They say many therapists get into this work for deeply personal reasons, but not many have held so many roles the way today’s guest, Denise Ranaghan, has. Denise gets real about what it was like being forcibly locked up in a psychiatric institute while in the military, working her way through school to become a therapist, directing community mental health services while being open about her mental health ‘status’ as a peer professional, and then having the courage to leave the system and go off on her own as an activist and therapist in private practice. Denise talks about the double edged sword of relying on oppressive authoritative systems while internalizing self-blame, and the courage it takes to bring a critical consciousness into your work.

In this episode we discuss:

• growing up a ‘troubled teen’


• forced involuntary psychiatric institutionalization


• authoritative abuse and internalizing self-blame


• identifying and de-identifying with the ‘patient’ label


• swallowing vs acting out anger


• moral injury as a provider in the system


• being ‘out’ as a peer working in clinical settings


• self doubt, endurism and developing better boundaries as a therapist


• being a apart of a community and making local changes


• knowing your privilege


• intergenerational collaboration and undoing agism

Bio

Denise Ranaghan shares a powerful personal story of recovery that has driven her 20-year record of service in the mental health field. She has held multiple positions including Residential Manager, Peer Specialist, Director of Wellness Services, Director of Assertive Community Treatment, and Director of Peer Services. In all of her positions she strove to include the peer perspective and vehemently called out oppressive practices, and eventually came to terms with how she was contributing to them. She was one of the first in several agencies who publicly identified as a Peer while in professional roles. She introduced and supported alternative peer run self help groups that challenged the “clinician knows best” belief. Denise has presented on Peer Support, Trauma-Informed Care, Voice hearing, Cultural Diversity, Suicide and The Human Canine connection. She is the author of multiple essays on recovery as well as the book Institutional Eyes which profiles her experience in the military where she was first psychiatrically hospitalized. Presently she has a private practice in Woodstock, NY, she serves on the Ulster County Community Services Board, the Mental health subcommittee and is a member a local Social Justice Committee. She says she has found community with a purpose at IDHA!

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/denise-ranaghan-lake-hill-ny/823460

Resources

Transformative Mental Health Training Institute (international membership) www.idha-nyc.org

Links

Get bonus episodes on substack! ⁠⁠https://depthwork.substack.com/⁠⁠

Sessions & Information about the host: ⁠⁠JazmineRussell.com⁠⁠

Disclaimer: The DEPTH Work Podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Any information on this podcast in no way to be construed or substituted as psychological counseling, psychotherapy, mental health counseling, or any other type of therapy or medical advice.