Kim L. Gratz

Kim L. Gratz is an affiliated faculty member in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toledo. She holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Boston (2003) and completed her pre-doctoral internship at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Her career includes roles as a Clinical and Research Fellow at McLean Hospital, Assistant Research Psychologist at the University of Maryland, and Director roles at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), including the Division of Gender, Sexuality, and Health.

Her research focuses on emotion dysregulation in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), self-injury, and related risky behaviors. Key areas include mechanisms of emotional dysregulation, treatment development (e.g., Emotion Regulation Group Therapy), and intergenerational transmission of BPD traits. She has received prestigious awards, including the 2005 Young Investigator’s Award (NEA-BPD) and the 2015 Mid-Career Investigator Award (North American Society for the Study of Personality Disorders).

Dr. Gratz has secured federal funding since 2003, serving as PI or co-PI on over 10 grants. Recent projects include studies on self-injury motives via ecological momentary assessment, ERGT efficacy in the U.S. and Sweden, and infant emotion regulation in BPD-affected families. She collaborates internationally to disseminate therapies and examines longitudinal risk factors like sexual revictimization.

Her work bridges clinical interventions and population-level studies, emphasizing translational research. Current grants include investigations into implicit motivations for self-injury and parenting dynamics in inhibited temperament.