Position:

Associate Professor
Director, Borderline Personality Disorder, Emotion Science, and Treatment Lab (BESTLab)

Contact Information:

jkuo@paloaltou.edu

Programs:

Psy.D.

Education:

Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, University of Washington
M.S., Clinical Psychology, University of Washington
B.A., Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles

Biography:

Dr. Kuo is a core faculty member at the PGSP-Stanford Psy.D. Consortium and is the Director of the BESTLab. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Washington where she was directly mentored and supervised by the developer of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Dr. Marsha Linehan. After receiving her doctorate, Dr. Kuo completed her internship at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University. She considers herself a scientist-practitioner dedicated to the mission initially set forth by her mentor- using science and compassion to help those in immense suffering.

​Dr. Kuo leads a program of research designed to inform and enhance treatments for individuals with severe, complex psychopathologies. Her scientific work focuses on clarifying emotion-related dysfunction underpinning Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD),  suicidal behaviors, and trauma-exposed individuals. In addition to her research program, Dr. Kuo also teaches or has taught several graduate courses such as Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Behavioral Assessment, Affective Bases of Behavior, and Supervision and Consultation.

​Dr. Kuo is also a licensed clinical psychologist where she primarily treats individuals with severe emotion difficulties using DBT. She is among the first cohort to be certified as a DBT therapist by the DBT-Linehan Board of Certification. Dr. Kuo is also a trainer for Behavioral Tech, Dr. Linehan's signature company that provides trainings in DBT. In this capacity, she conducts national and international workshops and trainings in DBT, and provides DBT consultation to clinicians.

Areas of Interest:

Research Interests: Borderline Personality Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Emotion, Emotion Regulation, Dialectical Behavior Therapy

Selected Publications:

*Denotes student author

*Fitzpatrick, S., *Ip, J., *Krantz, L., *Zeifman, R., & Kuo, J.R. (in press). Use your words: The role of emotion labeling in regulating emotion in borderline personality disorder. Behavioural Research and Therapy.

*Fitzpatrick, S., *Zeifman, R., *Krantz, L., McMain, S., & Kuo, J.R (in press). Getting specific about emotion and self-inflicted injury: An examination across emotion processes. Archives of Suicide Research.

​McMcMain, S. F., Chapman, A. L., Kuo, J. R., Guimond, T., Streiner, D. L., Dixon-Gordon, K. L., ... Hoch, J. S. (2018). The effectiveness of 6 versus 12-months of dialectical behaviour therapy for borderline personality disorder: The feasibility of a shorter treatment and evaluating responses (FASTER) trial protocol. BMC Psychiatry, 18, 230-246.

*Krantz, L.H., McMain, S., & Kuo, J.R. (2018). The Unique Contribution of Acceptance without Judgment in Predicting Self-inflicted Injury after 20-Weeks of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Group Skills Training. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 104, 44-50.

Kuo, J.R., *Fitzptrick, S., *Krantz, L.H., & *Zeifman, R. (2018). How do you choose and how well does it work?: The selection and effectiveness of emotion regulation strategies and its relationship with borderline personality disorder severity. Cognition and Emotion, 32, 632-640.

*Metcalfe, R.M., *Fitzpatrick, S., & Kuo, J.R. (2017). A laboratory examination of emotion regulation skill strengthening in borderline personality disorder. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 8, 237-246.

​Kuo, J.R., *Fitzpatrick, S., *Metcalfe, R.M., & McMain, S. (2016). A Multi-method laboratory investigation of emotional reactivity and emotion regulation abilities in borderline personality disorder. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 50, 52-60.

Kuo, J.R., *Khoury, J.E., *Metcalfe, R.M., *Fitzpatrick, S., & Goodwill, A. (2015). An examination of the relationship between childhood emotional abuse and borderline personality disorder features: The role of difficulties with emotion regulation. Child Abuse & Neglect, 39, 147-155.

​Kuo, J.R., Kaloupek, D.G., & Woodward, S.H (2012).  Amygdala volume in combat-exposed veterans with and without posttraumatic stress disorder: A cross-sectional study. JAMA Psychiatry, 69, 1080-1086.

​Kuo, J.R. & Linehan, M.M. (2009).  Disentangling emotion processes in borderline personality disorder:  Physiological and self-reported assessment of biological vulnerability, baseline emotional intensity, and reactivity to emotionally-evocative stimuli.  Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 118, 531-544.