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I have always wanted professional writing to be something I could put on my resume, but a friend once told me that I lacked the ‘fire in the belly’ to make that a reality. I have learned over the years that I do have fire, but it is more like heartburn that fades quickly with a glass of cold milk. I tend to do well with writing short pieces, making blogging a natural connection I have openly resisted, until, this obvious moment.

I chose the title of Mental Health Hack as a signal to a reader that it is not necessary to have polished edges (even perceived ones), especially those of us in the mental health field. I find it terribly disheartening that even in 2013, so many struggle with preconceived ideas about what a mental health professional does, let alone who they really are. I can be just as clumsy and lost in my mind as the next person. My best friend would say that ‘we are brilliant one minute, but are known to hide our own Easter eggs the next’. Now, please, let’s be hopeful that you discover eloquent moments through pieces I have and continue to write. However, no matter how much I am aware that judgement constrains our joy, I have been known to rant about how tired I have grown counting the number of women wearing their pajama pants to the grocery store.  

So, here are a few commitments I make to you if you choose to read my writing:

~ I will impart what I understand to be true for me around issues related to our emotional health and well being. I hope to do this in an honest and genuine fashion, one that communicates something meaningful to you.

~ I intend to be REAL. I want people to know there are helping professions out there that laugh at sixth grade potty humor just as well as themselves.  For me, writing is sometimes a form of play and if I can’t be authentic and have fun with it — then I don’t wanna. 

~ There are a few quirks about myself that I intend to share. I like to think of them as aspects of my childhood that I truly enjoyed and as I re-remembered who I am, through my own therapy, I have returned to them with fierce love.

~I will often link ideas back to an emotional premise, but I believe there is intrinsic value in just being REAL. If I am going to do this with a whole heart,  I must impart my whole Self, not just the parts that know how to effectively spit out the psycho-babble I have learned over the years.