Hello and welcome!
Margaret Robinson Rutherford Ph.D., a clinical psychologist with thirty years of experience, is also an author, TedX speaker, and podcast host. Her book, Perfectly Hidden Depression: How to Break Free from the Perfectionism That Masks Your Depression, has reached thousands here in the US, as well as having an international impact, with translations reaching from Korea to Italy, Turkey to Germany. Her highly popular podcast, The SelfWork Podcast, has been continuously rated as one of the best podcasts for mental health and depression.
Dr. Margaret’s known for her vibrantly engaging and theoretically well-crafted presentations, whether live or virtual. Whether her diverse audiences are made up of mental health professionals, construction workers, or office managers, her passionate message is that healthy mental and emotional lives can be created through becoming more transparent with one another. Sharing who you really are with those you trust is a huge step toward connection and good mental health. Rates of depression and suicide are skyrocketing. And there’s something we can do!
She’s further challenging the mental health profession to question their overreliance on the official symptom checklist for diagnosis. Instead, we need to create normalcy around suicidal feelings, listen to each person’s actual experience of their life, and respond with safety and compassion, rather than stigmatizing this very real and excruciatingly painful part of human existence.
My book, entitled Perfectly Hidden Depression: How to Break Free from the Perfectionism that Masks Your Depression, was launched in November of 2019.
I’ve been researching and writing on this topic for five years, and I’m passionate about the message that although depression can be heavily masked by perfectionism, its damage can still be devastating to that someone who’s trying so hard to smile their way through growing loneliness and despair. Along the way, I’ve met many authors, researchers, bloggers, and psychologists. I’ve written for HuffPost, Psychology Today, The Mighty, Psych Central, The Gottman Blog, Psychologies, StigmaFighters, The Good Men Project, This Is My Brave, and others as I’ve spread what I hope is a passionate message about becoming more comfortable with vulnerability in everyday life, and confronting the prejudice against not only mental illness itself, but its treatment.