Psychology, Mental Health, and Social Work Consultation for Writers, Novelists, and Artists
Write realistic emotional scenes.
Deepen your understanding of your character's complex psychology.
Unlock your creative potential.
With 25 years working in mental health and social service and over a decade of writing experience, I have discovered a great joy in working psychologically with your fictional characters!
I offer several options for consultations for writers, novelists, or artists working on creative projects involving mental health, trauma, or other psychological components.
We can address writer's block, creative obstacles, the inner critic, imposter syndrome, and other challenges to the creative process to free you into your artistic process!
"I highly recommend teaming up with Liz for your fiction projects. She has an incredibly attuned ability to give insight into character motivation and is able to help you tease out those “aha-moment” ways to strengthen characterization, or anything you are working on, in a process allows you to make your story come more alive through uncovering its depths. Liz is deeply intuitive, trained in and knowledgeable about both psychology and fiction writing, and brings these experiences and strengths together to artfully guide you to producing the best, most rounded version of your work."
--Liza Monroy, author of The Distractions & Writing Instructor, Stanford Continuing Studies Novel & Memoir Certificate Programs
Write with informed authority about:
Mental health: Explore typical presentation of mental health diagnoses, relatable character interiority, relational dynamics, and likely impairments in functioning that can lead to high stakes.
​Child welfare: Write realistically about the social work, foster care, and adoption systems.
Addictions and maladaptive behaviors: Learn about classic addiction cycles, maladaptive coping strategies to incorporate into your character's lives.
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Therapy: Write realistically good or realistically bad therapist scenes. Walk away from the "how does that make you feel" therapist trope and develop interesting therapy interactions that enhance your story.
Family dynamics: Dive deeper into complex family constellations and explore the roles of each family member. Use generational trauma or classic "dysfunctional family" dynamics to create high tension scenes.
Grief and loss: Bring emotional depth to your character's struggles with death, dying, break ups, and all of life's struggles.
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Trauma: Enhance your understanding of trauma and how it may impact a character's life, relationships, and self-esteem. Learn adaptive and maladaptive ways that people deal with trauma. Explore the "dos" and "don'ts" to help your character's heal OR to keep them in perpetual pain.
Treatment and Facilities: How bad are treatment centers really? Let's explore together what you character could encounter when going to a treatment center or hospital.
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I can help you write your story and scenes with sensitivity and realism to help your characters on their journey of discovery. I will support you writing relevant and informed depth to your charcaters.
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I am happy to work with you on darker stories which explore the shadow side of life, include criminal mentality, or malignant personality disordered characters. I am happy to help you torture your protagonist!
How can I help?
Option One: Read Your Pages
Send me up 5000 words for review and written feedback.
Option Two: Zoom Consultation
Let's meet and talk it out! We can talk about your story, characters, and/or issues related to your artistic process. We can help you remove obstacles that are preventing you from creating freely. Address writers block, imposter syndrom, or creative stumbling blocks.
