Mission Statement

The Behavioral Diabetes Institute, with its team of dedicated professionals, is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to helping people with diabetes live long and healthy lives. Diabetes can wreak terrible harm, but recent scientific evidence indicates that most long-term complications can be delayed or prevented when there is good medical care and good self-management. Unfortunately, most people with diabetes are not achieving the metabolic goals necessary for good health.

Living well with diabetes takes time, knowledge and effort. But diabetes can be tough to handle. Many people become overwhelmed, frustrated, or "burned out" by the daily hassles of diabetes and by the unending, often burdensome self-care demands. Many report feeling angry, guilty, frightened or unmotivated about diabetes. Relationships may become strained.

Addressing these real-life aspects of diabetes is critical for long-term success, yet often they are given little attention in common medical practice. Be sure to read "The Emotional Side of Diabetes: 10 Things You Should Know About Diabetes". The BDI seeks to address these problems by providing:

1. Services for people with diabetes. Diabetes-specific psychological support programs and behaviorally-based education and training in diabetes management. All BDI programs are designed to help people with diabetes overcome the emotional and behavioral obstacles to living well with the disease. Through such programs, participants develop an improved outlook on life as well as greater confidence and control over diabetes.
2. Services for health care providers. Comprehensive training programs in behavioral diabetes interventions for health professionals, including physicians, dietitians, nurse educators and mental health professionals.
3. Research programs. Ongoing research projects which aim to evaluate and document the efficacy of behavioral interventions as integral parts of diabetes care, additions to standard diabetes education programs and as stand-alone projects.

The BDI Team

Dr. William H. Polonsky, PhD, CDE, is BDI’s Founder and Director. Dr. Polonsky is Assistant Clinical Professor in Psychiatry, University of California San Diego and has served as a behavioral consultant in diabetes to several, multi-site clinical research trials, including the NIH Diabetes Prevention Program. Dr. Polonsky received his PhD in clinical psychology from Yale University and has served as Chairman of the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators, Senior Psychologist at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston and Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is an active researcher in behavioral medicine and has authored numerous professional articles on psychosocial and behavioral issues in diabetes. Dr. Polonsky serves as a member of the editorial boards of Diabetes Care, Diabetes Self-management and Diabetes Interview. A licensed clinical psychologist and certified diabetes educator, he has also authored Diabetes Burnout: What to Do When You Can’t Take it Anymore, a book for patients published by the American Diabetes Association.

Dr. Susan Guzman, PhD, heads Adult Clinical Services at BDI. A licensed clinical psychologist specializing in diabetes and heart disease, she recently served as staff psychologist and research associate for an ADA-sponsored study on family-based interventions in Type 2 diabetes. Dr. Guzman has also worked as the psychological liaison to Scripps Health’s Diabetes Advisory Committee and team psychologist for the Healing Hearts Program at Scripps Health, a comprehensive lifestyle change program for people with heart disease. One of her major clinical and research interests is the interplay between depression and diabetes.