Sadie's Story

Client: McLean Hospital

When Erin Collins-Moore called from McLean Hospital, a prestigious psychiatric hospital in the Boston area, and asked us to make films for their annual Gala, we were excited and concerned. This seemed like a rare opportunity to make films on sensitive subjects with both patient and hospital collaboration. Our worry was, could we make honest films and protect patient privacy?

The answers came from the subjects themselves.  We've now had the opportunity to work with several different patients from McLean and each has been eager to share their story for the sake of others who might also benefit from help and treatment. 

Sadie has been dealing with issues of anxiety and OCD since she was very young.  As she entered high school, these problems manifested themselves into a need to be the "perfect" student.  She would often spend 7 to 8 hours a night on homework assignments, generating hundreds of pages of notes on short readings.  Her parents sought out help from McLean when they realized that Sadie was heading for a crash.  Sadie went to the McLean Anxiety Mastery Program, a 4-week program for young people with issues like hers.  She fully embraced the therapy and graduated with many tools that allow her to manage her anxiety wherever it occurs in her life.