. Shauna Dowden is currently in full-time private practice, specializing in BPD, chronic
depression, bipolar illness, and PTSD. She received intensive DBT training with Marsha Linehan
in 2002. More recently, she completed intensive training in Mentalization Based Treatment,
which she uses in her role as a consultant at the Gunderson Residence of McLean Hospital,
leading residential and outpatient MBT groups. She is an Instructor in Psychology at Harvard
Medical School, supervising psychology interns and psychiatry residents in CBT and DBT
treatment. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from The University of Connecticut and
completed her pre & post-doctoral training at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Her
research has included the areas of BPD psychoeducation, health services delivery, anxiety, and
parenting behavior/maternal warmth. She has been studying mindfulness for over two decades
and integrates this practice into all aspects of her work, with a particular interest in addressing
willingness for change and interpersonal awareness.
Residential Managers
Linda De Stefano, RN, MA
Milieu Manager
Linda earned a BA in English from Boston College followed by a BA in nursing and a MA in
counseling from The Ohio State University. In a career that spans over 20 years, she has held a
variety of clinical and administrative roles in schools, inpatient, outpatient and emergency room
settings. For the past 6 years she has worked at McLean Hospital with adults in need of short
term stabilization and with adolescents at East House 3, a residential treatment program for
adolescent girls exhibiting self endangering behaviors. While at East House 3 she was trained in
DBT, assisted in the development of nursing services across the continuum of care, provided
case management, and was Acting Program Director for the Mill Street Lodge. Linda has been
an active participant in meditation for over a decade and uses mindfulness to inform her practice.
She also has special interests in the expressive arts, holistic health, and alternative medicine.
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Katy Tarella, BA
Residential Supervisor
Katy Tarella earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Clark University, and is currently
earning her Masters in Social Work from Simmons College. Katy’s clinical experience includes
interning as a behavioral coach at the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Institute at McLean
Hospital, and as a residential counselor and then residential supervisor of the Gunderson
Residence. Katy’s undergraduate research interests focused on depression in couples, and she is
currently focused on psychoeduation for families with relatives who have BPD. Katy is trained
in Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and is completing her field placement for Simmons through the
Gunderson Outpatient Program at McLean with a focus on family therapy.
Alice Bredice, BA
Business Manager
Alice Bredice received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from University of York in England.
Prior to McLean Hospital, she worked in private industry as the Purchasing and Import Manager
for a high-end furniture company. She has been at McLean since 2000, most recently as the
Conference Coordinator for the hospital, organizing weekly Grand Rounds lectures and hosting
major conferences in Boston.
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