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Faculty

Kevin B. Meehan

Professor of PsychologyProgram Director, Ph.D Program in Clinical Psychology

B.A., New York UniversityM.A., John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNYPh.D., The Graduate Center, City University of New York
Postdoctoral Fellow, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center

Description

Kevin B. Meehan, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Psychology, and Program Director of the Ph.D. Program in Clinical Psychology at Long Island University (LIU) – Brooklyn.  Dr. Meehan is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA, Div 29 & 39), and an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM).  He directs the Social Cognition & Personality (SCOPE) Lab, which evaluates which evaluates self-regulation, social cognition, and suicidal ideation in in both college-age and personality disordered populations.  This lab seeks to understand the full spectrum of psychopathology, from the highly dysregulated and suicidal personality disordered patients being studied and treated with colleagues at WCM to the distress of rejection experiences in everyday life in undergraduate participants and community members surrounding LIU.  The SCOPE lab takes an experimental psychopathology approach that utilizes experience-sampling tasks (ecological momentary assessment, nightly diaries) and social cognitive tasks (Cyberball, facial emotion recognition) to better understand social-emotional functioning in daily life.  Recent work has focused on near-term precipitants of suicidality, including relational triggers such as ostracism, as assessed by ecological momentary assessment (EMA) of fluctuating interpersonal perceptions, affects, and behaviors over time.  Dr. Meehan is collaborating with colleagues at WCM to extend these findings to suicidal patients being treated for borderline personality disorder (BPD) by gathering EMA ratings of interpersonal events in three 2-week bursts over an 18-month psychotherapy trial.  He was PD/PI of a recently completed NIMH-funded multi-site study evaluating proximal indicators of suicide, including relational stressors and sleep disturbance, and is a Co-I of NIMH-funded studies evaluating social disconnection as a precipitant of suicidality in older adults. 




Specialties

Personality Disorders, Suicide, Trauma, Narcissism, Attachment, Self-Regulation, Psychodynamic and Interpersonal Therapies, Personality Assessment

Publications

Selected Publications (*indicates LIU student/alumni authors)

Clarkin, J. F., Meehan, K. B., Caligor, E. (in press). Transference-Focused Psychotherapy for Individuals with Personality Pathology. In Sharpless, B. A. & Barber J. P. (Eds.) The Clinical Handbook of Psychodynamic Therapies. New York: Guilford.

Cain, N. M., Meehan, K. B., Roche, M. J., Sowislo, J. F., Lenzenweger, M. F., & Clarkin, J. F. (2025). From bench to bedside: Examining the interpersonal and affective context of borderline personality disorder as it unfolds over time in psychotherapy. Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/abn0001032

De Panfilis, C., Lisco, A., Meehan, K. B., Ossola, P., Preti, E., Riva, P., Romero Lauro, L. J. (2025). Longitudinal Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on daily rejection-related emotions in Borderline Personality Disorder: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study. Brain Sciences, 15(5), 530. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci15050530

Nenninger, S.*, Van Buren, B. R.*, Greene, A. L., & Meehan, K. B. (2025). Linking pathological narcissism to posttraumatic stress disorder in Veterans. Journal of Traumatic Stress , 38(3), 544–551. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.23142

Levy, K. N., Meehan, K. B., Tullis, P. H. (2025). Differences in self and other representations in inpatients diagnosed with depression, borderline personality disorder, and psychotic disorders: A test of Blatt’s Model.  Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 45:1, 80-89. DOI: 10.1080/07351690.2025.2451021

Jurist, J.*,  Traynor, J. M., Murray, G. E., Ren, B., Masland, S. R., Mermin, S., Meehan, K. B., Choi-Kain, L. W. (2025).  Under and Overmentalizing in Personality Disorders: A principle component analysis of nonadaptive personality and the Movie Assessment of Social Cognition. Psychopathology.

Glisker, R. A. N.*, Papouchis, N., Meehan, K. B., Morrison, M. J., & Kimhy, D. (2024).  Impact of overall and specific dimensions of schizotypy on theory of mind. Psychopathology. DOI: 10.1159/000542499

Biberdzic, M., Sowislo, J. F., Cain, N., Meehan, K. B., Preti, E., Di Pierro, R., Caligor, E., Clarkin, J. F. (2024) Establishing levels of personality functioning using the Structured Interview of Personality Organization (STIPO-R): A Latent Profile Analysis. Journal of Personality Assessment. doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2024.2330502

Meehan, K. B., Cain, N. M., Roche, M. J., Fertuck, E. A., Sowislo, J. F., & Clarkin, J. F. (2023). Evaluating change in transference, interpersonal functioning, and trust processes in the treatment of borderline personality disorder: A single-case study using ecological momentary assessment. Journal of Personality Disorders, 37(5), 490–507.

