
Norman E. Bartels, MA, MPA
As a Mental Health Residential Manager for the DuPage County Health Department in Illinois in the early 1980s, Norman set out to find solutions to his staff's problems in working with clients diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder
Research of the literature provided few usable treatment protocols and even less clarity about the nature of this disorder. Norman then turned to the experts - a group of individuals with this diagnosis - whom he met weekly for two years. They explained to him what it was like living with this disorder during this time.
Based on this information, Norman coined the phrase "Emotional Intensity Disorder" (preferred by the participants over the DSM label) and wrote the original manual, "A Systems Approach to Treatment: A Borderline Personality Disorder Skill Training Manual," which, as he describes it, later evolved into STEPPS "in the skillful hands of these University of Iowa professionals."
Norman is retired and lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Karen