“Kim Rosenthal has a lively and curious mind linked to vigorous standards of patient care. I have always been impressed with her thoroughness and thoughtfulness in formulating diagnoses and treatment…. I could always count on Dr. Rosenthal to go the extra mile, the extra minute with a patient, a pause for the medical student, time to reflect and wonder with her colleagues. Dr. Rosenthal is multilingual and multicultural, bringing many personal gifts to her work.”
— Kathleen Schwarz, MD. Virginia
When not writing and looking for answers, Kim Rosenthal practices life as a psychiatrist. She’s known for her arm-flailing, humored “live life!” lectures and often has fireside chats with her patients, topics ranging from the woes of heroin to opening a business or understanding Mandela.
The author has spent most of her career as a travelling doctor. She holds medical licenses in North Carolina, Maine, and Hawaii, and has cared for 10,000+ patients over the years in many settings — including hospitals, clinics, detox centers, residential rehabs, ACT team programs (home-visiting teams), emergency rooms, forensic settings, nursing homes, as well as VA centers serving our veterans.
Her Outside-the-Box Recovery Movement emerged out of necessity. Recovery is tough. Treatment can be so dry and humorless. The fact is people are more likely to pursue and stick with treatment if there’s an element of joy and creativity in the process. The purpose of the OTB Recovery Empire (ha ha) is to promote a passion for sober living through art therapy, writing, puzzles, humor, and other *clinically-relevant* recovery materials.
In light of this need, she offers a substantial sum of free handouts on her website. There are also three workbooks on Amazon, each an introductory journey into the world of sobriety. Written for SUD providers as well as anyone new to recovery, these books combines relapse prevention and establishing a sober identity with illustrations, strange scenarios, poetry, playwrighting, alter egos, communication with the future, and the occasional joke. If you’re a SUD counselor looking for ways to spice up groups, you’re in the right place! As mentioned, you can find the workbooks on Amazon.
Dr. Kim believes that a psychiatrist’s role is to support her patients through life’s darker moments. Psychiatry is, after all, the art of alleviating suffering.
But it is in knowing that each person is unique, that our patient’s minds can’t simply be stuffed into the diagnostic boxes in our textbooks, where the real work begins: The good clinician takes off her jacket, sits down, listens to what the client has to say, and seeks to hear of their passions and strengths as much as their struggles. They seek joy amidst the shadows. That’s what OTB Recovery is about.
I nominated you for an award http://sibple.com/my-first-sunshine-blogger-award/
Hi Dr Kim Rosenthal,
Are you taking new clients? Either in person or online?!
Hi Elizabeth: Sorry, I don’t take private clients. Thanks for asking though.
It the outside of the box evidence based?
Hi Dawn,
That’s a good question. The books available on Amazon are based on mainstream practice, as well as other evidence-based approaches like art therapy, positive psychology, expressive (writing) therapy, narrative therapy, and humor therapy. There’s a section at the back of the book, written for providers, that presents supportive literature for each worksheet, as well as recommendations and ideas for their use in individual and group sessions. Let me know if you have more questions. Thanks!