Nancy Rappaport

Nancy Rappaport is the author of In Her Wake: A Child Psychiatrist Explores the Mystery of Her Mother’s Suicide (September 2009, Basic Books). She is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She is attending child and adolescent psychiatrist at Harvard Teaching affiliate Cambridge Health Alliance, where she is also Director of School Based-programs with a focus on servicing youths, families, and staff in public schools.

Articles:

Elizabeth Edwards Inspires by Making Meaning in her Life

Elizabeth Edwards’ gift and one of the reasons why the nation mourns her death is she showed the healing that comes after a trauma when you build a narrative of what it means. People looked to Elizabeth as a role model, and most importantly her children needed her to find a way to get past her disappointment and to make sense of what betrayal and infidelity means.  She was courageous enough to tell a nuanced story.  Of course, we will never know her most private thoughts. As a public person and writer, you always choose what you are willing to […]

Read More

Hope in Healing After a Mother’s Suicide

It was only in the sanctuary of Dr. Walter’s office that I began to feel safe enough to talk about my mother’s suicide. His voice was calming. It was a relief to talk openly with someone who would listen to my dread. As a troubled teenager, I was stealing things and acting out, and finally I ran away from home to, of all places, my all-girls school, where my principal found me in the morning. That was the last straw in my father’s mind, and he and my stepmother placed a call to Dr. Walter. By listening more than anyone […]

Read More