Samuel G. Freedman of The New York Times reports about the ministry of Rev. Bonnie McDougall Olson. Rev. Olson is one among the six chaplains serving Creedmor Psychiatric Center in Queens, a state hospital with more than 10, 000 patients. Majority of those patients have received diagnoses of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Ms. Olson uses narrative approach for the patients to express what is in their hearts. She voiced out her surprise about her patients:
The thing that strikes me about psychiatric patients…is that so many people tell their story for them. When do they get to tell it for themselves? The act of writing is that your story is not only worth being told, but being heard. And this is all based on their story being sacred. Their experience, heartbreaking as it is, is held by God.
My Portfolio 