Public Writing
My public writing extends my academic research into conversations about mental health, narrative, and the lives of women. The questions that animate my research are questions that belong in public conversation, and these essays translate scholarly ideas into forms that are accessible, immediate, and relevant beyond the university.
These titles appear under the heading “The Fainting Couch” on Psychology Today.
Writing and Healing
“How Expressive Writing Can Empower Students” (September 2024): Explore how expressive writing can empower students by helping them process emotions and foster personal growth, all through the transformative power of storytelling.
“Healing Shame and Trauma Through Writing and Reading” (September 2024): What role can writing and reading play in navigating trauma? Memoirist Barrie Miskin discusses her writing process and how it offered closure, connection, and hope.
“How Writing Poetry Became a Lifeline for Processing Trauma” (November 2023): How did harnessing horror ironically pull a poet from horror's very depth? Read this deeply personal interview about the power of poetry and pop culture for identity reclamation.
Women’s Health, Then and Now
“The Birth Story That Wasn't Promised” (June 2025): What happens when the birth story you're promised falls apart? Erica Stern's memoir, Frontier, dives into the overlap of trauma, obstetric history, and maternal identity.
"Nosferatu and the Pathology of Women’s Sexual Desire” (December 2024): Robert Eggers’s 2024 film, Nosferatu, reimagines a woman’s struggle with desire, hysteria, and autonomy in a haunting tale of sexuality and empowerment.
“A New Mother's Struggle with Dissociation” (September 2024): Barrie Miskin’s memoir explores her battle with derealization depersonalization (DPDR) and the pressures of motherhood, revealing flaws in our approach to maternal mental health.
“How the U.S. Is Failing Moms on Maternal Mental Health Care” (August 2023): The Policy Center’s Maternal Mental Health State Report Cards provide the first-ever comprehensive view into the state of maternal mental health in the U.S. Why are states failing?
Narrative, Identity, and the Literary Mind
“Mary Magdalene and the Radical Act of Reading” ( August 2025): In an age when women’s reading was policed, Correggio’s painting of Mary Magdalene shows her sitting alone, absorbed in her book. What does that solitude say?
“Prescribing Poetry and Prose” (September 2023): The magic of books goes beyond storytelling. Dive into the world of clinical bibliotherapy and explore how literature heals and nurtures our mental well-being.
“How Fiction Affects Children's Social-Emotional Learning” (March 2023): Another reason to curl up with a good (fiction) book