Headcase
LGBTQ Writers & Artists on Mental Health and Wellness
Edited by Stephanie Schroeder and Teresa Theophano
Reviews and Awards
"this is an extraordinary and ground-breaking anthology ... Headcase is not a collection of dense academics, nor is it dripping with jargon. It is a showcase of talented, gripping work -- an energizing read full of pain and wit and joy." -- Sue Katz, Lesbian Connection Magazine
"Headcase is an awareness raising collection of mental health struggles that continue to affect people that do not identify with the hegemonic White hetero-normative cisgendered population. In sum, Headcase will be of interest to instructors, supervisors, students, and trainees in mental health who want to read more about the lives of LGBTQ individuals who are experiencing mental health problems in a homophobic society." -- Journal of Homosexuality
"Headcase" doesn't tell the story of LGBTQ people with mental health conditions; it allows those people to tell their stories and detail their experiences. The book explores the various obstacles mental illness presents - especially for those most at the margins, like queer and trans people of color." -- Philadelphia Gay News
"Stephanie Schroder and Teresa Theophano present an authentic and inspiring collection of personal stories that are at the core of what mental health and wellness is comprised of on many levels within the LGBTQ community. ...It is the first of its kind to have the intersection between multiple identities and present mental health conflicts for both providers and clients.... I encourage mental health professionals to use this book as an additional lens through which to learn more about the connection of mental health/wellness and the LGBTQ community. I strongly believe this literature can help influence further visibility within the LGBTQ community and begin to bridge existing gaps within mental health care." -- The New Social Worker
"The editors have accomplished their goal of creating a volume that articulates the experience of mental health, mental illness, and health care services by a broad cross-section of the LGBTQ community. While individual pieces vary in literary or artistic quality, the book as a whole is engaging, educational and, in a very real sense, heroic." -- Literature Medicine Database
"Headcase is important reading for any LGBTQ persons with mental health and wellness concerns, and is equally important for the therapists who treat such populations. It will challenge - and disturb - many complacencies and assumptions, and that is clearly where its value lies." -- Clayton Delery, New York Journal of Books
"Headcase is a fantastic collection of brave and poignant personal stories about the intersection between mental health treatment and LGBTQ identity. The writers' stories reveal the often sad and frustrating (even dangerous) reality of coping with mental illness in a nation where competent, inclusive psychiatric care is frequently prohibitively expensive or flat out unavailable.ÂThey also show the resilience, creativity, and intelligence of this eclectic group of contributors who utilize all their personal and community resources to achieve and maintain wellness and positive self-identity.ÂThe work breaks down stigma associated with mental illness where it's commonly assumed that if people with mental illness are struggling, then they must not be smart enough, hard-working enough, or otherwise doing everything they can to help themselves." -- Alice Boyes, PhD, author, The Anxiety Toolkit and The Healthy Mind Toolkit
"This important new work gives voice to those LGBTQ folk who experience poor mental health and those working to support us. It's not always a comfortable read, but these voices speak with authenticity and creativity and demonstrate that we exist beyond pathology and diagnosis. We are frequently passionate and resilient, and find ways to survive in hostile environments. I'd highly recommend it for therapists wishing to understand us better." -- Dominic Davies, Psychotherapist & Founder, Pink Therapy
"This book will fill an important gap in the LGBTQ literature and in the literature of mental illness, showing how liberation and destigmatization intersect, and giving strength to those who work at the locus of these two fields of study." -Andrew Solomon, PhD, arts, mental health, and LGBT activist; author of The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression; Professor of Clinical Psychology, Columbia University Medical Center; President of PEN American Center
"Few books can make the claim of being unique, but this is one of them . . . the editors intend to start a conversation among LGBTQ people and the therapy community about topics that are usually hidden or ignored. In this goal, they succeed admirably . . . This terrific and essential work will benefit all readers." -- Library Journal, Starred Review
