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Deborah Vlock Ph.D.

About

Deborah Vlock is a Boston-based writer of fiction and creative non-fiction. Her new book, PARENTING CHILDREN WITH MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES: A GUIDE TO LIFE WITH EMOTIONALLY COMPLEX KIDS will land in bookstores and in libraries/online on November 8, 2018. Her work has been published in print and online, and can be found in literary journals and glossy magazines, as well as on newsy and literary blogs. O, the Oprah Magazine, The Huffington Post, Hunger Mountain, Literary Mama, The Missouri Review Blog, YARN (Young Adult Review Network), and The Atlantic Magazine online have all recently featured Deborah’s work.

Deborah is the mother of two remarkable teenagers, one of whom has struggled with mental illness since age four. A veteran (along with her son) of the pediatric psych unit, and a survivor of way too many night watches, she has found such clever solutions for hiding sharp household objects in the middle of the night, that certain scissors and a wobbly-handled steak knife have gone missing for good. She has also mastered the art of using the bathroom (but only when absolutely necessary) while keeping track of a child hell-bent on hurting himself. Hers has been a life filled with pain, terror, exhaustion, illness, and on occasion, utter, transcendent joy. Oh, and with writing—thank goodness! She is dedicated to making connections and sharing stories and resources with other parents and/or writers, and welcomes comments and questions on this forum.

Deborah counts herself lucky to live with the three best people on this earth: her husband (known to readers as “Lars”), her daughter (“Saskia”), and her son, (“Benjy”). You can find links to some of her writing on her website, www.deborahvlock.com.

And to anticipate your question: yes, everyone is still living.

Books by Deborah Vlock Ph.D.
Recent Posts
What Mental Illness Costs, Part II

Here is the dirty little secret of psychiatric disability: no matter who you are or where you live, eventually it catches up with your wallet.

Here is the dirty little secret of psychiatric disability: no matter who you are or where you live, eventually it catches up with your wallet.

What Mental Illness Costs

There are times when the two full-time jobs you have to do, one for love, one so you can pay the hospitals and clinical practices that circumscribe your world, prevent you from self-care of any sort--and you suspect you might not have brushed your teeth in more than a month.

There are times when the two full-time jobs you have to do, one for love, one so you can pay the hospitals and clinical practices that circumscribe your world, prevent you from self-care of any sort--and you suspect you might not have brushed your teeth in more than a month.

The Parent Trap

While "The Parent Trap" operates on the principle that crisis and discord are more interesting than harmony, and allows the former to occupy center stage for a good while before banishing them to the cellar, the "What To Expect" books gloss over the dysfunctional, the fretful, and the sad, in pregnancy and in young families’ lives.

While "The Parent Trap" operates on the principle that crisis and discord are more interesting than harmony, and allows the former to occupy center stage for a good while before banishing them to the cellar, the "What To Expect" books gloss over the dysfunctional, the fretful, and the sad, in pregnancy and in young families’ lives.

On the Physics of Absorbing Unexpected Blows

If you are human, you have squared off against adversity. Sometimes you've won, sometimes you've lost.

If you are human, you have squared off against adversity. Sometimes you've won, sometimes you've lost.

Do Depressives Make the Best Artists?

However you slice it, there's ample evidence that fretful minds and roiling psyches are sufficient conditions for the creation of compelling art.

However you slice it, there's ample evidence that fretful minds and roiling psyches are sufficient conditions for the creation of compelling art.

In Praise of Oddballs and Unexpected Flavors

I have always told my kids that it’s good to be a little crazy. Crazy is INTERESTING, I remind them. I've had to say it to save face, because we are basically a family of oddballs.

I have always told my kids that it’s good to be a little crazy. Crazy is INTERESTING, I remind them. I've had to say it to save face, because we are basically a family of oddballs.

Words That Hurt, Words That Heal

That was the day four lives irrevocably changed: Ben’s, my husband’s, our daughter Saskia’s, and mine. It was far from our first day of struggle. But it was the first day Lars and I finally grasped that we were parenting a child with some kind of mental illness.

That was the day four lives irrevocably changed: Ben’s, my husband’s, our daughter Saskia’s, and mine. It was far from our first day of struggle. But it was the first day Lars and I finally grasped that we were parenting a child with some kind of mental illness.