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).
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
- 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)
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.
Unsinkable (2020). Mental Health Professionals Aren’t Immune to Mental Illness.
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
Guest Appearances on Other Blogs
Happiness Between Tails.
Housewife Hustle (2019). Featured blogger of the month.
Our DID Journey (2019). Featured Hero in the mist.
Panoramic Counseling (2019). My therapy journal.
Rainbow Warrior (2020): interviewed for the post How to Improve Your Mental Health.
Renard’s World
Secretladyspider Blog (2019). When body meets brain.
Undercover Superhero (2020). Interviewed for The reality of major depressive disorder.
Articles in Medium.com Publications
1 Minute Reads
- A self-love letter (2019)
- Because I can (2019)
- Breathing through insecurity (2019)
- Change – it happens (2019)
- If only (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)
Age of Awareness
- Ableism: The assumptions people make about disability (2020)
- Another way of looking at social privilege (2020)
Candour
- A lifetime of bras (2019)
- The stories my body tells (2019)
- What would post-celibate sex feel like? (2019)
Demystifying
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 (2019)
- 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
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 (2019)
Noteworthy – The Journal Blog (2019): My Fortress of solitude
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
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 (2019)
The Obscured (2019): Depression is a thief
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)
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.L. (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).