ACCOGLIENZA:
LESSONS FOR AMERICA
Exploring how lessons learned from the Trieste, Italy mental health system could be transformative in the US.
We Are All Friends of Trieste: Your Help Needed to Save Mental Health System [Update as of 6.22.21]
Several weeks ago, I received alarming news from our friends in Italy. As a result of changes in their regional…
A Podcast Borne of the Pandemic
As we put this year to bed, I am highlighting quotable quotes from the ten podcast episodes which comprise Season…
What Would Basaglia Do?
This virus is the great equalizer, spreading through the earth with impunity and not discriminating as to wealth, class, ethnicity…
My Year of Learning About Suffering and Hope
I write on January 31, the eve of the one-year departure from my job of 22 years. I left the…
On the Eve of the Conference in Trieste
A week from today, I return to Italy. When I shared the news last April that the bi-annual international mental…
Where are the Hollywood Top 14 (Part Two)
This is a long and complicated story; difficult to condense to a few paragraphs. So even this abbreviated version of…
Go Big or Go Home.
The practical side of my brain can list all the reasons why it is impossible to replicate anything that remotely…
Hearing Voices
I am not a dottoressa. So often, this past month, visiting Trieste, people assumed I was a dottoressa, a psychiatrist. …
An Accoglienza Place for Women
I am a card-carrying member of Luna e L’Altra, one of the network of membership associations that are important for…
You Are Not Alone in This Neighborhood
Hands down, the best lunch I’ve enjoyed in Trieste this month was prepared today by three beautiful women at the…
The City That Cares
Anything that has been around for 40 years is bound to experience the forces of change. The Israelites were disciplined…
We'll Catch You If You Fall
As the theme song opens for Mad Men, there is that silhouette of the man in a free-fall. Who is…
Who. Is. This. Person?
The Trieste model emphasizes social recovery as a more critical element than viewing someone as a patient, in a medical…
The Family That Won't Give Up
For the first two days of this week, I’ve been involved in a series of meetings and site visits. Many…
A Psychiatrist with No Office
Imagine a psychiatrist in a community mental health center who rarely sits down. He doesn’t have an assigned office and…
Why Are You Here?
“The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little.” Thomas Merton, 1980 People I meet here in Trieste are…
A Mental Health House Call
Eight years ago, when I first began this journey to explore why our mental health system is so dysfunctional in America, I was impacted by the heart-wrenching story shared by Pete Earley, in his book…
Let's Go For a Walk
If ever there was a walkable city, it is Trieste. Actually, most Italian cities are perfect for walking – and in fact…
Why Am I Here?
If I am honest, I must admit that I have some trepidation about what awaits me in the month ahead. I have returned to Trieste now for the fourth time since my first visit in…
Meet Kerry
Welcome to my blog! I’ve stepped into a new chapter of my life. I am prepared, passionate & inspired to take action on providing accoglienza to America’s mental health system.