Between Two Worlds: A Psychiatrist and Her Sons Quest for Compassionate Care
By (Author) Dr Ellen Bassuk
By (author) Daniel Schoonover
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Bloomsbury Academic
22nd January 2026
United Kingdom
General
Non Fiction
Abnormal psychology
Clinical psychology
Mental health services
Hardback
224
Width 152mm, Height 229mm
For four decades, Ellen Bassuk has navigated the worlds of psychiatry, advocacy, and motherhoodshaped by her son Daniel Schoonovers lifelong struggle with mental illness, especially schizophrenia. Between Two Worlds is their deeply personal and captivating memoir, chronicling Daniels journey through a broken health care system that often fails those who are different, and the consequent parenting challenges.
From early childhood, Daniels developmental milestones were unusual, leading to hospitalizations and rejections from schools and institutions ill-equipped to see beyond diagnoses. As a single mother and psychiatrist, Bassuk fought to protect her son from a system that prioritized efficiency over humanity, forging an alternative path that allowed Daniel to reclaim his life.
Drawn from hospital and school reports as well as firsthand accounts, Between Two Worlds offers an unflinching look at systems that marginalize the vulnerable. Bassuk calls for a shift in mental health care, emphasizing the power of recovery principles and person-centered approaches to healing that is focused on relationships, empathy, and individual needs.
Close to forty years old, Daniel has found independence, purpose, and community. Their story is a beacon of hope and a call to actionurging transformation from institutionalization to connection, from labels to lived experience, and from stigma to compassion.
Ellen Bassuk, MD is a psychiatrist, researcher, clinician, and advocate. With a career spanning five decades, Dr. Bassuk has made significant contributions to the understanding and treatment of mental health, particularly in the context of homelessness and vulnerable populations, especially families and children. She previously served as associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School for almost four decades. Dr. Bassuk founded the National Center on Family Homelessness in 1988, and later C4 Innovations. She has written more than 150 peer reviewed articles, monographs, and books. An American Psychiatric Association Distinguished Life Fellow, her work has garnered recognition and awards, including an honorary doctorate in public service from Northeastern University, the Blanche F. Ittleson Award for the Promotion of Childrens Mental Health, and the American Psychological Association Distinguished Contribution to Child Advocacy Award.