The Power of Truth: Advocating For Women’s Mental Health & Strength
Kelley Kitley is all about telling the truth and is making her autobiography into an education film.
Many women may dream about having a fictional drama made about their lives; but Kelley Kitley is actually doing it. This is no ordinary vanity project.
“Many women may dream about having a fictional drama made about their lives; but @KitleyKelley is actually doing it. #GrayArea”
Kitley, psychotherapist, author and owner of Serendipitous Psychotherapy, next month begins production on a short educational film, “Gray Area,” on women’s mental health and substance abuse, based on her award-winning 2017 memoir, My Self: An Autobiography of Survival.
There’s more. With her two sisters, Nicole Braglia and Emma Urquiaga, Kitley recently opened reNew Studio, with the goal “to help others build their best self.”
“With her two sisters, Nicole Braglia and Emma Urquiaga, Kitley recently opened #reNew Studio, with the goal “to help others build their best self.” #Wellness”
The studio focuses on “building a community of healthy practices strengthening mind, body, and soul” with group and individual fitness classes, psychotherapy, coaching and group facilitation,” according to the company site.
Read more in Take The Lead on maintaining your mental health at work
Calling herself a “high-functioning alcohol abuser” for part of her adult life, Kitley, a mother of four, remains committed to women telling the truth about their lives and accessing their power and healing from the truth.
Growing up in Chicago the oldest of five children, Kitley says her family lived above the bar her parents owned and operated. A survivor of childhood sexual abuse, Kitley says she began writing in a journal when she was 12.
“No one believed me and it was swept under the rug,” Kitley says. “I’ve come a long way.”
As a sophomore in high school, Kitley says she began therapy. “That saved me,” she says. “It was the first person who validated me.”
“As a sophomore in high school, Kitley says she began therapy. “That saved me,” she says. #MentalHealthAwareness ”
Graduating from college in 2001, Kitley finished grad school at University of Illinois-Chicago in 2004, and began working as a psychotherapist. Shortly after that, Kitley got married, and moved to Los Angeles with her husband.
Working in Santa Monica as a guidance counselor, Kitley says she and her family moved back to the Chicago area in 2010 to be closer to family.
She began working on her book as a way to heal and to tell the truth. “The reason for the book was there were so many shameful things and I was reading women’s memoirs to give me strength. I wanted to do the same,” Kitley says.
“@KitleyKelley began working on her book, “My Self: An Autobiography of Survival,” as a way to heal and to tell the truth. #Survivor”
“We all have good, bad and ugly,” Kitley says. “Writing is such a healing tool and narrative therapy lets you be able to share it in a safe space, get things down on paper.“
Read more in Take The Lead on wellness in the workplace
According to the World Health Organization, “Only 2 in every 5 people experiencing a mood, anxiety or substance use disorder seek assistance in the year of the onset of the disorder. Gender is a critical determinant of mental health and mental illness.”
The WHO states, “Gender determines the differential power and control men and women have over the socioeconomic determinants of their mental health and lives, their social position, status and treatment in society and their susceptibility and exposure to specific mental health risks.”
Depression is the most common women’s mental health problem, the WHO states, and “is the second leading cause of global disability burden by 2020, is twice as common in women.”
Read more in Take The Lead on workplace mental health support
With the recent news of Harvey Weinstein’s convictions, though acquitted on other rape charges, the decision to go public with one’s truth remains complicated and personal.
“With the recent news of #HarveyWeinstein ’s conviction, though acquitted on other rape charges, the decision to go public with one’s truth remains complicated and personal. #Survivor”
Read more on #MeToo in Take The Lead from Gloria Feldt
“#MeToo puts some pressure on women not comfortable sharing their story publicly,” Kitley says. “There are certain places it is not safe to share. Not everybody needs to have a public platform.”
““#MeToo puts some pressure on women not comfortable sharing their story publicly,” Kitley says. Sometimes sharing the true story with yourself is enough. ”
Sometimes sharing the true story with yourself is enough.
As an advocate for women’s mental health, Kitley says she is also interested in helping women deal with perfectionism, and “to release the chatter.” She adds, ”Sometimes we need to calm that down a little.”