Lupis, A. A.*, Meehan, K. B., Wong, P., Haden, S., & Jagodić, G. K. (2023). Intergenerational transmission of trauma in Croatia: Relational anger and guilt in children of combat veterans. Ukrainian Psychoanalytic Journal, DOI: 10.32782/upj/2023-1-7

Clarkin, J. F., Meehan, K. B., De Panfilis, C., & Doering, S. (2023). Empirical developments in Transference Focused Psychotherapy: Assessment, treatment process, and outcome. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 76, 39-45.

Yakushko, O., & Meehan, K. B. (2023). Psychoanalysis and War: On Witnessing Ukrainian Psychoanalysts. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 40, 235-236.

Waugh, M. A., Mulay, A. L., Rossi, G., & Meehan, K. B. (2022). Editorial: The AMPD in Clinical and Applied Practice: Emerging Trends and Empirical Support.  Frontiers in Psychology, 13: 867933.

Siefert, C., Porcerelli, J., Meehan, K. B., & Dauphin, V. B. (2022). Clinical Utility of Proposed Dimensional Personality Disorder Models: Considerations & Opportunities. In S. K. Huprich (Ed.) Personality Disorders and Pathology: Integrating Clinical Assessment and Practice in the DSM-5 and ICD-11 Era. APA Books.

Bermingham, L.*, Meehan, K. B., Trub, L., & Wong, P. (2021). Attachment anxiety and solitude in the age of smartphones. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 38 (4), 311-318.

Mariotti, E. C., Waugh, M. H., McClain, C. M., Beevers, L. G., Clemence, A. J., Lewis, K. C., Miller, R., Mulay, A., Ridenour, J. M., Huprich, S., Lenger, K., Pitman, S., Meehan, K. B. (2021). Assessing self-definition and relatedness in level of personality functioning.  Journal of Personality Disorders, 35(6), 857-880.

Ossola, P., Antonucci, C., Meehan, K. B., Cain, N. M., Ferrari, M., Soliani, A., Marchesi, C., Clarkin, J. F., Sambataro, F., & De Panfilis, C. (2021). Effortful Control is associated with executive attention: A computational study. Journal of Personality, 89(4), 774-785.

Sasso, S.*, Cain, N. M., Meehan, K. B., Zeng, R.*, & Wong, P. (2021). The impact of pathological narcissism on affect following social rejection.  Journal of Personality Disorders, 35(5), 691-707.

Meehan, K. B. (2021). Clinical Applications: What Can Multimethod Designs Tell Us About Personality Functioning? Journal of Personality Assessment, 103(5), 716-717.

Meehan, K. B. & Diamond, D. (2021). Narcissism and Dimensions of Personality (Narzissmus und Personlichkeits-dimensionen). In Doering, S., Hartmann, H. P., & Kernberg, O. F. (Eds.), Handbuch Narzissmus (2nd Ed). Schattauer.

Siefert, C., Sexton, J., Meehan, K. B., Nelson, S., Haggerty, G., Dauphin, V. B., & Huprich, S. K. (2020). Development of a short-form for the DSM-5 levels of personality functioning questionnaire. Journal of Personality Assessment 102(4), 516-526.

Kivity, Y., Levy, K. N., Wasserman, R. H., Beeney, J. E., Meehan, K. B., & Clarkin, J. F. (2019). Conformity to prototypical therapeutic principles and its relation with change in reflective-functioning in three treatments for borderline personality disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 87(11), 975–988.

Lewis, K. C.*, Meehan, K. B., Cain, N. M., Wong, P. S., Clemence, A. J., Stevens, J., & Tillman, J. G. (2019). Quality of internalized object representations and suicidality in individuals with anaclitic and introjective personality styles. Journal of Personality Disorders, 33, 435-451.

Meehan, K. B., Cain, N. M., Roche, M. J., Clarkin, J. F., & De Panfilis, C. (2019). Rejection sensitivity and self-regulation of daily interpersonal events. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 49, 223–233.

Meehan, K. B., Siefert, C., Sexton, J., & Huprich, S. K. (2019). Expanding the role of levels of personality functioning in personality disorder taxonomy: Commentary on ‘Criterion A of the AMPD in HiTOP’. Journal of Personality Assessment. 101(4),367-373.

