Janice Kuo

Biography

Dr. Kuo received her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Washington in 2007, where she studied borderline personality disorder (BPD) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) under the mentorship of Marsha Linehan. She completed an APA-accredited clinical internship at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System (VAPHCS), followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and National Center for PTSD at the VAPAHCS. She joined the Department of Psychology at Ryerson University in 2010. Dr. Kuo’s primary research aim is to examine basic emotion processes in complex, severely disordered individuals and to apply this knowledge to the development and enhancement of psychosocial treatments. She has a specific interest in examining emotional reactivity and regulation among individuals with BPD and trauma histories using multimethod (i.e., experiential, behavioral, physiological) experimental designs. She also has an interest in evaluating mechanisms of change underpinning cognitive behavioural treatments such as DBT.

Research Interest

Delineating the nature of emotion dysregulation (e.g., emotional reactivity, emotion regulation deficits, emotion misregulation) among individuals with BPD and trauma histories. Examining emotion regulation as a mechanism of change in DBT and other cognitive-behavioral treatments. Examining psychological and physiological correlates of different therapeutic strategies (e.g., validation) used in DBT. Examining the association between the use of specific DBT skills and treatment outcome in DBT.