Our Team
Marie-Paule de Valdivia
MBA, LCSW, CPFC, Founder
Heidi Sormaz
PhD, E-RYT
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Nathan Lipkind
LCSW
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The Fine Print
Session length is 60 minutes
Testimonials
I am very grateful I found your Family Connections class as it opened up the opportunity to work with you and gain a whole new perspective and skill set when dealing with a family member with a serious mental disorder. I truly feel blessed to have met you. Thank you for giving me another chance with my daughter.
With my gratitude and admiration.
With much appreciation.
The DBT model that you use is a very “user friendly” model. You provide parents with skills they can apply following their first meeting with you that make a profound difference. I can truly attest that you were life changing for my family. I only wish I’d known you sooner!
Equally important, for those of us parents who have struggled with the shame, guilt and self-blame of parenting a child who “doesn’t fit the mold”, you bring a deep sense of compassion and empathy. Your willingness to share your own successes and failures helped lighten the load! Thank you! Thank You!
For me it has been through working with Marie-Paule de Valdivia on the skills of DBT. This challenging journey continues but now with times of true contentment for spending some quality times with my daughter, who despite it all, I truly love.
I cannot begin to thank you enough, Marie-Paule, for being with me throughout every crisis and for your guidance, support and never-ending encouragement on this very difficult path.
Thank you for your commitment. You are genuinely helping people improve their lives, not many of us can say that.
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Marie-Paule de Valdivia, MBA, LCSW, CPFC
Founder, Program Director
My experience is unique and multi-faceted. I am the relative of a family member who manages her BPD symptoms and with whom I enjoy a loving relationship.As part of my MSW curriculum, I trained extensively in the DBT program of Yale New Haven Psychiatric Hospital. I have worked extensively with family members via phone or Skype; as well as in-person with clients who suffer from the symptoms of BPD and their families.
I have volunteered on the board of the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder for 10 years, believing passionately in that mission and developing the Family Connections program in the US and around the world, as well as teaching it at home and overseas to hundreds of families and colleagues.
I am frequently invited to speak on the topic of families’ experience and treatment at conferences in the US and worldwide.
My Journey
When our child’s illness became evident a decade ago, we, her family, were very much overwhelmed and had no sense of where to turn. Despite the fact that they had been in intensive therapy; for about a year we floundered about, while their life which had been full of promise came to an abrupt stop, filled as it was with impulsive and dangerous behaviors. Yet no one brought up with us the diagnosis of BPD. And when they turned 18, of course no one discussed anything with us at all anymore. It is only when I discovered the description of BPD symptoms on the website of a well known psychiatric hospital, that all became clear.
Our child went into treatment. We took the NEABPD Family Connections class. Things improved vastly, both at home and for them. There were bumps in the road, but the progress was marked.
I started teaching Family Connections, I could see the profound effect on families and loved it. So I went back to school and earned an MSW. I was given the extraordinary opportunity to complete my second year practicum in the DBT program of the Yale-New Haven Psychiatric Hospital. This gave me a well-rounded view of BPD, from a parent’s as well as from a clinician’s perspective.
I have helped patients and continue to do so; I have been helping families for many years; and perhaps most importantly, our family is solid and our adult child has a kind of hope and a life journey we could not have imagined.
My DBT Experience
Founder & Therapist
Families On The Line
Assistant Clinical Professor of Social Work in Psychiatry (2015-present)
Yale University, School of Medicine
Along with supervising doctoral students in psychology, I also co-directed the Annual Yale –NEABPD conference from 2015 to 2019 and directed its first virtual-live iteration in 2021.
DBT Clinician
Yale-New Haven Psychiatric Intensive Outpatient Hospital
During my tenure at YNHH, I delivered group and DBT therapy to adults, adolescents and their families. During a part of that time I also co-directed the DBT program of the Yale New Haven Psychiatric Day Hospital.
Board member and (c) Family Connections Leader (2009-2018)
Executive Vice President (2017-2018)
National Education Alliance for Borderline Personalitydisorder
As part of this all-volunteer organization, I helped grow the Family Connections program from serving a few hundred families annually to serving thousands of families in over 20 countries. I facilitated classes for about 400 families; and trained class leaders internationally. I chaired the Family Connections committee on the board from its inception and for 7 years.
Heidi Sormaz, PhD, E-RYT
Heidi is a PhD in Cognitive Psychology and an E-RYT. She has an expertise in attention, mindfulness, and body-based stress and distress management skills.
Heidi received her PhD and MS in Psychology from Yale. She has taught at Yale University, San Francisco State University, and Albertus Magnus College. She is currently working toward her license in Clinical Psychology. She is an expert on the influence of arousal and attention on performance and how anxiety affects thinking, stress management and performance in pressure situations. She has been an educator, speaker, and trainer with over 20 years of experience in designing and leading seminars on stress management, mindfulness, and educator training. HDR Press published her book Performing Under Pressure, and Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine published her article Meditation can Reduce Habitual Responding.
Heidi is the director and owner of Fresh Yoga in New Haven. She has studied yoga and meditation for 25 years and taught for 20. Heidi travels nationally to teach, has taught often at Kripalu in MA and the Esalen Institute in CA. Heidi has been featured in Yoga Journal and was selected by The Great Courses to design their first course on yoga; Yoga for a Healthy Mind and Body, Audible.com released her How to Live a Yogic Lifestyle and in early 2022, The Great Courses will be releasing her course on ending “overthinking” (worry, rumination, and cognitive distortion).
Nathan Lipkind, LCSW
Nathan has extensive experience working with young adults and adults who struggle with dysregulated
emotions, difficulty tolerating distress, anxiety, and depression. Outward manifestations of these symptoms often include substance use, self-injury, avoidance or difficulty managing relationships, and Nathan’s focus is on helping the person generate ways to improve their life, define goals and reduce behaviors and ways of thinking that interfere with these goals.
Nathan received his MSW from Columbia University with a year long placement in the West Haven VA Caregiver Support Program and Recovery Support Program, working both with families of veterans and adults with co-occurring substance use and mental health challenges. After graduation he gained experience by working in diverse settings including inpatient, residential, and outpatient; and he decided to focus on evidence based treatments, specifically Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). He also focused his work on young adults and adults, and developed additional expertise in co-occurring substance use disorders.
For the past three years Nathan has worked in the Intensive Outpatient Program of Yale New Haven Psychiatric Hospital, where he is in charge of the group programming and DBT skills delivery for adults and currently young adults who experience struggles with mental health and co-occurring substance use. Nathan has completed Behavioral Tech’s DBT Foundational training and Yale New Haven Psychiatric Hospital’s DBT training.