Mary Ellen had a lonely and dysfunctional childhood, which led to a young adulthood filled with bizarre behavior, suicide attempts, and escape into a creative bohemian-style world where she could hide from the harsh judgments of society. In her early thirties, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She married and shortly thereafter started her own successful business and settled down to what she hoped would be a normal life. However, her days remained chaotic and about five years into the marriage she had a complete psychological breakdown and began intense psychotherapy. This writing is Mary Ellen's account of her experience with her therapist and her road to finding balance for the first time in her life. In a conversational style, she tells of her relationship with her therapist, how his method was so successful, and how she traveled through her childhood pain. With his support, she came to accept her bipolar disorder, as well as learn the concept of "self-love." Because she experienced such a successful transformation, she wishes to share some of her therapist's treatment secrets with those suffering from mental illness or trauma. This book will also be valuable for family members and professionals treating such patients.
About the Author: The author grew up in an unhappy environment and as a young teenager began to have uncontrollable mood swings. She had always felt different, as if she didn't belong and thought her moods were just part of the package. In her late teens she started seeing various psychiatrists but it wasn't until she was in her early 30s that she was diagnosed as bipolar. She went into denial and refused to take her meds, thus continuing to live a rather chaotic life. In her early 40s she had a severe psychological breakdown, and though she saw a psychiatrists from time to time, she had no trust in them, didn't like most of them, and saw her family doctor. She received a referral from him and began intense psychotherapist with a man holding a PhD in clinical psychology - no psychiatrist for psychotherapy this time. She worked hard with this therapist and over a five-year period, ended up overcoming her childhood nightmares. During therapy, her doctor occasionally suggested that she might take her meds just to see what might happen, so she began to take them regularly and found that her mood swings stopped and she could live her life like anyone else. She first decided to write Dr. Wagner and Me so she wouldn't forget what she learned in therapy, then decided it's writing was actually a tribute to her unusual therapist. As she wrote the book she realized it's great value in the field of psychology and especially in treating the mentally ill or people suffering from trauma. She explains how her therapist was different than the usual run of the mill therapist and how he achieved such success with her. She now lives a happy, normal, stable life filling her days with creative endeavors and surrounding herself with people she cares deeply about. She hopes her book will be helpful to some.