I have never been quiet about my mental health journey with the people in my life. If I meet someone who is struggling, or who loves someone who is, I will talk about it as openly as they need me to. Destigmatizing mental illness matters to me, genuinely and deeply. I want everyone to find their way to the other side and live the wonderful, full life I have now.

So when Bold Journey Magazine asked me to share my story, I said yes without hesitating. I talked about living with severe clinical depression since middle school, about panic attacks and agoraphobia and the years I could not imagine having a normal life. And I talked about finding my way through to something real and full and genuinely happy.

I also talked about dogs, because of course I did. The way I came through my own fear quietly shaped everything about how I work with the nervous, reactive pups that nobody else knows what to do with. It’s all connected.

If this might mean something to you or to someone you love, I hope you will read it.

Read the full Bold Journey interview

Warmly,

Donna

DonnaKelliher.com ~ Pet Photography for the best loved dogs of Greater Boston, the North Shore and beyond.

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