Rachel Liebman, York University

Research

Borderline Personality Disorder Clinical Trial Couple Therapy Emotion Dysregulation Intimate Relationship Self-Harm Significant Other Suicide

Latest papers

Managing Post traumatic Stress Disorder in Eating Disorder Treatment.
The Psychiatric clinics of North America · 2026 · senior author
A pilot and feasibility study of Sage: A couple therapy for borderline personality disorder.
Psychotherapy research : journal of the Society for Psychotherapy Research · 2026 · senior author
Which one impacts the other?: The relationship between change in borderline personality disorder severity and change in posttraumatic stress disorder severity among individuals in dialectical behavior therapy.
Behaviour research and therapy · 2025

All 7 publications

Latest funding

A randomized controlled trial testing Sage: A brief intervention for people with borderline personality disorder, their intimate partners, and their relationship
CIHR · 2023 · Principal investigator
$952,425
How do communication behaviours contribute to and buffer against suicidal and self-injurious acts in couples wherein one member has borderline personality disorder?
CIHR · 2021 · Co-investigator
$555,774
A Program of Study on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Treatment: Development, Testing, and Knowledge Transfer
CIHR · 2018 · Co-investigator
$1,707,342

All 3 grants and awards

7 publications.

01

Managing Post traumatic Stress Disorder in Eating Disorder Treatment.

Trottier K, MacDonald DE, Liebman R

The Psychiatric clinics of North America2026Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.psc.2025.08.007 PMID: 41708270

02

A pilot and feasibility study of Sage: A couple therapy for borderline personality disorder.

Fitzpatrick S, Varma S, Traynor J, Earle EA, Vanstone R, Fulham L, Goenka K, Blumberg MJ, Wyatt L, Siegel AN, Di Bartolomeo AA, Norouzian N, Burdo J, Ennis N, Carney A, Luxor O, Sankar R, Monson C, Liebman R

Psychotherapy research : journal of the Society for Psychotherapy Research2026Senior author

DOI: 10.1080/10503307.2025.2491478 PMID: 40233277

03

Which one impacts the other?: The relationship between change in borderline personality disorder severity and change in posttraumatic stress disorder severity among individuals in dialectical behavior therapy.

Kuo JR, Christensen KE, Liebman R, Fitzpatrick S, Chapman A, McMain S

Behaviour research and therapy2025

DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2025.104747 PMID: 40294584

04

Communication Between Individuals With Borderline Personality Disorder and Their Partners.

Lauzon C, Di Bartolomeo AA, Varma S, Boritz T, Liebman R, Monson C, Fitzpatrick S

Personality and mental health2025

DOI: 10.1002/pmh.70013 PMID: 39980084

05

Predictors of study dropout in cognitive-behavioural therapy with a trauma focus for post-traumatic stress disorder in adults: An individual participant data meta-analysis.

Wright S, Karyotaki E, Cuijpers P, Bisson J, Papola D, Witteveen AB, Back SE, Bichescu-Burian D, Capezzani L, Cloitre M, Devilly GJ, Elbert T, Mello M, Ford JD, Grasso D, Gamito P, Gray R, Haller M, Hunt N, Kleber RJ, König J, Kullack C, Laugharne J, Liebman R, Lee CW, Lely J, Markowitz JC, Monson C, Nijdam MJ, Norman SB, Olff M, Orang TM, Ostacoli L, Paunovic N, Petkova E, Resick P, Rosner R, Schauer M, Schmitz JM, Schnyder U, Smith BN, Vujanovic AA, Zang Y, Duran ÉP, Neto FL, Seedat S, Sijbrandij M

BMJ mental health2024

DOI: 10.1136/bmjment-2024-301159 PMID: 39537555

06

Psychosocial Outcomes of Canadian Clubhouse Members: A Multi-Site Longitudinal Evaluation.

Mutschler C, McShane K, Liebman R, Canadian Clubhouse Research Group

Community mental health journal2024Senior author

DOI: 10.1007/s10597-024-01280-9 PMID: 38653870

07

Clinical characteristics, treatment course and outcome of adults treated for avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) at a tertiary care eating disorders program.

MacDonald DE, Liebman R, Trottier K

Journal of eating disorders2024

DOI: 10.1186/s40337-024-00973-6 PMID: 38263130

A randomized controlled trial testing Sage: A brief intervention for people with borderline personality disorder, their intimate partners, and their relationship

Principal investigatorCIHR2023Project Grant

Principal investigators: Fitzpatrick, Skye S; Liebman, Rachel; McMain, Shelley F

Keywords: Borderline Personality Disorder; Clinical Trial; Couple Therapy; Emotion Dysregulation; Intimate Relationship; Self-Harm; Significant Other; Suicide

$952,425

How do communication behaviours contribute to and buffer against suicidal and self-injurious acts in couples wherein one member has borderline personality disorder?

Co-investigatorCIHR2021Project Grant

Principal investigators: Fitzpatrick, Skye S

Keywords: Borderline Personality Disorder; Couple; Dyadic; Emotion Dysregulation; Emotion Regulation; Self-Harm; Self-Injury; Suicide

$555,774

A Program of Study on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Treatment: Development, Testing, and Knowledge Transfer

Co-investigatorCIHR2018Foundation Grant

Principal investigators: Monson, Candice

Keywords: Ehealth; Knowledge Transfer; Posttraumatic Stress Disorder; Psychotherapy; Treatment Outcomes

$1,707,342

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

Psychology
Clinical Psychology
Psychiatry
Other

Co-authors at York University, colored by department. Thicker lines mean more shared papers; select anyone to open their profile and their own map.

Candice Monson

Psychiatry

3 shared papers, latest 2026

Candice Monson

Clinical Psychology

3 shared papers, latest 2026

Skye Fitzpatrick

Psychology

3 shared papers, latest 2026

Candice Monson

Psychology

3 shared papers, latest 2026

Shelley McMain

Psychology

1 shared papers, latest 2025

Shelley McMain

Faculty

1 shared papers, latest 2025

Alexander Chapman

Psychology

1 shared papers, latest 2025

Kelly Mcshane

Faculty

1 shared papers, latest 2024

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their CIHR grant from 2023

Subject: Prospective PhD student: Borderline Personality Disorder Dear Professor Liebman, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "Managing Post traumatic Stress Disorder in Eating Disorder Treatment." (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your CIHR-funded project "A randomized controlled trial testing Sage: A brief intervention for people with borderline personality disorder, their intimate partners, and their relationship" (2023), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]