Clinician Experiences Related Content

“Compassionate curiosity.” It’s a philosophy that has guided Sophia L. Maurasse, MD, along her journey from a 10-year-old in war-torn Liberia—who was trying to understand why some soldiers could be helpful while others were threatening—to her current role working with children and adolescent girls...

Teaching, mentoring, and helping others comes naturally to Fairlee C. Fabrett, PhD. As director of clinical training for McLean Hospital’s Adolescent Acute Residential Treatment (ART) Program, she supervises and supports post-doctoral fellows and clinical trainees, helping them gain the experience...

“At our program, you learn from your coworkers and you learn from your patients every day,” said Florence Morin, RN, a clinical coordinator for McLean Hospital’s Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Inpatient Program, known as AB2. “Also, in our job, you’re always educating people—coworkers, patients...

On October 30, 2020, a beloved and respected nurse retired from McLean Hospital. Cindy Ruscitti, MSN, RN, the Older Adult Program’s nurse director, started working at McLean as a staff nurse on December 3, 1975. And—fortunately for its staff and patients—she continued to work at McLean for more than...

When Joseph Gold, MD, arrived at McLean Hospital in 1979 as a fellow in child psychiatry, the child and adolescent program was in its infancy. Founded in 1973 by Gold’s mentor, Silvio “Skip” Onesti, MD, the Hall-Mercer Center for Children and Adolescents practiced under the standards of the era...

Yale Hicks told his college friends in New Orleans that he cut short his junior year abroad in Ghana because of malaria. “I lied to everybody, including myself,” said Hicks, who was experiencing hallucinations associated with what was eventually diagnosed as bipolar disorder. “I was about 21, and it...

When Susan Szulewski, MD, was a medical student, she noticed how difficult it was for patients to navigate the cumbersome and confusing processes of the health care system—and she was inspired to do something about it. “I was on rotation at Mass General in their acute psychiatric service,” she...

1,631 of McLean’s 2,369 employees are women. McLean is proud of the contributions women make each day to ensure that the hospital delivers compassionate psychiatric care, innovative research, and unparalleled public and professional education throughout the United States and beyond. These women are...

Part I of a two part series I can remember hearing about McLean Hospital even as a young child. My great grandfather, grandfather, and father were born and raised in Belmont. In the 1800s, my great grandfather built a strong business here on his farm as the town blacksmith. The shop and barn were...

My name is Katherine Athens and I am a nurse in the electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) clinic. It was a busy Friday in the clinic in March, a year ago. We were preparing to treat over 50 patients that day. Our practice had been expanding over the years, and it was hardly unusual to treat 50-plus...

Last year I wrote an article for the McLean nursing newsletter about traveling to India and my journey with global health nursing. This year I am writing about another journey, an inner journey. A journey of burnout and creating resilience which has brought me to teach a class in compassion...

My name is Jeannie Kingsley. I’m a nurse on the Short Term Unit. Our patients are in crisis and need a brief hospitalization in order to stabilize. They arrive with all sorts of diagnoses, including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, borderline personality disorder and occasionally...

When Elyn Saks spoke to a standing-room only crowd during a recent event at McLean Hospital, the crowd remained riveted for the full hour as she vividly recounted her unprecedented journey as a person living with schizophrenia. During her talk, Saks emphasized the need for more compassion and...

My name is Julie Twohig, RN. I’m the clinical coordinator of the Dissociative Disorders and Trauma Inpatient Program (Proctor II), a women’s unit specializing in dissociative disorders and trauma. I came into work on a Wednesday morning in November 2012 and was told that a patient who had made a...

My name is Sandra Feehan. I have worked at McLean for 15 years and feel very fortunate to have a job I look forward to every day. I work primarily in the Neurotherapeutics department with patients undergoing electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for disorders such as chronic depression, mania, catatonia...

My name is Amanda Casparriello, and I have been a nurse for six years. I work in the Geriatric Psychiatry Inpatient Services on South Belknap 2, which is a geriatric neuropsychiatry floor. Our patients present with some sort of cognitive decline mixed with changes in behavior. Dementia is our most...

My name is Dorothy Ssebakka. I am a staff nurse at the Community Reintegration Unit (NB2), a short-term unit for patients with psychotic disorders. In 2011, I cared for a patient named Alfonso. He was a 44-year-old man with a history of schizophrenia. Alfonso had been refusing to take his...

Global “of or relating to the whole world, embracing the whole of something.” Nursing: “…autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families, groups and communities, sick or well and in all settings.” My name is Barbara Waldorf. I have worked in nursing for 30 years, in education...

After 15 years as an overnight community residence counselor at the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Institute, and five years before that in a variety of CRC and mental health specialist jobs throughout the hospital, Michelle Abate knew it was time for a change. For years, she had been taking classes...