Katie is a Psychiatric – Mental Health Nurse working at Canada’s largest children’s Hospital. At 13 years old, Katie experienced a traumatic event, which in turn sparked her first glimpse into Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Over the last 13 years, she’s had ups and downs but attributes her success and happiness to finally letting her guard down, asking for help, but most importantly her loving and supportive parents and friends.
Asking for help not only allowed Katie to realize she was not alone, but it allowed her to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a Registered Nurse in mental health. Katie has been speaking with Beyond the Cuckoos Nest for the past four years, a high school mental illness, mental well-being and stigma education program. “I am able to stand up in front of students and tell them, yes I have a mental illness, yes I have a diagnosis but no, it doesn’t stop me from being just like everyone else”. Katie reminds people that no matter what challenges life throws your way “A setback is simply a setup for a comeback”-Tyra Banks.
