What is your profession?
I am a psychiatrist. I’ve been doing it for almost 30 years. I work mostly with people who have psychiatric disorders such as bipolar, schizophrenia, depression, alcohol/drug abuse, manic depression, etc. I do the medical aspects, not the counseling or therapy. I think It’s a little bit confusing — the difference between psychiatrist and a psychologist — in fact, as a psychiatrist, I never took a psychology course!
What is the biggest challenge you face in your role?
Overcoming the stigma of mental health, and a lack of knowledge of the brain — we’re in such early stages of understanding the brain and all of its complexities. Therefore, it’s a challenge to treat mental illness.
What is one thing you wish more people knew about your line of work?
That it’s treatable. Mental illness is not to be ashamed of. In fact, with most cases, we’re able to help people find relief from their conditions.
Tell me one fun fact about yourself that most people don’t know about!
I’m a triathlete!
How did you learn or first hear about The Policy Circle? When did you first become interested in the principle of expanding human creativity in a free-market economy?
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- For the about 25 years I followed my very political husband around the country — helping get candidates elected, fundraising for organizations, etc. I was only peripherally interested and actually felt woefully inadequate in my knowledge about all things political(This is an MD we’re talking to!). It was challenging to listen to all of these conversations and know very little, if anything about it. So Sylvie and The Policy Circle got me all jazzed up about learning and engaging in public policy, that I could find have a voice in that realm
- I first learned about The Policy Circle while traveling to Israel with the American Opportunities Alliance; Sylvie was on that trip. She was just talking about The Policy Circle and she spoke to me, figuratively, and all women about how we diminish our abilities and prevent our voices from being heard. How we owe it to the community to be knowledgeable about public policy and to make some kind of an impact — it really motivated me, it gave me the confidence that I could learn. So I dug in to the briefs and they were so understandable that I felt like I had a working knowledge and that I could speak with some credibility about public policy.
How long have you been a circle leader?
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- It took me a while to step into being a Circle Leader – I thought ‘What did I sign up for – I’m not a leader, I can’t recruit members or grow this thing.’ But Sylvie and The Policy Circle team continued to encourage me and gave me the tools to start this Atlanta Circle.
What, if any, were your initial hesitations with leading a circle?
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- I finally just said to myself, ‘I committed to Sylvie 2 years ago, I’m gonna do this because when I see her again I need to tell her I’m doing it’(Can I get an ‘Amen?’). Finding women to join was actually not that difficult. I just began to draw from my email list and most of them responded with great interest.
What’s your latest circle conversation about?
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- We talked about Free Enterprise — it was awesome. I was SO nervous because I don’t trust my knowledge about anything other than medicine; the thought of speaking publicly to a group of women about public policy was frightening. The minute I started the conversation with some of the questions from the discussion guide, it just took off. We talked endlessly with such enthusiasm — it was so gratifying that everyone wanted to shift to monthly meetings.
Okay, let’s take a break from that and talk a little bit more about you:
- Where are you originally from?
- I grew up in north Georgia in smaller, rural town.
- What or who were your major influences as a young woman?
- My father was an old fashioned primary care doctor — he would travel around to house calls and I would tag along with him. The other was my mother, who was way ahead of her time as far as gender stereotypes go. She was a National Committeewoman for the RNC back in the 70s and 80s, she founded a small private school, and was doing these male-dominated things with no hesitation. So she was a great role model that way.
Now let’s wrap up with one more Policy Circle related question:
What’s the best thing about being a Circle Leader?
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- Seeing women step into an intellectual realm to discuss their ideas and opinions. It is really amazing how many great ideas these women have — and to think that they have been keeping them quiet all this time….I’m just thrilled that The Policy Circle has opened up a new world of possibilities for us.
