Blue

Deborah Holzel's own experiences with clinical depression convinced her to become a psychotherapist. Now she shares her story as both patient and counselor in her inspirational memoir, Blue.

Holzel first knows love and loss as a talented, optimistic sixteen-year-old girl dreaming of becoming an actress. A breakup spirals her into clinical depression that never truly leaves her for seventeen years. While in therapy she discovers how her family history factors into her depression by impacting her feelings and behavior.

Holzel pursues a career as a therapist, but soon her own mental illness returns, impacting her work, friendships, and interactions with men. She continues to search for hope as she enters group therapy.

More than a personal memoir, Blue is an education in what exactly clinical depression is. Holzel, who worked as a psychotherapist for forty years before retiring, explains how it affects the brain.

Blue isn’t just helpful to people suffering from depression, it’s a valuable resource for those who treat them, giving therapists and therapists-in-training a look at how their patients might be feeling.

Holzel shines a light on a still misunderstood illness.

Deborah Holzel knows the pains of clinical depression both personally and as a therapist. She received a master's degree from the Boston College School of Social Work in 1975 before becoming a psychotherapist for much of the next forty years.

Now retired, Holzel writes, paints, and does improvisation at the North Hollywood Senior Arts Colony in California.