Robert J. Gregory is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at SUNY Upstate Medical University.  He currently serves as the Director of the Psychiatry High Risk Program (PHRP), a recovery-based outpatient treatment program for suicidal youth and young adults, which he founded in 2017.  Dr. Gregory is also the developer of an evidence-based treatment called dynamic deconstructive psychotherapy. This treatment was initially developed for borderline personality disorder and co-occurring substance use disorders, but is now used transdiagnostically in the Psychiatry High Risk Program and aims for transformational healing of core vulnerabilities to suicide.  The PHRP recovery-based model has been designated by SAMHSA as “a best practice in suicide prevention” and was also given the 2023 American Psychiatric Association’s Silver Award in Psychiatric Services for innovative and effective mental health services delivery.  Dr. Gregory has authored numerous empirical papers and does trainings nationally and internationally.

Treatment of patients with substance use disorders can be fraught with challenges for clinicians.  Through their denial system, this patient population may have difficulty fully engaging in treatment, and their interactions can generate strong emotional reactions in the clinicians who are treating them.  In this presentation, Dr. Gregory will use principles from Dynamic Deconstructive Psychotherapy to provide a model for understanding some of the dilemmas in working with this patient population and how they may inform pragmatic therapeutic interventions.