De Panfilis, C., Antonucci, C., Meehan, K. B., Cain, N. M., Soliani, A., Marchesi, C., Clarkin, J. F., & Sambataro, F. (2019). Facial emotion recognition and social-cognitive correlates of narcissistic features. Journal of Personality Disorders, 33, 433-449.

Cain, N. M., Meehan, K. B., Roche, M. J., Clarkin, J. F., & De Panfilis, C.  (2019). Effortful control and interpersonal behavior in daily life. Journal of Personality Assessment, 101(3), 315-325.

Meehan, K. B. (2019). An empirical perspective on the transference in psychotherapy: Commentary on Kernberg.  Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 7(6), 987-997.

Eubanks, C. F., & Meehan, K. B. (2019). Introduction to the Special Section: The Alliance in Psychotherapy - Papers in Honor of Jeremy Safran. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 36 (2), 113-114.

Nelson, S., Huprich, S. K., Meehan, K. B., Siefert, C., Haggerty, G., Sexton, J., Dauphin, V. B., Macaluso, M., Zackula, R., Baade, L., & Jackson, J. L. (2018). Convergent and discriminant validity and utility of the DSM-5 Levels of Personality Functioning Questionnaire (DLOPFQ): Associations with medical health care provider ratings and measures of physical health. Journal of Personality Assessment, 100(6), 671-679.

Meehan, K. B., Clarkin, J. F., & Lenzenweger, M. F. (2018). Conceptual models of borderline personality disorder: 1. Overview of prevailing and emergent models. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 41, 535-548.

Meehan, K. B., Clarkin, J. F., & Lenzenweger, M. F. (2018). Conceptual models of borderline personality disorder: 2. A process approach and its implications. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 41, 549-559.

Meehan, K. B., Cain, N. M., Roche, M. J., Clarkin, J. F., & De Panfilis, C.  (2018). Rejection sensitivity and interpersonal behavior in daily life. Personality and Individual Differences, 126, 109-115.

Meehan, K. B., Cain, N. M., Clarkin, J. F., & De Panfilis, C.  (2018). The impact of integrated object representations on rejection sensitivity. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 35(2), 254-259.

Morel, K. M.*, Haden, S. C., Meehan, K. B., & Papouchis, N. (2018). Adolescent female aggression: Functions and etiology. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 27(4), 367-385.

Clarkin, J. F., Livesley, W. J., & Meehan, K. B. (2018). Clinical assessment. In Livesley, W. J. (Ed.) Handbook of Personality Disorder, 2nd Edition. New York: Guilford.

Huprich, S. K., Nelson, S., Meehan, K. B., Siefert, C., Haggerty, G., Sexton, J., Dauphin, V. B., Macaluso, M., Baade, L., Jackson, J. L., Zackula, R. (2018). Introduction of the DSM-5 Levels of Personality Functioning Questionnaire (DLOPFQ). Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 9(6), 553-563.

Gershy, N.*, Meehan, K. B., Papouchis, N., Omer, H., Sapir, I. S. (2017). Randomized Clinical Trail of Mindfulness Skills in Parent Management Training. Child & Youth Care Forum, 46(6), 783-803.

Meehan, K. B., De Panfilis, C., Cain, N. M., Antonucci, C., Soliani, A., Clarkin, J. F., & Sambataro, F. (2017). Facial emotion recognition and borderline personality pathology. Psychiatry Research, 255, 347-354.

Cain, N. M., De Panfilis, C., Meehan, K. B., & Clarkin, J. F. (2017). A multi-surface interpersonal circumplex assessment of rejection sensitivity. Journal of Personality Assessment, 99(1), 35-45.

Levy, K. N., Meehan, K. B., Clouthier, T. L., Yeomans, F. E., Lenzenweger, M. F., Clarkin, J. F., & Kernberg, O. F. (2017). Transference-focused psychotherapy for borderline personality disorder.  In Fishman, D. B., Messer, S. B., Edwards, D. J. A., & Dattilio, F. M. (Eds.), Case Studies Within Psychotherapy Trials: Expanding the Gold Standard. New York: Oxford University Press.

De Panfilis, C., Meehan, K. B., Cain, N. M., & Clarkin, J. F. (2016). Effortful control, rejection sensitivity, and borderline personality disorder features in adulthood. Journal of Personality Disorders, 30(5), 595–612.

Markowitz, J. C., Meehan, K. B., Petkova, E., Zhao, Y., Van Meter, P. E., Neria, Y., Pessin, H., & Nazia, Y. (2016). Treatment preferences of psychotherapy patients with chronic PTSD. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 77(3), 363-370.

