So, what’s my treatment story?
I am being treated for 2 chronic
mental illnesses: complex trauma and bipolar 1 disorder with psychosis.
For 21+ years I have been under the
gifted care of one psychiatrist, Dr. Y. You might say we grew up together. I
began treatment with him when he was straight out of residency and I was on the
edge of a state hospital commitment. I was at the nadir of my life and he was a
wet-behind-the-ears MD. We both had a lot to learn, and we learned together.
My psychologist of 7+ years, Lynn, is
trauma treatment brilliant. I’d like to take a wee bit of credit for her
becoming interested in trauma therapy. Before my case, she had an awareness of
severe trauma. After becoming my psychologist, she got interested in focusing
her practice on the disorder.
Before Lynn, there were a series of
therapists, each of whom taught me valuable skills. For 12 years I worked with
Nancy, a psychologist, who taught me how to parent after a year-long hospitalization
and separation from my daughter.
She followed a psychologist, Carrie, who
helped me untangle how exactly I evolved from a professional scientist to a
psychiatric patient needing long-term commitment.
My very first psychotherapist was Sue.
She presided over my downward spiral into the depths of psychiatric hell.
She’ll come up over time.
Why listen to my
insights?
- · 15 years of giving and receiving mental health support in group, online, and one-on-one settings
- · BS in psychology, BS in chemistry, graduate work in biochemistry and toxicology
- · I’ve made the transition from total disability to full-time professional employment as a scientist
- · I wrote a book about the psychiatrist-patient therapeutic relationship from the patient’s perspective, which you can read more about here.
