Daniela V Gitlin

Welcome! 

What's this human’s life like? Just like yours: too much to handle gracefully. Here you’ll find writing on the epic theme: What now? I post weekly-ish. Except when I don’t. 

I’m a psychiatrist in private practice for almost thirty years with my husband (also a psychiatrist) north of the Adirondack Park in upstate New York. (No, we don’t analyze each other. We prefer to stay married.)  Our son has grown up and moved to a major metropolitan area.

When not practicing my profession (Will I ever get it right?), I read. A lot. "So many books. So little time." Frank Zappa. Then there’s the farm run, cooking, cherishing my friends and family, and writing.

Check out my latest book published by W. W. Norton! Doorknob Bombshells in Therapy: The Deadline, the Brain, and Why It is Important to End on Time launches 9/17/24. The doorknob bombshell, also known as a doorknob moment, is a near universal experience that no clinician escapes. That’s when a patient drops concerning information on their way out the door, with a hand on the doorknob. Should we run over to help the patient process this new material, possibly making ourselves late for the next patient? Or should we end on time, possibly causing the patient more suffering? It’s a tough judgment call to make under time pressure, and always stressful. Then, the solution came to me!

While I wrote this book for clinicians, if you are interested in psychiatry and mental health work, it’s totally readable. (Disclaimer: you may have to look up a term or two.)

I wrote my first book, a clinical memoir, for everyone. What’s a shrink’s life and work really like? Practice, Practice, Practice: This Psychiatrist's Life answers those questions with a light touch. I talk about it here. Buy it here.

I write occasionally for my favorite professional journal, the Psychotherapy Networker.

The National Society of Newspaper Columnists awarded me Third Prize in the General Online category two contests in a row, 2022 and 2024. Read those essays here.