Lewis, K. C.*, Meehan, K. B., Cain, N. M., & Wong, P. S. (2016). Within the confines of character: A review of suicidal behavior and personality style. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 33(1), 179-202.

Lewis, K. C.*, Meehan, K. B., Cain, N. M., Wong, P. S., Clemence, A. J., Stevens, J., & Tillman, J. G. (2016). Impairments in object relations and chronicity of suicidal behavior in individuals with borderline personality disorder. Journal of Personality Disorders, 30(1), 19–34.

Weinstein, S. R.*, Meehan, K. B., Cain, N. M., Ripoll, L. H., Boussi, A. R.*, Papouchis, N., New, A. S., & Siever, L. J. (2016). Mental state identification, borderline pathology, and the neglected role of childhood trauma. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 7(1), 61-71.

Simon, S.*, Cain, N. M., Samstag, L. W., Meehan, K. B., & Muran, J. C. (2015). Assessing interpersonal subtypes in depression. Journal of Personality Assessment, 97(4), 364-373.

Clarkin, J. F., Meehan, K. B., & Lenzenweger, M. F. (2015). Emerging approaches to the conceptualization and treatment of personality disorder. Canadian Psychology, 56(2), 155–167.

Meehan, K. B., & Levy, K. N. (2015). Personality disorders. In Luyten, P., Mayes, L., Fonagy, P., Target, M., Blatt, S. J. (Eds.), Handbook of Psychodynamic Approaches to Psychopathology. New York: Guilford.

Meehan, K. B., & Clarkin, J. F. (2015). A critical evaluation of moving toward a trait system for personality disorder assessment. In S. K. Huprich (Ed.) Personality Disorders: Toward Theoretical and Empirical Integration in Diagnosis and Assessment. APA Books.

Van Buren, B. R.*, & Meehan, K. B. (2015). Child maltreatment and vulnerable narcissism: The roles of shame and disavowed need. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 63, 555-561.

Lewis, K., Meehan, K. B., Tillman, J., Cain, N. M., Wong, P., Clemence, A. J., & Stevens, J. (2014). Impact of object relations and impulsivity on persistent suicidal behavior. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 62, 485-492.

Diamond, D., Clarkin, J. F., Levy, K. N., Meehan, K. B., Cain, N. M., Yeomans, F. E., & Kernberg, O. F. (2014). Change in attachment and reflective function in borderline patients with and without comorbid narcissistic personality disorder in transference focused psychotherapy. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 50, 175-210.

Meehan, K. B., Levy, K. N., Temes, C. M., & Detrixhe, J.* (2014). Solitude and personality disorders. In Coplan, R. J. & Bowker, J. (Eds.), A Handbook of Solitude: Psychological Perspectives on Social Isolation, Social Withdrawal, and Being Alone. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell Press.

Levy, K. N., Meehan, K. B., & Temes, C. M. (2013). Attachment theory and personality disorders. In A. Danquah & K. Berry (Eds.), Attachment Theory in Adult Mental Health. London: Routledge.

Levy, K. N., Meehan, K. B., Cain, N. M., & Ellison, W. D. (2013). Narcissism in the DSM. In Ogrodniczuk, J. S. (Ed.), Understanding and Treating Pathological Narcissism. Washington DC: APA Books.

Diamond, D., & Meehan, K. B. (2013). Attachment and object relations in patients with narcissistic personality disorder:  Implications for therapeutic process and outcome. Journal of Clinical Psychology: In Session, 69(11), 1148-1159.

Cain, N. M., De Panfilis, C., Meehan, K. B., & Clarkin, J. F. (2013). Assessing interpersonal profiles associated with varying levels of effortful control. Journal of Personality Assessment, 95(6), 640-644.

Meehan, K. B., De Panfilis, C., Cain, N. M., & Clarkin, J. F. (2013). Effortful control and externalizing problems in young adults. Personality and Individual Differences, 55(5), 553-558.

De Panfilis, C., Meehan, K. B., Cain, N. M., & Clarkin, J. F. (2013). The relationship between effortful control, current psychopathology and interpersonal difficulties in young adults.  Comprehensive Psychiatry, 54, 454-461.

Rutimann, D.*, & Meehan, K. B. (2012). Validation of a brief interview for assessing reflective function. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 60, 577-589.

Meehan, K. B., Levy, K. N., & Clarkin, J. F. (2012). Construct validity of a measure of affective communication in psychotherapy. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 29, 145-165.

