Holly Tufan, LAPC, is a group therapist and care coordinator with the Skyland Trail adolescent treatment program for teens ages 14 to 17. In that role, Holly leads therapeutic groups, including dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills and ecological systems theory. They also help adolescents prepare for discharge from treatment, ensuring that teens and their families…
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By Gordon Corsetti, Skyland Trail adult programs graduate It’s shocking what a text message or an email can do for my mood. Since I told my friend group a month ago about the resurgence of my depression, the amount of unexpected well-wishes has truly blown me away. Some came from friends of mine that I…
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by Sheila O’Shea One of the things Skyland Trail gave me when I was there was structure. After losing my job due to a mixed episode that sent me to a mental hospital, my life threatened to slide in a very aimless direction. The regular schedule of classes and activities helped stabilize things, and one…
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by Sheila O’Shea One of the things I learned from my time at Skyland Trail was how essential good sleep was for recovery from mental illness. Setting up a bedtime routine was an important part of that. Over time, I established a routine to signal to my brain that it’s time to go to bed.…
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The decision of whether or not to take psychiatric medication is ultimately a decision for the patient to make in partnership with their physician. Decisions informed by the current foundation of research on best practices in prescribing, patient education, and adherence strategies will yield the best long-term outcomes for patients and likely prevent adverse reactions and side effects that make some people skeptical about the utility of psychopharmacology.
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by Sheila O’Shea I’m a pretty introverted and self-contained individual, which are not always the best traits to have when dealing with mental illness. To really handle your symptoms and flourish despite them, you need help from other people. Help can take all kinds of forms, so let me introduce you to three people—who were…
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by Sheila O’Shea Living with bipolar disorder has been a challenge for me—especially when I spent years with the wrong diagnosis—but I’ve learned a lot from it. I carry those lessons with me to this day. Boldness If there’s one thing hypomania gives you, it’s confidence. It gave me the confidence to book a flight…
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By Sheila O’Shea There’s a New Yorker cartoon from a long time ago that depicts a sculptor at work. The statue is the stylized figure of a woman with her gaze fixed upward, and it is large enough that the sculptor needs a ladder to work on it. Just below where he holds his hammer…
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As part of the 2022 Dorothy C. Fuqua Lecture, mental health experts discuss the teen mental health crisis and what people, schools, and systems can do to protect youth mental health.
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By Sheila O’Shea Everybody has a story. People who have been through trauma and difficult times especially. They’ll often have a story that helps them make sense of what happened. Mine was the one I told about “The Unpleasantness.” It started with a beautiful morning where I felt absolutely miserable and ended with my parents…
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