Contributors |
Marci has been a Clinical Nurse Specialist in psychiatry at the Thistletown Regional Centre for Children and Adolescents, The Toronto Hospital, and Mt. Sinai Hospital. She also held a position at St. Elizabeth Health Care as a visiting nurse on the Mental Health Home Support Team. Marcia continued to maintain her psychiatric nursing skills on a part time basis at Markham Stouffville and North York General Hospital until she left the hospital environment.
She says, "my most exciting professional endeavour so far has been the start of my independent psychotherapy practice four years ago. As a nurse psychotherapist, I do individual, family, couple and group therapy. I specialize in women's mental health issues, particularly prenatal and postpartum depression and anxiety. It is rewarding, as a nurse 'on her own', to be able to practice autonomously and be able to offer high quality care that addresses both clients' physical and emotional concerns." She has recently added teaching and consulting about perinatal mood disorders to other nurses and mothers' groups. She has also been interviewed on Canada AM, TV Ontario, several local Ontario radio stations, and writes about postpartum illness and the stigma of depression whenever she has the opportunity. On a personal level, as the mother of a teenager, Marcia can appreciate the issues and challenges moms deal with on a daily basis.
Marcia is a member of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, the Ontario Association of Nurses in Independent Practice, Sigma Theta Tau (the National Honour Society for Nursing), and Phi Kappa Phi. She was on the Advisory Board of Directors of PASS-CAN (Postpartum Adjustment and Support Services, Canada), until it disolved in 2003.
She feels that "all it takes in this life is one person to believe in you. I have been very lucky to be surrounded by believers. For the people who cross my path, I always try and return some part of the gifts that have been given to me throughout my life."
