barbara ruzansky, E-RYT 500
Barbara grew up in a close knit family, blessed with talents and traits which helped her thrive as a child and young adult. Sometime in her mid-teens, darkness set in and she plummeted into decades of mental and emotional illness. She spent years searching for a way out of this turmoil, hoping to regain the passion and vibrancy she once had as a child. Barbara meticulously documented her decades of illness, preserving this history in dozens of boxes and containers, stacked and buried in basements and closets. The healing process was slow, but after years of therapy, she was eventually able to reverse her condition, commit to a yoga practice (E-RYT 500), open up a successful yoga center [West Hartford Yoga], and connect deeply with others who also sought a holistic spiritual path. Barbara yearned to one day tell her story, hoping to shed light on the stigma surrounding mental illness, and to help those who suffer feel less alone.
Meet the panel.
On Saturday, March 4, Barbara Ruzansky, Dr. Gillian Galen, and Kristen Wold started a conversation about the intersection of mental illness, holistic healing, and creative expression. The panel discussion was interwoven with poignant questions about mental illness & healing alongside more personal inquiries focused specifically on Barbara’s non-linear recovery from decades of eating disorders, depression, grief, and addiction.
gillian c. galen, PsyD
Gillian C. Galen, PsyD, is a senior child and adolescent psychologist specializing in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). She is the program director of the 3East DBT residential programs and the director of training for the 3East continuum, an array of programs for teens that uses DBT to target self-endangering behaviors and symptoms of borderline personality disorder. She has extensive experience diagnosing and treating adolescents and young adults who struggle with emotion dysregulation, anxiety, depression, trauma, and self-endangering behaviors, such as self-injury and suicidal behaviors.
Dr. Galen has a particular interest in the use of mindfulness in the treatment of borderline personality disorder and psychiatric illnesses. She is the co-author of the books “Mindfulness for Borderline Personality Disorder: Relieve Your Suffering Using the Core Skill of Dialectical Behavior Therapy”, “Coping With BPD: DBT and CBT Skills to Soothe the Symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder”, and “DBT for Dummies.”
kristen wold, LMFT
Kristen is a LMFT and trauma-informed psychotherapist in private practice specializing in the spectrum of trauma-related disorders. Prior to and while obtaining her master's degree, she was the manager of West Hartford Yoga. Kristen's inadvertent discovery of Barbara's old journals led to the development of Bad Hair Day on Planet Earth. After reading through a few journals, she knew it was an important story to tell and hopes it will provide inspiration for those on their own healing journey. She works as an advisor to the book project.