Welcome to Back from the Abyss.

This is a place for stories of hope and healing, recovery, and redemption.

I'm Dr. Craig Hecock.

Today's story is yet another by a therapist who reached out to me.

This is a vulnerable and profound wounded healer story,

a story of trauma and coping and resilience and healing.

I think that if you know a therapist, you know someone who's been through some serious shit.

Maybe it was their own psychological or psychiatric suffering, or maybe it was a family member or both,

but no one goes into mental health without their own backstory.

A unique twist to today's story

is that I've known Kristen for almost 20 years. We used to work together. But in recent years,

I've had very little contact with her. Then she reached out to me about telling her story,

and I came to realize that the stories and beliefs I had about her had been dead wrong,

that I had been projecting my own beliefs and interpretations onto her,

but I had no idea who she really was,

why she interacted with the world and with me the way that she did.

And now, 20 years later, Kristen and I come full circle,

for her to sit down with me and share

this story. And for me to rewrite the story I used to have about her, to see who she was and

now is from a lens of compassion and connection, not one of judgment and intimidation.

Sometimes I think the very best place is to start at the beginning.

And for me, my story really starts at the very, very beginning.

...