My Publications

Three pills.  That was all it took for the life I knew to come apart. 

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When Jennifer took a common antibiotic, she suffered a severe reaction that sent her mind and body into freefall.  The benzodiazepine prescribed to calm the storm led to something even harder:  a withdrawal that stripped away her sense of safety, her confidence, and nearly her sense of self.

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The Waiting Room is Jennifer’s candid account of the first part of that journey; the terror and confusion, a medical system that didn’t yet understand what was happening to her, and the slow, patient work of finding her way back to herself. 

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JENNIFER SWANTKOWSKI earned her Master’s degree from the University of Houston and her doctorate from Smith College in Northampton, MA.  She served as an adjunct professor at Smith College, the University of Houston and Boston College.  She has worked at the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, MA, as well as the Menninger Clinic in Houston, Texas, in addition to running her own private practice for over fifteen years.  In 2024, Jennifer retired her clinical license and now focuses solely on her writing and working as a personal development coach.  To learn more about her, you can go to her website at jenniferswanphd.com.