Cathleen was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1960, was awarded a full scholarship to college, where she graduated summa cum laude, with honors and distinction, Phi Beta Kappa, and, later, with a law degree. Cathleen married and practiced law for about 10 years, including working for an Ohio Supreme Court Justice and then representing abused and neglected children. After the birth of her second son, her postpartum depression and out-of-control rages at home were incorrectly diagnosed as bipolar disorder.

After moving to Virginia, where the state did not recognize her Ohio license to practice law, Cathleen focused on her family. At age 42, Cathleen finally received the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (bpd), which involves an inability to regulate the extreme emotions associated with this condition. There is no medication to prevent or cure bpd. At that time, new specialized and evidence based talk therapy for bpd were not offered in her area. The diagnosis was presumed to be a life sentence without long-term relationships. She and her husband publicly advocated to bring this specialized therapy to her location, which they found about 2 years later.

After finally receiving treatment for bpd in 2004-05, Cathleen obtained a master’s degree in Library Science and then worked in an elementary school library for 10 years. In 2016, she joined the Board of Directors for a national nonprofit (NEABPD) which provides free 12-week courses to those with a loved one with bpd (see website at: www.borderlinepersonalitydisorder.org) and she has served on the Board since then. Cathleen authors a blog for couples where one of them has bpd, “porcupinelove.com,” ™ sharing strategies she and her husband developed over 37 years of marriage. Although the marriage fell apart in year 38, when complex PTSD from childhood trauma entered the picture, it is her hope that the skills learned during the first 37 years of her marriage will still be of some help and can offer hope where none had seemed to exist.