ABOUT JENNIFER

Jennifer Swantkowski, PhD

Before I share a bit about myself, let me share three quotes that are most reflective of how I strive to operate in my life, both personally and professionally. These three quotes haven’t just shaped me — they’ve literally saved my life.

Three quotes that shaped my life

The first is a quote often attributed to Viktor Frankl —

“In between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space lies our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

I love this quote because it put me back in the driver’s seat during a very dark and seemingly hopeless time in my life.

For me, the stimulus was the mental, physical, and cognitive symptoms I experienced going on and coming off certain medications, the feeling of being alone, disbelieved, or unseen, and the losses I incurred or the isolation I experienced as I navigated what felt like a dip into hell.

The second is a quote from The Shawshank Redemption:

“Get busy living or get busy dying.”

As you read a bit about me below, you will see that I went through something that didn’t just sideline me — it pushed me out of the arena altogether.

The third quote is from the movie The Martian:

“I need to science the s%$t out of this!”

It served as my lifeline when I realized just how far out of the arena of my life my reaction to my circumstances had landed me. And it was in the implementation of all that I learned, as I dove deep into research and me-search, that I was able to create my own way to carve out and grow that space between the powerful stimuli in my life and my terrified reaction to them.

About Jennifer

So, who am I, what happened to me, and what did I learn that saved and changed my life?

To make a long story short:

I had spent nearly thirty years of my life training and serving as a clinician. I worked in a private practice as well as two world-renowned psychiatric hospitals, and taught at the graduate level at University of Houston, Smith College, and Boston College. I was living a rich life full of travel, a loving family, wonderful friends, and a career that I loved.

Then one day it came crashing down. As equipped as I was to help other people, I was overwhelmed, lost, and terribly confused about how to help myself.
Humbled, scared, and ashamed, I waited for health to come back and find me. As I completely turned inward, my rich life deteriorated before my eyes. I came to realize that it was going to be up to me. While what had happened to me was not my fault, it was now my responsibility.

I leaned into what I knew to do in my life — research. Out of the ashes of my life, I began to put the pieces back together. Step by step, bit by bit. Through learning and intense trial and error, I began to create my own lifeline to lift me out and through. My book and video memoir were created to share the story of what occurred, as well as what I learned along the way about the nervous system and how I reclaimed my life from the barrage of daily symptoms and fear. I hope they’re helpful.

I am back to that rich life. In fact, I would say that my life is better than it has ever been. Through my journey, I have learned to carve out that space between stimulus and response.

And while I cannot guarantee I will never have symptoms again, I know that the symptoms will never have me.

And in that space is my total freedom.