Emotional Instability

The primary goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the unique neural and behavioral effects of a one-session training combining emotion regulation skills training, with excitatory repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). The secondary aim is to identify key changes in the emotion regulation neural network following the combined intervention versus each of the components alone. The third aim is to explore personalized biomarkers for response to emotion regulation training. Participants will undergo brain imaging while engaging in an emotional regulation task. Participants will be randomly assigned to learn one of two emotion regulation skills. Participants will be reminded of recent stressors and will undergo different types of neurostimulation, targeted using fMRI (functional MRI) results. Participants who may practice their emotion regulation skills during neurostimulation in a one-time session. Following this training, participants will undergo another fMRI and an exit interview to assess for immediate neural and behavioral changes. Measures of emotion regulation will be assessed at a one week and a one month follow up visit.

This is a naturalistic cohort pre-post study investigating aspects of emotional processing and how possible changes in emotional processing is related to the successful treatment of non-suicidal self-injury and suicidal ideation in a program of Dialectical Behavior Therapy. In addition we wish to identify to what extent the intensity and frequency of non-suicidal self-injury and suicidal ideation is related to difficulty in emotion regulation, as indicated by self-report measures and psychophysiological measures.