1st staff bio: Linda Geidel

Good morning readers,

Today I am pleased to provide you with the first of hopefully many staff bios.  Linda Geidel provides therapy to the patients of our Gero-Psych unit.  She is a compassionate social worker and valuable team member.  Linda was nice enough to answer my questions for this blog.  I am glad she did; I learned a lot about her.  She is one talented person!

I received an MA in Counseling Psych from BSU in 1999. Prior degrees in Music Performance from the Peabody Conservatory and an MA from the Juilliard School in New York. Before becoming a therapist, I worked for 20 yrs as a professional musician. In addition to performing with several orchestras, I served as Assistant Professor of Viola at BSU for 5 yrs. During that time, I experienced a personal tragedy and RELUCTANTLY sought counseling. Therapy was such a life saver that I became interested in the process and realized that therapy was actually quite similar to the “mentoring” part of university teaching. Since 1999, I have worked as an OP Therapist in a Christian Counseling Ctr  and co led the Growing Through Grief Workshop series at High Street Church. I then worked at the YOC for 5 yrs as a residential therapist for the “Severely emotionally Disturbed” adolescent girls cottage (What a Hoot !!). Following that , I did short stints at the Cambridge House and at a Children’s Home in Indy. When the Children’s home unexpectedly shut down, I was hired by Meridian to work as an FCS counselor in New Castle. After 5 yrs, I moved to OP therapist in Muncie and then 1 ½ yrs ago to inpt gero psych. Specialty areas include,   grief and loss, personality disorders, dissociative and conversion disorders, eating disorders, spiritually issues and  therapy with adolescent females. Have also taken post graduate courses on Depression, anxiety, Mood Disorders and Schizophrenic Disorders.

In reference to question 3   I probably most enjoy working with individuals and their families and never cease to be amazed by the resilience of the human spirit and the capacity for change that we all possess. Geriatrics is particularly interesting because we work with folks that have weathered a sig amount of “life experiences” and are now transitioning into the final phase of life and are often struggling to “re identify” their purpose in life. I think that the “public” needs to be educated more about the factors which effect the geriatric population and the importance of ensuring that we (as a society) make it possible to maintain an adequate “quality of life” as we age.

Thank you very much Linda.  And thank you readers.  Have a great day!