MARY CLISTA DAHL
Author, Founder and Independent Integrative Mental Health Consultant

Welcome to my virtual home. I was born with a plastic violet pen in my mouth and learned how to command that at age three, first publishing in my early twenties. I have written seven books, three of which I have taken the time to publish. The eighth, an expansion of my thesis entitled I Beg Your Pardon, but I’m Not the Least Bit Disordered, is my current project.
In 1981, one month before my high school graduation, my father and best supporter went to bed and didn’t wake up. I was called depressed and sent to a psychiatrist, and medicated. In 1998, I had what is known as a psychotic break, hospitalized and labeled with Bipolar Disorder. Hundreds of pills, doctor and therapist visits, insurance claims and eighteen years later, two coinciding traumatic life events landed me in that same hospital. After release, I created my own “treatment plan” based on my passions of writing, nature immersion and human and spiritual connections to return to my authentic self. This approach was so successful that my therapist released me from care, liberating me to have a healthy curiosity and find my own meaning to my “illness,” separating myself from psychiatry and making the vocational shift to integrative health and consciousness studies. For the past seven years, I have been involved in mental health research, education and finding an international community who see “mental illness” through a healthy lens.
Memberships
International Listening Association
International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches for Psychosis (ISPS-US) (Western New York Chapter Founder)
National Wildlife Federation
Certifications
Reiki Master
Psychedelics Integration Guide
Trainings
M.A. Integrative Health and Healing
NYS Peer Specialist
Hearing Voices Network Facilitator
Neurodiversity Gifts through NAMI San Diego
Soteria Model Training