How is your approach to managing Depression any different from everybody else’s?
I don’t believe in recovery from Depression. I believe the term sets us up to fail. The word “recovery” means a return to a previous state or condition. If you’ve had Depression you know that’s simply not possible. You are forever changed.
Striving for a return to a previous state implies that there is something damaged about us now that we have Depression. We’re not damaged. We have an illness.An illness that can be managed just like diabetes or epilepsy. It can’t be cured, but it can be managed effectively.
Also, I come at Depression from two different, yet integrated, angles. I’ve lived with my demon since childhood and I’ve worked in mental illness and addiction services for over 25 years. I’m not going to tell you what to do or how to live your life. What I will do, is show you how I created a fulfilling life despite having Depression and how you can do that too.
And I’m sure as fuck not going to quote to you from the latest, most popular textbook.
Do you offer in-person services?
I’m not going to completely rule it out for the future but I guess the short answer is no. We live in a small house bus so we don’t have room at home and renting an office seems like the exact opposite of living in a housebus so its probably not going to happen.
Nowadays zoom calls are becoming more and more popular and we can do those even without wearing pants. Not that I would of course. Anyhoo, in the days of covid and because I work with people from all over the world, right now, I just use my laptop, my phone and a well-used giant coffee mug.
Why do you say that suicide is everybody’s responsibility? Isn’t it an individual choice?
It fucking is not. At the same time I’m a strong supporter of euthanasia. The difference is, I believe, that one occurs due to an act of despair and the other occurs after a clear and concise decision-making process.
Here’s a story to illustrate what I mean:
I had a colleague who coped with severe Depression.the type that lands you in court on in other dire circumstances on a regular basis.
A couple of years ago, I heard that she’d killed herself. She’d reached the age of 60+ and she’d been battling her demons since her early 20’s. She’d had enough. While I find it immensely sad that she made that choice, I support her right to make it 100%.
Now, if she’d made that choice while she was in the midst of an episode, I would feel vastly different.
I believe that as a society, as a community of human beings, we have a responsibility to create the kind of world where nobody gets the chance to feel that desperate. Because nobody is allowed to be that lonely, that ill, that disconnected from others and from their true self.
I believe that kind of a world is possible. Maybe not in my lifetime, but it is possible. There are changes coming people and we are the change-makers.
(Wow. That wasn’t a short answer, was it?)
What do you mean by strong and vulnerable? Shouldn’t it be strong but vulnerable?
Nope. I stand by strong and vulnerable. Who was it that decided the two things were poles apart? Who decided that you can only be one or the other? Not both?
Personally, I think there’s huge power in being strong and vulnerable. I think that people who feel strong aren’t afraid to be vulnerable and I think that people who feel vulnerable have quiet strength that not all of us have.
Here’s another story (I’ll try not to make it as long as the last one):
I used to work with people who displayed severe symptoms of many mental illnesses. These were the people who were “permanently hospitalized” before deinstitutionalization occurred in NZ. (Absolutely loved that job, by the way).
This was the first time I had come across people who constantly lived with voices in their head (despite the medication). It looked exhausting.
I gained a new respect for these people because I don’t know if I could function as a human being, in this noisy world, when I constantly had 3 or 4 other voices talking to me as well.
These were some of the most vulnerable people in the world (and not dangerous too I might add) and yet they also had a strength that I doubt I could ever aspire to. They got on with their lives while having so much “extra” to manage.
(I guess I didn’t succeed with the whole shorter story thing, did I?)
Do you offer a money back guarantee?
I’d love to, I really would. But the reality is that I have no control over how motivated you are to follow the formula, or how you understand and implement the work.That makes it very difficult for me to come up with a criteria that would allow me to refund folks. So, in short, no I don’t.
What I can guarantee you, is that I’ve got your back. I know the ORCHID formula works because I did it myself and I’ve watched other people do it too.I guarantee you that I’ll do everything in my power to ensure you get the same results as I did, and more.
What happens if I become ill while I’m working with you?
Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I almost hope you do! It’s an excellent opportunity to put your Shit Day Plan into action.
Email me and let me know, and I’ll help you through it. Our whole focus is to manage the episodes just as well as the good days. You will rest when you need to, cry when you need to, and curl up on the couch watching trash on netflix when you need to. And we’ll be with you supporting you every step of the way.
The only thing we won’t do, is let you give up.
What if I don’t want to Create a Creature of Fucking Beauty?
What?! Why wouldn’t you want to create a Creature of fucking Beauty? Again, I’m not here to tell you what to do. But…
When you join any of my programs, the goal is to build a fulfilling life for yourself. I defy anyone to do that without creating a CFB. You may not call it a CFB, but a CFB is what it is.
If it turns out that your CFB is a nice, quiet, calm life spent with your family, then congratulations! You achieved you goal and the goal I want for you. In this case, your life is your CFB.
A CFB is most certainly a tangible thing, but what that thing is, is entirely up to you.
What are your policies on confidentiality and privacy?
Boringly standard stuff I’m afraid, which you can look at here. After saying that, we have an extra…code of conduct…I guess you’d call it.
We treat every space we work in as sacred. You can share as much or as little as you want and you can do the same with my other services.
I’m really big on shouting my stuff from the rooftops because I believe that the only way we’re going to stamp out stigma and discrimination is by making Depression an every day conversation. But, that doesn’t mean you have to.
You can make your own decisions about what you talk about within or without our community. But you can rest assured that while I’m shouting from the rooftops, I’m not shouting about your stuff, only mine.
What time zone do you work with?
New Zealand time. I work with a lot of people in a lot of different time zones. Apart from Australia, who are a few hours behind us, most of my clients are around 12 hours behind NZ which makes it relatively easy to match up time zones.
Also, all of our zoom calls are recorded so you always have the replay to look back on and if you can’t attend a live event, you can always catch it later.
In terms of communication, you’ll never go for more than a few hours without me replying to a message or email.
Can I continue to see my Doctor and my Therapist while I’m in your programs?
Absolutely. Again, I’m not going to tell you what you can or can’t do. Sure, you’ll hear me complain about so-called medical professionals but that’s just my personal opinion, not an edict.
Also, although I don’t agree with the recovery model that most of these people use, there are some good and genuinely caring, Doctors and therapists out there. I just don’t believe that they are our only option for treatment.
Got a question I haven’t answered yet?
All good!
Send me an email to:
drusilla@depressionmuse.com or hit me up on our contact page