History
The International Society for the Study of Personality Disorders was formed at its First International Congress in Copenhagen, in 1988. The initial Executive Board consisted of Theodore Millon as the President and Erik Simonsen as the Treasurer.
The idea of an international personality disorder organization was an initiative of Niels Strandbygaard in Denmark, founder of a study group on the Millon theory of personality disorders.
The Society emerged from a collaborative exchange between American and European mental health professionals, which evolved into a division of the Society into two regions, an American and a European.
Presently, ISSPD has four Regions, the European, North American, Latin American and the Asian/Australian.
In 1989, the Journal of Personality Disorders, founded by Theodore Millon and Allen Frances in 1986, and published by Guilford Press, became the official publication of the Society.
It is a multi-disciplinary publication with six issues per year which presents scholarly papers and research on aspects of personality disorders, their diagnosis, etiology, course, and treatment, as well as discussions of new methods for assessment, epidemiology and outcome research.
Click here to read ISSPD: Past, Present and Future
Past and Present
Board
members
Present: 2022 - 2023
President – Giles Newton-Howes
President Elect: Brin Grenyer
Vice President: Lee Anna Clark
Past President: Carla Sharp
Member at Large: Isabella Schneider
Early Career Member: Sharon M. Nelson
Secretary/Treasurer: Kenneth N. Levy
Student Representative (ex-officio): Alexandra Stein
Lived Experience Representative: Åse-Line Baltzersen
Carer Representative: Jill Townsend
2019 – 2021
President – Carla Sharp, Ph.D, USA
Member-at-Large – Micky Kongerslev, Ph.D., Denmark
Student Member (ex-officio) – Benjamin N. Johnson, M.S., University Park,PA and NY, NY, USA
Administrative Assistant – Ashley Stauffer, Ann Arbor, MIIn
ISSPD
Over the Years
1988
Founding of the ISSPD
1988
ISSPD congress: Copenhagen, Denmark
1988 - 1991
President: Ted Millon, Ph.D., USA
1986
First issue of the Journal of Personality Disorders
1991
ISSPD congress: Oslo, Norway
1991 - 1995
President: John Gunderson, M.D., USA
1993
ISSPD congress: Cambridge USA
1995
ISSPD congress: Dublin, Ireland
1995 - 1999
President: Erik Simonsen, Denmark
1997
ISSPD congress: Vancouver Canada
1999
ISSPD congress: Geneva Switzerland
1999 - 2003
President: John Oldham, M.D., USA
2001
ISSPD congress: New York, USA (Conference cancelled due to 9/11)
2002
Formation of the Section on Personality Disorders in the World Psychiatric Association
2003
ISSPD congress: Florence, Italy
2003 - 2007
President: Cesar Maffei, Italy 2005 Mar del Plata, Argentina
2004
Creation of the WPA/ISSPD Educational Program on Personality Disorders
2007
ISSPD congress: Hague, The Netherlands
2007 - 2011
President: Elsa Ronningstam, Ph.D., USA
2007
First issue of Personality and Mental Health as the official journal of the WPA Section on Personality Disorders
2009
ISSPD congress: New York, USA
2011
ISSPD congress: Melbourne Australia
2011 - 2015
President: Andrew Chanen, M.D., Ph.D., Australia
2014
In memoriam: Ted Millon
2015
ISSPD congress: Montreal, Canada
2015 - 2017
President: Sabine Herpertz, M.D., Germany
2016
In memoriam: Ken Silk
2017
ISSPD congress: Heidelberg, Germany
2017 - 2019
President: Steven Huprich, Ph.D., USA
2018
In memoriam: John G. Gunderson
2019
ISSPD congress: Vancouver, Canada
2019 - 2021
President: Carla Sharp, Ph.D., USA
2019
Memoriam – Perry Hoffman
2020
Memoriam – Larry Siever
2021
ISSPD congress: Oslo, Norway (remote)
2021 - 2023
President: Giles Newton-Howes, M.D., New Zealand
2023
ISSPD congress: Sydney, Australia
2024 - 2026
President: Brin Grenyer, Ph.D., Australia