Markowitz, J. C., Kaplowitz, M., Suh, E. J., Meehan, K. B., Neria, Y., Jonker, H., Rafaeli, A., & Lovell, K. (2012). Treating patients who strain the research psychotherapy paradigm. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 200, 594-597.

Yeomans, F. E., Levy, K. N., & Meehan, K. B. (2012). Treatment approaches for borderline personality disorder. Psychiatric Times, April, 42-46.

Levy, K. N., Meehan, K. B., & Yeomans, F. E. (2012). An update and overview of the empirical evidence for transference-focused psychotherapy and other psychotherapies for borderline personality disorder. In R. Levy, J.S. Ablon, & H. Kaechele (Eds.), Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Research: Evidence-Based Practice and Practice-Based Evidence. New York: Springer.

Levy, K. N., Meehan, K. B., Temes, C. M., & Yeomans, F. E. (2012). Attachment theory and research: Implications for psychodynamic psychotherapy. In R. Levy, J.S. Ablon, & H. Kaechele (Eds.), Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Research: Evidence-Based Practice and Practice-Based Evidence. New York: Springer.

Levy, K. N., Meehan, K. B., & Yeomans, F. E. (2010). Commentary: Transference-focused psychotherapy reduces treatment dropout and suicide attempters compared with community psychotherapist treatment in borderline personality disorder. Evidence-Based Mental Health, 13, 119.

Rudden, M. G., Milrod, B., Meehan, K. B., & Falkenström, F. (2009). Symptom-specific reflective functioning: Incorporating psychoanalytic measures into clinical trials. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 57, 1473-1478.

Meehan, K. B., & Levy, K. N. (2009). Psychodynamic theories of relationships. In Reis, H. & Sprecher, S. (Eds.), The Encyclopedia of Human Relationships.  London: Sage.

Jurist, E. L., & Meehan, K. B. (2009). Attachment, mentalization and reflective functioning. In Obegi, J. H. & Berant, E. (Eds.), Attachment Theory and Research in Clinical Work with Adults.  New York: Guilford.

Markowitz, J. C., & Meehan, K. B. (2009). Letter to the Editor: Does depressive state influence reported attachment status? Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 70, 1726.

Meehan, K. B. (2009). Book Review: “Transforming Narcissism: Reflections on Empathy, Humor, and Expectations” by Frank M. Lachmann. Psychotherapy, 46, 402-403.

Meehan, K. B., Levy, K. N., Reynoso, J. S., Hill, L. L., & Clarkin, J. F. (2009). Measuring reflective function with a multi-dimensional rating scale: Comparison to scoring reflective function on the AAI. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 57, 208-213.

Meehan, K. B., Ueng-McHale, J., Reynoso, J. S., Harris, B. H., Wolfson, V. M., Gomes, H., & Tuber, S. B. (2008). Self-regulation and internal resources in school-aged children with ADHD symptomatology: An investigation using the Rorschach inkblot method. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 72, 259-282.

Levy, K. N., & Meehan, K. B. (2007). Commentary: “A fundamental polarity in psychoanalysis: Implications for personality development, psychopathology, and the therapeutic process” by Sidney J. Blatt. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 26, 536-548.

Levy, K. N., Meehan, K. B., Kelly, K. M., Reynoso, J. S., Weber, M., Clarkin, J. F., & Kernberg, O. F. (2006). Change in attachment patterns and reflective function in a randomized control trial of transference focused psychotherapy for borderline personality disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74, 1027-1040.

Levy, K. N., Meehan, K. B., Weber, M., Reynoso, J., & Clarkin, J. F. (2005).  Attachment patterns in borderline personality disorder: Implications for psychotherapy. Psychopathology, 38, 64-74.

Levy, K. N., Meehan, K. B., Reynoso, J. S., Lenzenweger, M. F., Clarkin, J. F., & Kernberg, O. F. (2005). The relation of reflective functioning to neurocognitive functioning in patients with borderline personality disorder. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 53, 1305-1309.


Selected Grant Activity

Co-Investigator, National Institute of Mental Health R56 and R01 Awards: Multimodal Assessment of Social Disconnection as a Proximal Risk for Suicide Ideation in Late Life

Principal Investigator (MPI), National Institute of Mental Health R21 Award: Influence of Daily Disruptions in Sleep and Self-Regulation on Proximal Risk for Suicide

Consultant, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Young Investigator Award: Impact of Interpersonal Experiences on Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors