Skye Fitzpatrick

Faculty & School/Dept.

Faculty of Health - Department of Psychology

Degrees

Postdoctoral fellowship - 2019
Rutgers University
Piscataway, New Jersey, USA

Predoctoral Internship - 2018
University of Washington
Seattle, WA, USA

PhD - 2018
Ryerson University
Toronto, ON

MA - 2013
Ryerson University
Toronto, ON

BA - 2011
Dalhousie University
Halifax, NS

Biography

Dr. Skye Fitzpatrick completed her PhD in 2018 at Ryerson University in the Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Processing Laboratory under Dr. Janice Kuo’s supervision. Her research at Ryerson focused on the nature and treatment of borderline personality disorder (BPD), with a specific focus on dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT). Dr. Fitzpatrick’s training at Ryerson supported her in achieving numerous awards, including the Governor General’s Academic Gold Medal Award, the American Psychological Association Dissertation Research Award, and the Dennis Mock Student Leadership Award, among others. Following graduate school, Dr. Fitzpatrick completed her predoctoral internship in Seattle at the University of Washington under the research mentorship of Dr. Debra Kaysen. During her internship, she received research and clinical training in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which often co-occurs with BPD, and was awarded the Nancy Robinson Award for Outstanding Overall Achievement for her contributions to the training program. Dr. Fitzpatrick continued to pursue training in both BPD and PTSD treatment research during her postdoctoral fellowship in the Center of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University under the mentorship of Dr. Denise Hien and Dr. Shireen Rizvi. Her current research focuses on identifying ways to optimize, expedite, and broaden access to BPD and PTSD treatments on their own and as they co-occur. In the interest of optimizing and expediting BPD and PTSD treatments, Dr. Fitzpatrick has become particularly focused on harnessing the power of relationships through the development and study of conjoint or dyadic interventions. In the interest of broading access to BPD and PTSD interventions, she has become interested in developing and studying online, remote-delivered, and brief interventions.  

Selected Publications

SELECTED PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

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. Behavior Research and Therapy.

Bender, T. W., Fitzpatrick, S., Hartmann, M., Hames, J., Bodell, L., Selby, E. A., & Joiner, T. E. (in press). Does it hurt to ask? An analysis of iatrogenic risk during suicide risk assessment. Neurology, Psychiatry, and Brain Research.

Fitzpatrick, S., Zeifman, R., Krantz, L., McMain, S., & Kuo, J. R. (2019). Getting specific about emotion and self-inflicted injury: An examination across emotion processes. Archives of Suicide Research. doi: 10.1080/13811118.2019.1586605

Fitzpatrick, S., Khoury, J. E., Krantz, L., Zeifman, R., & Kuo, J. R. (2019). Next-day effects of dysfunctional and functional emotion regulation and the moderating role of experiential avoidance. Journal of Contextual and Behavioral Science, 12, 22-28. doi: 10.1016/j.jcbs.2019.01.003Get

Fitzpatrick, S., Wagner, A., & Monson, C. (2019). Optimizing borderline personality disorder treatment by incorporating significant others: A review and synthesis. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 10, 297-308. doi: 10.1037/per0000328

Fitzpatrick, S., Macdonald, D. E., McFarlane, T., & Trottier, K. (2019). An experimental comparison of emotion regulation strategies in reducing acute distress in individuals with eating disorders. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 51, 90-99. doi: 10.1037/cbs0000119

Fitzpatrick, S., Khoury, J. E. & Kuo, J. R. (2018). Examining the relationship between emotion regulation deficits and borderline personality disorder features: A daily diary study. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 31, 42-58. doi: 10.1080/09515070.2016.1211509

Kuo, J. R., Fitzpatrick, S., Krantz, L. H., & Zeifman, R. (2017). How do you choose and how well does it work?: The selection and effectiveness of emotion regulation strategies and their relationship with borderline personality disorder feature severity. Cognition and Emotion, 32, 632-640. doi: 10.1080/02699931.2017.1330254

McMain, S., Fitzpatrick, S., Boritz, T., Barnhart, R., Links, P., & Streiner, D. (2017). Outcome trajectories and prognostic factors for suicide and self-harm behaviors in patients with borderline personality disorder following one year of outpatient psychotherapy. Journal of Personality Disorders, 14, 1-16. doi: 10.1521/pedi_2017_31_309

Metcalfe, R., 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. doi: 10.1037/per0000156

Fitzpatrick, S. & Kuo, J. R. (2016). The impact of stimulus arousal level on emotion regulation effectiveness in borderline personality disorder. Psychiatry Research, 241, 242-248. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2016.05.004

Kuo, J. R., Fitzpatrick, S., Metcalfe, R. M., & McMain, S. (2016). A multi-method laboratory investigation of emotional reactivity and volitional emotion regulation in borderline personality disorder. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 52-60. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2015.05.002

Fitzpatrick, S., & Kuo, J. R. (2015). A comprehensive examination of delayed emotional recovery in borderline personality disorder. The Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 47, 51-59. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2014.11.004

Kuo, J. R., Khoury, J. E., Metcalfe, R., 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 and Neglect: The International Journal, 39, 147-155. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.08.008

Kuo, J. R., Neacsiu, A. D., Fitzpatrick, S., & MacDonald, D. E. (2013). A methodological examination of emotion inductions in borderline personality disorder: A comparison of standardized versus idiographic stimuli. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 36, 155-164. doi: 10.1007/s10862-013-9378-x

SELECTED BOOK CHAPTERS

Fitzpatrick, S., Jarnecke, A., Back, S., Straus, L., Norman, S., & Hien, D. (under review). Post-traumatic stress disorder. In K. Brady, F. R. Levin, M. Galanter, and H. D. Kieber (Eds.), The American Psychiatric Press Textbook of Substance Abuse (6th ed). Washington D.C.: American Psychiatric Association

Dworkin, E. R., Ojalehto, H., Brill, C., Fitzpatrick, S., Bedard-Gilligan, M., & Kaysen, D. (in press). Understanding PTSD and sexual assault. In W. O’Donohue, C. Cummings, & P. Schewe (Eds.), Handbook of sexual assault and sexual assault prevention. New York, NY: Springer. 

Fitzpatrick, S. & Kuo, J. R. (2016). Borderline personality disorder. In A. Carr (Ed.), Handbook of adult clinical psychology: Second edition (953-989). London, UK: Routledge.

Kuo, J. R., & Fitzpatrick, S. (2015). Dialectical behavior therapy. In E. S. Neukrug (Ed.), Encyclopaedia of theory in counselling and psychotherapy (292-297). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Affiliations

Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies
Member

Ontario Psychological Association
C. Psych., Supervised Practice

Service/Community Activities

Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies
Program Committee Member Award Committee Member

Awards

Canadian Institutes of Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship - 2018

Governor General’s Academic Gold Medal Award - 2018

The University of Washington Internship Director’s Prize: The Nancy Robinson, Ph.D. Award for Outstanding Overall Achievement - 2018

Canadian Psychological Association Certificate of Academic Excellence - 2018

Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT): Student Travel Award - 2016

Ontario Mental Health Foundation Studentship Award - 2015

American Psychological Association Dissertation Research Award - 2015

Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship Doctoral Award - 2013

Institute for Stress and Wellbeing Harry Rosen Research Grant - 2015

Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) program award - 2012

Dennis Mock Student Leadership Award - 2013

SSHRC Joseph-Armand-Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship - 2011

Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) program award - 2011

Supervision

Currently available to supervise graduate students: Yes

Currently taking on work-study students, Graduate Assistants or Volunteers: No

Available to supervise undergraduate thesis projects: No

Current Research

My research involves identifying and refining ways to treat borderline personality disorder (BPD) and suicidality, with and without comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I have two streams of research that work towards this goal. First, I use experimental, ecological momentary assessment, and other translational science paradigms to identify which specific strategies work in the treatment of BPD and how. Second, I directly study BPD and PTSD treatments themselves with a particular focus on dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT). To this end, I have recently become particularly focused on harnessing the power of relationships to treat BPD and/or PTSD through conjoint and dyadic interventions.