Colette Dowling LMSW
Colette is a writer and a psychotherapist with a private practice in New York City. She holds a masters degree from The Smith College School for Social Work and has received advanced training at The Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy, where she is currently a candidate in the psychoanalytic program.
"I began writing in the 1960s, after my second child was born. My early work was published in magazines, including Redbook, Playbill, Esquire, New York, Harper's, and The New York Times Magazine. In the early 70s I wrote my first book, The Skin Game, an investigative study of cosmetic surgery.
In all I've had eight books published, including The Cinderella Complex (published in over 20 languages), Perfect Women, "You Mean I Don't Have to Feel This Way?": New Help for Depression, Anxiety and Addiction, Red Hot Mamas: Coming Into Our Own at Fifty, and The Fraily Myth: Redefining the Physical Potential of Women and Girls (Random House, 2001).
With the publication of The Cinderella Complex, in 1981, I began lecturing to women's groups and at colleges and universities around the country.
In the early nineties "You Mean I Don't Have to Feel This Way?" also hit a nerve, being the first book to explain the biological underpinnings of mood and anxiety disorders for lay readers. My daughter, Gabrielle Dowling, worked very closely with me. Her acuity in interpreting psychiatric research was essential in writing "You Mean I Don't Have to Feel This Way?". She and I were invited to speak at hospitals and medical centers around the country to talk about depression in families.
In part I think it was the response to this book that spurred my later decision to become a psychotherapist. I received phone calls from hundreds of readers who wanted help for their depression and anxiety disorders. After Nine Eleven I left Woodstock, NY, where I'd lived for many years. I went to The Smith College School for Social Work for a masters degree, then entered advanced training at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy.
I have an office in Chelsea where I see private patients. For my website offering information on aspects of mental health that are unique to women, see http://www.womens-wellbeing-and-mental-health.com."
