This writing portfolio includes the books I’ve authored, other platforms I write on, and academic journal publications.  You can also check out my portfolio on Contently.

I blog under the name ashleyleia, but otherwise write primarily as Ashley L. Peterson.

 

Books

Author of Psych Meds Made Simple (2019).

Author/editor of Making Sense of Psychiatric Diagnosis (2019).

Contributor to The Silent Scream: An Anthology of Despair, Struggle, And Hope by Maria Alfieri (2020).

Author of Managing the Depression Puzzle (2020).

 

 

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Articles/Guest Posts

Bella Grace (June 2019). Turning outward.

Canadian Nurse (2014). It can happen to anyone: Reaching out.

I am 1 in 4 (2018). Mental illness and the dreaded job interview.

Hubpages. Author page.

• HealthProAdvice: The real story about “shock therapy” (2019)
• Owlcation: How to be a smart research consumer (2019)
• TurboFuture: Growing a blog as a passion project (2019)
• YouMeMindBody: I am not my medication: Discussing the stigma of taking meds (2019)

Libero Magazine

• Free from silence (2019)
• How to manage working with a disability (2019)

Medium. Various. Author page.

• 1 Minute Reads
  • A self-love letter (2019)
  • Because I can (2019)
  • Breathing through insecurity (2019)
  • Change – it happens (2019)
  • If only (2019)
  • Life lessons from Saved By The Bell (2019)
  • My favourite time of day (2019)
  • Why new socks made my day (2019)

• A Few Words
  • A blue Christmas (2019)
  • Alone, but rarely lonely (2019)
  • Hope? What’s that? (2020)
  • I don’t do diets: Here’s why (2019)
  • Moving from episodic to chronic (2019)
  • Observing my own decline (2019)
  • To fix or to validate? (2019)
  • Why I choose to be childless: Mental illness and babymaking (2019)
  • Why I’m grateful for the life I lived (2020)

• Candour
  • A lifetime of bras (2019)
  • The stories my body tells (2019)
  • What would post-celibate sex feel like? (2019)

• Demystifying
  • I feel depressed vs. I have depression (2019)
  • Teasing apart my self from my illness (2019)

• Feel, Heal, Share
  • My illness has made me a better nurse (2019)
  • The ideal mental health professional (2019)
  • The therapeutic value of community (2019)
  • Why I choose not to see a psychiatrist (2019)

• InkMend
  • Along, but not alone (2019)
  • Finding freedom by absolving myself from forgiveness (2019)
  • I don’t know how to goodbye (2019)

• Invisible Illness
  • Adventures in stigma in the ER (2019)
  • Applying harm reduction to self-harm (2019)
  • Cognitive deconstruction and the lead up to suicide (2019)
  • Dead if you do, dead if you don’t? Weighing the risks & benefits of medications (2019)
  • From weakness to warrior (20190
  • Funding mental health care: why community-based care matters (2018)
  • Getting help when it matters most (2019)
  • How can we fight stigma most effectively? (2019)
  • How depression affects movement (2019)
  • How do you respond to stigmatized language? (2018)
  • How picky should we be about suicide-related language? (2019)
  • How should social media handle reported suicidal posts? (2020)
  • Intersectionality and what it means for mental health (2019)
  • Is there something wrong with “behavioral health”? (2019)
  • it’s World Mental Health Day (2019)
  • Managing working (or not) with disability (2019)
  • Master of my domain?  A look at depression and masturbation (2018)
  • Medication use in pregnancy (2019)
  • Mental illness and employment discrimination (2019)
  • Mental illness disability and identity shifts (2020)
  • My version of being pro-medication (2019)
  • NIMBYism and mental health housing (2019)
  • Public views on suicide (2019)
  • The attention-seeking label (2019)
  • The right decision isn’t always easy (2019)
  • Why do we think vitamins can cure mental illness? (2019)
  • Why I told my patient I’ve been suicidal (2019)
  • Why psychosis scares people (2019)
  • Will suicide ever be 100% preventable? (2019)

• Live Your Life On Purpose
  • 8 Holistic strategies to help manage depression (2019)
  • Tips for managing on a limited income (2019)

• Mariposa Magazine
  • Each visit could be my last (2019)
  • I quit: Leaving a job due to workplace bullying (2019)
  • My third grade crush is in jail (2019)
  • Using adversity to find a new passion (2019)

• Messy Mind
  • All the pieces (2019)
  • Heart-mind-body brokenness (2019)
  • I don’t like what the camera sees (2019)
  • Maybe I’ll never get well (2019)

• Muddyum
  • That strange creature that is spam (2020)

• Noteworthy – The Journal Blog
  • My Fortress of solitude (2019)

