Dissociative Disorders Related Content

When Healers Share, Healing Spreads

The recent New York Times feature on dissociative identity disorder (DID) did something rare. It approached a complex and often misunderstood diagnosis with care, nuance, and humanity. Rather than relying on caricature or sensationalism, it centered the lived experiences of people navigating DID and...

Joining Forces To Provide a Full Continuum of Trauma-Focused Care

McLean Hospital has a strong reputation as being one of the premier locations in the United States for trauma-related patient care and research. With exposure to traumatic events occurring worldwide, we continue to adapt to meet the needs of the communities we serve. To address this, McLean’s Hill...

Feelings of Detachment Predict Worse Mental Health Outcomes After Trauma

Results from the largest prospective study of its kind indicate that for individuals who experience trauma, the presence of dissociation—a profound feeling of detachment from one’s sense of self or surroundings—may indicate a high risk of later developing severe post-traumatic stress, depression...

Sherry R. Winternitz, MD, Receives the 2021 Cornelia B. Wilber Award

Sherry R. Winternitz, MD, has received the 2021 Cornelia B. Wilbur Award from the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation in honor of her outstanding clinical contributions to the treatment of dissociative disorders. Story Highlights Winternitz has served as clinical director...

Video: Lecture – The Alfred Pope Award for Early Career Investigators 2021

Honoring Nathaniel G. Harnett, PhD, and Lauren A.M. Lebois, PhD, McLean Hospital – The Alfred Pope Award for Early Career Investigators Each year, McLean Hospital recognizes young researchers with the Alfred Pope Award for Early Career Investigators. The honor is named for one of the hospital’s most...

Staff Profile: Rebecca Schulman, MSW, LICSW

Rebecca Schulman, LICSW, began her career working with individuals with autism spectrum disorders and their families. She developed an interest in providing individual and group therapy, family support, and advocating for the improvement of and access to social services. After training at the...

Staff Profile: Sherry R. Winternitz, MD

Sherry R. Winternitz, MD, was previously the clinical director of the Dissociative Disorders and Trauma Programs. She began her career as a cardiologist before coming to Boston to pursue training in psychiatry, where she completed her residency at Tufts Medical Center and joined the faculty there...

Staff Profile: Michael B. Leslie, MD

Dr. Leslie is the founder and director of the McLean Hospital Initiative for LGBTQ Mental Health, a program dedicated to improving the lives of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and gender nonconforming, and questioning or queer-identified) people and families affected by psychiatric...

Staff Profile: Kayia L. Akoun, MD

Kayia L. Akoun, MD, is a staff psychiatrist at McLean Hospital’s Dissociative Disorders and Trauma Inpatient Program. Her areas of interest include women’s mental health, trauma disorders, mood disorders, and college mental health.

Staff Profile: Makayla Hourihan, MSN, RN

Makayla Hourihan MSN, RN, is the nurse director of the Dissociative Disorders and Trauma Inpatient Program, where she supervises the inpatient nursing care of individuals with various psychiatric diagnoses. Ms. Hourihan joined McLean Hospital as a registered nurse in 2016 on the Community...

Staff Profile: Lauren A. M. Lebois, PhD

Lauren A. M. Lebois, PhD, is a cognitive neuroscientist focused on how the mind, brain, and body adapt following trauma. She prioritizes translating scientific advances into accessible, compelling, and clinically relevant insights. Her National Institute of Mental Health-funded research program...

Staff Profile: Matthew A. Robinson, PhD, ABPP

Matthew A. Robinson, PhD, ABPP, is the program director of McLean’s Trauma Continuum of Care at the Hill Center, which provides partial hospital and outpatient treatment for trauma and dissociative disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and dissociative identity disorder (DID)...

Staff Profile: David J. Alperovitz, PsyD

David J. Alperovitz, PsyD, earned his doctorate in clinical psychology from the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology. He completed pre-doctoral training at Tufts University, a post-doctoral fellowship in psychology for the treatment of trauma and dissociative disorders at McLean Hospital...

Staff Profile: Milissa Kaufman, MD, PhD

Milissa Kaufman, MD, PhD, is a trauma psychiatrist, clinician, and researcher focused on advancing evidence-based care for individuals affected by post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociative identity disorder. As Kingdon Saylor Endowed Director of Trauma Programs at McLean Hospital, she provides...

Staff Profile: Patricia Mangones, PMHNP-BC

Patricia Mangones, PMHNP-BC, is a nurse practitioner at the Hill Center, a partial hospital program, where she works on a multidisciplinary team. In this capacity, she provides trauma-informed medication management in individual treatment and facilitates dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and skills...