Q&A with Hannah Davy: This is not the end, we will keep fighting and never give up.

What message do you have for trans and queer youth?  You are 100% worthy of being here, being you, and having the care you deserve. There are many of us who are here trying our hardest to keep that for you. We see you, we hear you, and we want you to know that we […]

Q&A with Katherine: Many Of Us Will Always Choose to “Aid and Abet” For Trans Kids

What message do you have for trans and queer youth?  We love you. We will fight for you, always. Your only job is to be a kid, to learn who you are, to experiment, to fuck up, to keep going. Our job as the adults who love you is to protect you. They want to […]

Q&A with Kailey Andrew: Gender Affirming Healthcare is Legal in Pennsylvania

What message do you have for trans and queer youth? You are not alone. Don’t let them erase you. This isn’t the first time or the last time that trans people will have to fight to exist – don’t give up the fight. Read up on your history and take pride in it. Make art. Write […]

Open Letter to UPMC From Staff Calling for Reinstatement of Gender-Affirming Healthcare for Youth and Adults Under 19

I have been asked to publish this letter that I think speaks for itself. I will be publishing Q&A’s with some of the employees leading this effort to protect trans youth. I asked them the same questions. The differences in their answers may offer some insight into the tactics UPMC is using to sacrifice trans […]

Attachment disorder, bipolar depression, and me

I’ve been feeling down the past few days – overwhelmed by the media I consume, processing some difficult things in therapy this week, not eating well, not having much energy. Some of that is the weather of course. But June is historically a tough month for me with regard to bipolar depression. I have what’s […]

Mental Health Awareness Month: Revealing the Layers of My Mental Illness and Childhood Trauma

Content Note: This post delves into mental health diagnoses, but also child abuse, childhood sexual violence, rape, abandonment, and more in great detail. An important piece of my mental health journey has been to embrace the different diagnoses. I have bipolar disorder Type I, I have severe anxiety, and I have complex trauma or cPTSD. […]

And I have COVID, again. And Feel Cruddy.

I’ve chalked up my recent symptoms to allergies as one does in the spring. I noticed yesterday that I couldn’t taste very well, but also again seemed to be allergies. I was very sick all night and all day, low grade fever, muscle aches, headache, etc. So, I called my PCP who ordered me to […]

Riding in cars with boys – how exposure therapy resolved my trauma

In October 2023, I began writing about two specific trauma experiences arising from my experiences the previous August – police interactions and riding in cars. Since then I’ve been working to process both. This post is about the car trauma. How I realized I had car trauma Back then I wrote “Then we layer in […]

This is How Allegheny County Interprets Due Process Under the Pennsylvania Mental Health Law.

‘No Kings’ Means ‘Yes, Due Process’ Right? Local government in Allegheny County might not agree. I think it is important you know that Allegheny County and UPMC are denying they have certain due process obligations in the involuntary civil commitment process. Allegheny County government is denying that they have certain due process obligations. Scroll to […]

I need help with daily living. Dr. Oz thinks I just need to be more patriotic.

cats eating on ndecck

Overall, I think I’ve been a good citizen/resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Imperfect, but I do fight the good fight. Still being declared totally and permanently disabled at age 40 was hard. Like many of you, I’ve internalized the belief that being productive aka working AND earning money sets the bar for being a good citizen, […]