• P.S I Love You
  • A mental illness love story (2019)
  • I hate you means I love you (2019)
• R.E.A.D.I.N.G. W.A.R.
  • Book review: Bright-Sided (2019)
  • Book review: Just Another Day at Your Local Public Library (2019)
  • Book review: The Book of Joy (2019)

• The Ascent. 
  • Getting sh*t done in spite of depression (2018)
  • The surprise of building mastery (2019)

• The Haven
  • Business in the front, party in the back (2019)
  • Depression chic (2019)
  • GIFs creep me out (2019)
  • I feel like a 90-year-old woman (2019)
  • Is Twitter the new Tinder? (2019)
  • It’s time for a Walmart run (2020)
  • Masturbation might just be your patriotic duty (2019)
  • Movember is just around the corner (2019)
  • My home is a dictatorship (2019)
  • Put on your depression boxing gloves (2019)
  • Seinfeldisms, the depression version (2019)
  • The Festivus season is upon us! (2019)
  • The swimwear hall of infamy (2019)
  • Why everyone needs guinea pigs (2019)

• The Mile High Club 
  • I’ll need a seat for my emotional assistance warthog (2019)
  • My least favourite fellow passengers (2019)

• The Obscured
  • Depression is a thief (2019)

• The Startup
  • Do thoughts vibrate? (2019)
  • How well does positive psychology apply to mental illness? (2019)
  • Is chiropractic what you think it is? (2020)
  • Reluctantly accepting myself as a brand (2019)

• The Writing Cooperative. 
  • Bringing it back to purpose (2019)
  • Choosing the right tone to write about chronic illness (2018)
  • Handling lacklustre receptions (2019)
  • I’m a brand new author… Now what? (2019)
  • Juggling writing and the effects of mental illness (2019)
  • Lessons learned from being an author/editor (2019)
  • Musings on writing a book (2019)
  • Pressing send: Overcoming the psychological barrier (2018)

• Warm Hearts
  • Alone is never really alone (2020)
  • Animals can touch even the hardest to reach hearts (2019)
  • Hearts can speak without words (2019)
  • There’s still kindness in the world (2019)

• Writers On The Run
  • African massage and other assorted adventures (2019)
  • I’d rather fall off the horse, thanks (2019)
  • Pooping my way through India (2019)

Mental Health Matters (2018). Evidence-based supplements for depression.

New Life Outlook (2018). My story: Ashley Peterson.

Project Semicolon (2018). My name is Ashley, and this is my story.

Psychreg (2019). Blogging as a therapeutic tool for mental health.

Respect Yourself (2017). Using your voice for mental health.

Stigma Fighters (2017). Personal story.

The Mighty (2019).

• I Don’t Want to Be Told How to Talk About My Mental Illness
• What it’s like to have lived through trauma but not have PTSD

Time to Change (2018). Ron saw through my mental illness to the real me.

Uncomfortable Revolution (2019 ). A Venetian romantic getaway for me and my depression. Author page.

Visions: BC’s Mental Health and Addictions Journal (2014). On both sides of the desk: Working as a mental health nurse with a mental illness. 

Vocal Media: Author page. Staff pick in Psyche: Barriers to Mental Health Care for Mental Health Professionals

 

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Guest Appearances on Other Blogs

Blog of the Wolf Boy (2019). Behind the author.

Happiness Between Tails.

• Thank goodness for my thera-piggies. (2019)
• Self-publishing: It gets easier (2020)

Housewife Hustle (2019). Featured blogger of the month.

Midsummer Daydreamer (2018). Stories of Mental Illness – Ashley’s Story.

Our DID Journey (2019). Featured Hero in the mist.

Panoramic Counseling (2019). My therapy journal.

Renard’s World

• The dark side of psychiatry in the 20th century. (2019)
• “Shock therapy” – Fact & fiction (2020)

Secretladyspider Blog (2019). When body meets brain.

Undercover Superhero (2020). The reality of major depressive disorder.

Well Talk Health (2019). Wellness talks.

 

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Academic Publications

Peterson, A.L. (2017). Experiencing stigma as a nurse with mental illness. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 24(5), 314-321.

Peterson, A.L. (2016). Finding identity and meaning as a nurse with a mental illness. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 30(5), 558-562.

Peterson, A.L. (2015). A case for the use of autoethnography in nursing research. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 7(1), 226-233.

Peterson, A. (2015). Being a mental health nurse with a mental illness: An autoethnography (Master’s thesis).

Peterson, A.L. (2013). Integrating mental health and addictions services to improve client outcomes. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 34(10), 752-756.

Peterson, A.L. (2013). Getting published for the first time: Tips for new graduate students. Nurse Author & Editor, 23(2).