Meet Melissa

I am a physician with expertise in mental health. I am a writer. I am a woman at mid-life. I am a person who has suffered with depression. I’m the mother of two daughters, one of whom has autism. We are in a blended family with my husband and his three sons. We also have a large and benevolent Newfoundland dog named Pablo. 

Writing saved my life when I experienced a devastating depression in 2007. Unable to work for almost a year, I discovered therapeutic writing. Week after week, month after month, I wrote along with others who were suffering from mental health crises. We read to each other. We listened. We offered reflections, and had our words reflected back to us. We held ourselves and each other in the circle of writing and sharing. Healing happened.

Two years later, I began facilitating therapeutic writing groups. I had worked for seven years intensively with people experiencing homelessness, which had been both deeply fulfilling, and also had contributed to my depression and burnout. I tried to hold more suffering than I could, and I cracked. So I picked up my skills and passion for supporting people who are struggling emotionally, and redirected them to support groups, just like groups had supported me. A decade later, an evolving group of participants continue gather in a circle every week. They write, share, listen, reflect. Healing happens. I am privileged to facilitate.

Some years later, as I began to explore more about what it means to be more fully my authentic self, I began to read Brené Brown’s books. I then trained to facilitate the Daring Way™ and Rising Strong programs. These workshops explore the stories we have told ourselves through our lives, and offer a process for getting curious about those stories, and making space for new stories in our lives, especially those that are most authentic to who we really are.

All the while, I continued to explore creative writing for myself. I attended, and continue to attend, classes and retreats in Canada and in the US. My writing practice has become a core tenet of living into my authentic self. 

Most recently I started working in end of life care, visiting people at home for emotional support. One of the core supports I have been offering is Legacy Creation, exploring with patients regarding reflections on their lives current and past, and also on stories they may wish to archive for relatives and/or friends. For example, recently I have been working with some patients on letters they want to leave for their children and grandchildren.

This recent work, too, circles back to nourish me as I am ever exploring who I am as a parent, partner, and physician. Working with people at the end of life shines a light on what it means to live, and how we each might live that most fully. These kinds of questions fuel my work and of my own self-growth, which are inextricably intertwined.