About — Shannon Sauer-Zavala, PhD

In Progress, On Purpose

Hello!

Research Article List →

Research Article List →

I didn't become a psychology professor to write articles for other academics.

I know it's cliche, but I wanted to help people and I saw developing more efficient, accessible treatments could do the greatest good - move the needle.

And so for the past 15 years, I studied personality change, published papers (so many papers), ran clinical trials, and presented my findings at conferences

And at some point, I realized something uncomfortable:

The science I was so excited about — the science that can meaningfully reduce barriers to living the lives people want — was mostly being shared with other academics.

So I started translating it.

Equal parts ultimate hype woman & tough love when you need it.

Ethos

Translating personality science into tools for a life that actually fits you.

The Power of Personality Change | TEDxUKY

Follow along on Instagram

"BPD takes years to treat."

That belief alone keeps a lot of people from starting.

The timeline most people expect is based on who early treatments were designed for, not what most people with BPD actually need.

My research shows that re

Trust isn't a feeling you wait for.

It's something you have to build intentionally.

If you struggle with trusting others, past experiences may have taught you that letting your guard down isn’t safe.

Maybe you couldn’t count on your fa

Three diagnoses. One treatment plan.

That's what my client Kay ended up with once we stopped treating her anxiety, BPD, and bulimia as separate problems and started targeting the personality trait driving all three.

In this week's newsletter, I bre

"What you do here changes lives and I want you to know it means something."

The BPD Compass Workbook, based on the treatment my team developed, is being published soon. I've been going through all the feedback we've received from clients i

What an inspiring few days in Toronto sharing space with so many people who care as much about improving treatment for people with personality disorders as we do!

I’m endlessly proud of my graduate students (@hannahcroom @maddiekushner and Che

You just need to “stop overthinking.”

But the more you try to push thoughts away…
the louder they get.

It’s not because you lack discipline.
It’s because your brain treats avoidance like a priority.

When you label a

“Just calm down.”

For most people I work with, those three words make everything harder.

Not because they don’t want to feel calm
but because pushing away emotional messages make your body work even hard to pass them along.

And t

Anxious. Easily hurt. Slow to bounce back from stress.

Most people assume these are signs of something fundamentally wrong with their personality.

But according to personality science, sensitivity itself isn't what creates the overwhelm. It's the p

You want close relationships.

But trusting people feels hard?

It’s not because you’re “bad at relationships.”
It’s because your brain learned patterns to protect you
and now they’re showing up in your current rel

Follow