Over the 12 years I spent working with the Icarus Project,

I had countless direct experiences of peer-to-peer healing and support with others who shared similar struggles and diagnoses. During that time I learned that a lot of what society teaches us about “mental illness” just isn’t true. The language of “disease,” “disorder” and “dysfunction” often masks that we are deeply resilient beings who doing our best to heal in circumstances that are themselves dysfunctional. In other words: the society we live in is sick and it can be hard to try and fit into a sick society. 

My experiences gave me skills for understanding and working with various expressions of madness. I learned that, while for some people psychiatric medicine can be very useful, there are so many different ways to find healing and stability. One of the foundations to healing is knowing there are other people out there who understand you and have your back.

Along my journey, I’ve studied and practiced many healing modalities including Internal Family Systems, generative somatics, and Open Dialogue, and I have a long term meditation and yoga practice. I also grow gardens and save seeds and learn many lessons from the wild. I’ve been keeping a written journal for 25 years and writing my dreams down every morning for a long time. I use these tools to continue my own healing as well to inform my work with others. 

I received my Masters from Hunter College School of Social Work in 2016 and spent several years working in the public mental health system in New York City with young people recently diagnosed with psychotic disorders. Working inside the public system left me more convinced than ever that we need creative and visionary ways of working with extreme emotional experiences. It reinforced my belief that people with lived experiences of madness have an important role to play in evolving the way our society relates to psychic difference. The current system does not offer much space for our voices to be heard as change-makers; through this practice I want to help grow a network of people who feel empowered to advocate for themselves and others.