Dr. Black – Bipolar Specialist

Suzanne-normal-sizeHello there. I’d like to introduce myself as a new contributor to the MoodSurfing ™ blog.

​My name is Suzanne A. Black and I am a Clinical Psychologist with a focus on medical and health psychology.  I was born and raised on the Upper West Side of New York City .

My intent is to inform, inspire, impact and effect change , and de-stigmatize neuropsychiatric conditions such as bipolar disorder , depression, ​and ​PTSD​,​ and “mental illness” – an antiquated term which has taken on derogatory meaning. I prefer to say “psychiatric condition.” You will find that I will rarely refer to Bipolar as a ” disorder.” ​ I ​ascribe to the theoretical orientations ​of Thomas Szasz , M​.​D​.​, a mid- 20th century psychiatrist , who perceived psychiatric conditions as challenging ways of living in the world of norms – a world in which one is expected to conform to the status quo . This is in sharp contrast to conceptualizing psychiatric conditions as a pathology to be tamed and perhaps “cured.” One might say bipolar “order” vs “disorder.”

I am looking forward to the privilege of contributing to the MoodSurfing ™ blog my clinical, academic and personal experiences and expertise with the intention to provide educational and therapeutic value and to facilitate learning how to live productively with mood disorders.

On a personal note, Bipolar runs in my family, so I am intimately connected with it . Shall I say that I am no stranger to “mood surfing”, truth be told?!

Here is my abridged curriculum vitae of sorts. As a contributor to this blog, I thought it appropriate to more fully ​disclose from whence I come, especially given the rather personal nature of some of the essays I intend to post.

I am licensed as a Clinical Psychologist in New York State, California, and France. I have an international private practice , conducting in-person psychotherapy sessions as well as video-conferencin​g via​​​​ Skype, and conducting supervision for mental health professionals treating mood conditions such as Bipolar .

I work with adults and adolescents, and conduct family ,couples / marital , and group therapies. I have a Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology from Yeshiva University in New York City with additional coursework at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine . I did my internship in Neuropsychology and Rehabilitation Medicine (with a head trauma speciality) and Family Therapy (with Salvador Minuchin, M.D.) at New York University Medical Center (NYU) . I completed my postdoctoral fellowship in Neuropsychology, Inpatient and Emergency Room Psychiatry at University of California at Los Angeles Medical Center (UCLA), where I was also an Adjunct Professor at UCLA Medical School.​​

I worked the ER trenches as well at some of Los Angeles ‘ most formidable trauma centers. In the Emergency Room setting, I had to learn how to quickly diagnose and find ways to quell the suffering in the interim and ultimately find a way to get the person to a longer – term solution.​ There was ​abundant human suffering to embrace , ​encompassing the continual task of finding a way to integrate and live personally with these challenges when the day was over. ​B​eing an individual who is exquisitely attuned to emotional tenor , I have to take especial care to mind my own heart as well as those of my patients . As therapists, we do not leave our patients at the door’s portal when we leave the office , so to speak. It is incumbent upon us to find ways in which to healthfully manage integrating those whose psyches we engage with so delicately with our own daily lives​. T​his is my personal journey as a psychologist .

I am a former Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California at San Francisco Medical School (UCSF) – former as in my having relocated out of California, and as an adjunct at Mount Zion Hospital and Medical Center in San Francisco.

I have private practices in New York City and internationally, working with patients worldwide, and including an office in Paris, France, where I work with international treaty organizations such as the OECD, UNESCO, IMF, the World Bank, the CEB social development bank, the American Hospital of Paris, the US Embassy of Paris, and other embassies and university abroad programs in Paris. I was the Founder of The Paris Society for Psychology and Medicine , and Students Abroad University Counseling Services.

I am a specialist in treating Bipolar Spectrum Affective Disorder, and also work with PTSD and other conditions on the affective disorders spectrum. I was involved in research conducted at the University of Toronto focusing on frontline war journalists suffering from PTSD. I also did research in neuropsychology at UCLA Medical Center.

​I am privileged to be collaborating with Dr. Peter Fortser, a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at UCSF Medical School , the Director of Gateway Psychiatric in San Francisco, and the Founder of the MoodSurfing ™​ ​website and blog, as you folks who are regular readers of this​ ​MoodSurfing ™​ ​surely know .

In France , I have been privileged to work with both Docteur Sami – Paul Tawil at the teaching hospital , Hôpital Sainte Antoine, ​in Paris , who is author of “Le Miroir de Janus , about Bipolar Disorder, and innumerable articles and books ; and Docteur Christian Gay of La Clinique du Château à Garches , author of “Comment vivre avec les hauts et les bas ” ( “How to live with ups and downs”), among many other publications. Both psychiatrists are considered the national experts on Bipolar Spectrum Disorder in France .

I am fluent in both English and French and speak smatterings of other languages. I am a trained Ericksonian hypnotherapist (having studied under Betty Alice Erickson, M.A., Milton H. Erickson s daughter, and Eric Greenleaf , Ph.D., of the Milton H. Erickson Institute of the Bay Area). I have studied Trance Phenomena in Bali, Indonesia, amongst the Balian healers . Of note, there are 4000 Balian healers, 4 psychologists, and 2 psychiatrists on the island of Bali ​.​

My therapeutic approach is eclectic. My theoretical orientation is, as the Austrian psychoanalyst of mid-20th century, Dr. Frieda Fromm-Reichman stated : “Do whatever works.” Milton H Erickson, M.D. stated that people are not crustaceans that can be fit neatly into categories . No particular approach necessarily works as a standard method for all people . One must be flexible and be attuned to the specific needs of the person .

I am trained in a number of theoretical orientations, including Psychoanalytic Psychology, having done a stint at a postdoctoral program in the Object -Relations school of Psychoanalysis, Cognitive Behavior Therapy , Existentialism (privileged to have studied with James Bugental, M.D -its “father “) , Mindfulness based training, Buddhist and Judaic Psychology ( the interface of spirituality and psychology ), among other orientations.

I would welcome active commentaries, questions and dialogue about any of my blog posts. I shall be co – writing with various folks who are quite familiar with mood disorders – particularly bipolar, as well as posting my own individual essays, and interviews with various folks from all walks of life .

A quote near and dear to me is by the early 20th century Portuguese essayist, Fernando Pessoa (who seems to have perhaps been challenged by bipolar ): “The best way to travel is to feel.”

One of my favorite quotes is from the French Existentialist penseur /philosopher, Albert Camus,
(who also happened to be a friend of my Mother s during WWII in North Africa): “In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer .” Perhaps ​those​ who struggle with the challenges of mood disorders can benefit from ascribing to this edict .

I look forward to hearing from all of you . Please follow me on Twitter at : @DrSABlack. I tweet on neuroscience , psychiatry, psychology, epigenetics, healthcare policy, the mind and the law , and copiously about Bipolar .

Kind regards, Suzanne A. Black, Psy.D.