Today we’d like to introduce you to Lori Fox.
Lori, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
From an early age, I’ve had a strong curiosity and love for humans that developed into a passion for exploring and supporting the ways we live and interact with one another. I grew up with a fun mix of characters in my family and community; people from many backgrounds, races, education levels. I’ve certainly been influenced by living in different geographies and regions —from the NC coast to a small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains to melting pot cities like Atlanta and Austin. All these places allowed me to meet people with many different values, goals, and interests, but what I’ve found in connecting with other humans is that ultimately we all want pretty similar things.
In college at the University of North Carolina, I found and embraced anthropology – a field of study that nurtured my critical thinking empathy and elevated my understanding of humanity through learning the histories and lives of other cultures and societies. I loved learning about cultural beliefs on health and illness and how these views shaped lives and defined wellbeing. I was introduced to the concept of ethnocentrism, which set me on course to later understand my privilege (an ongoing/lifelong process) as a straight cisfemale in a white abled body.
I trusted this path (despite the earnest questions from family like, “what does an anthropologist do for a living?”) that led to a summer in South Africa studying social justice and education initiatives and an AmeriCorps VISTA position in Atlanta, GA working in early childhood literacy and community engagement. I then joined an HIV/AIDS research team at Emory University and further engaged in community health and advocacy work. It was in this role I truly started wrestling with the pervasive inequities, particularly racial inequities, in our health care and wellness systems here in the United States. I challenged myself to be a part of changing these norms and injustices, began to recognized my privilege, and took the next step towards the work I do today.
I came to Austin in 2009 and completed my Masters of Science in Nursing at UT, with specialized training as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. While in graduate school, I worked night shifts at a psychiatric research center where my interest in clinical research and contributing to building the evidence base on best practices in psychiatric patient care burgeoned. During my time as a student, I also served in a local high school where I gained experience working with young people on coping during the trying time of adolescence. While there have been unique and not so exciting challenges, I am grateful for the important lessons from each experience. As a dedicated and lifelong learner, I’m furthering my education and training even more by exploring psychedelic assisted therapy (more on this!)
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
During my first job after graduate school, I worked for the local community mental health agency primarily as a medication prescriber and struggled with balancing the realities of my client’s lived experiences and the delusions of what the job required. My clients were often uninsured, lacking access to basic resources, and carried the pain of traumas I would never fully understand. I felt heavy with shame and sadness asking clients who were experiencing homelessness about their sleep quality. I clung tight to my own cognitive dissonance when explaining the need to eat a balanced diet consisting of nutritious foods after my client told me she could not afford groceries. I frequently felt stuck and helpless as a provider who was working in complex, frustrating, underfunded, and unjust system.
Though I have a bit more freedom now that I work in private practice, I still have chronic frustration toward our healthcare system. I am grumpy when I make a care plan for a patient, realizing I have limited tools available in the pharmaceutical tool kit. Every day, I see the harms of the overarching systems in place, recognize and grapple with how I benefit from them, and though uncomfortable, I’m learning how to take action to overcome this oppression in our health and wellness care. I’m tired of thinking small and in a silo. As I continue to face challenges and obstacles in my work, I remain hopeful that by working with the local communities to expand possibilities and change systems, we can heal trauma using novel tools like psychedelic assisted therapy and together carve out a healing and positive path forward.
We’ve been impressed with Greater Austin Psychiatry & Wellness, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Currently, I work alongside an amazing group of psychiatric nurse practitioners at Greater Austin Psychiatry & Wellness. I provide medication management and supportive therapy for my clients who are from all walks of life. I work with adult patients aged 18 and older who seek treatment and management of mood and anxiety disorders. I am LGBTQIA+ affirming, sex-positive, and working on becoming a more trauma and racially informed provider every day. Many of my patients have current or past struggles with chemical dependency, are going through big transitions that includes folks who are transgender and/or nonbinary, and likely haven’t been well-supported or taken seriously by prior medical providers in their lifetime.
My clients often tell me that I offer a warm, safe, and supportive space to talk about their challenges and make a plan for feeling better. When they tell me they are showing up in their lives more meaningfully, have repaired strained relationships, or “feel more like myself”, I feel like I’m doing my part to promote healing and nothing could make me more proud.
I collaborate closely with several therapists and other medical professions to create as true a client-centered team approach as possible. I hate that people often have to go to great lengths to share medical records and constantly repeat health histories to different people. I do as best as I can to show up for my clients, bringing my whole self to our conversations, and avoid being a distracted, disassociated provider who treats people as a set of symptoms instead of holistic human being.
I am currently in progress of obtaining a post-graduate certificate in Psychedelic Assisted Therapy and Research with the California Institute of Integral Studies. I have immense hope and excitement for the field and my clients as I understand the emerging research on psychedelic-assisted therapy. Our medication tools in psychiatry are limited. Using psychedelic and entheogen substances in a therapeutic setting is showing incredible promise for healing the mind-body-spirit, especially in PTSD, depression, suicide prevention, addiction, anxiety disorders, palliative care and more.
My colleague Monti Pal and I are eager (once legal) to create an intentional space to offer MDMA and psilocybin-assisted therapy to promote healing and recovery from complex trauma. We are excited to thoughtfully combine our skills and work within an interdisciplinary team of providers, therapists, and researchers to provide a more holistic approach to mental health care. We will place particular emphasis on accessibility to BIPOC and LGBTQIA+, clients with disabilities and other people who experience systematic barriers to mental health care. This certification will also allow us to participate in meaningful ongoing research to create a solid foundation for psychedelic treatment options that are safe and accessible for all.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Call people in, not out.
Love is a creative act.
Contact Info:
- Email: loriefox@gmail.com
- Other: https://maps.org
Image Credits
Kerry Gray
