We Should Not Need a Courtroom: Part Four
The country had a version of this conversation in 2002, during the Andrea Yates trial. More than twenty years later, the research...
MUSA
Writing on psychology, relationships, the moment, and the fragility of being human
Books and essays by Niki Serravalle.
Explore MUSA
Three Ways to Read
The office bookshelf
- MonthlyLetters from the PracticeNotes from the practice: events, celebrations, and seasonal intentions.Read the letters →
- The BlogMake It Make SenseGrounded, research-informed essays on psychology, therapy, and the cultural moment.Read the blog →
- LibraryEssays & PublicationsBooks, essays, and articles by Dr. Niki Serravalle.Explore the library →
Meet the Author
Niki Serravalle
Dr. Niki Serravalle is a licensed clinical psychologist, author, and the founder of the Center for Balanced Living. Her clinical work centers on trauma-informed care, psychological evaluation, and the integration of nature-based and somatic approaches into therapeutic practice. She writes MUSA from her practice in Delaware, where the clinical and the personal continually meet. Her first book, The Stories We Told: The Dance Between a Codependent and a Compulsive Liar, is forthcoming.
Why I Write
In Latin and Italian, Musa is the muse, the figure who animates writing, thinking, and creative work. To write in the company of a muse was to listen carefully and give shape to what mattered most. It was writing with intention. MUSA is where I house my writing, a space where the clinical, the literary, and the personal meet on the page.
The Book
The Stories We Told
The Dance Between a Codependent and a Compulsive Liar
The Stories We Told is the memoir of a clinical psychologist who knew the signs and stayed anyway, a reckoning with love, deception, and the long work of coming home to herself.
Recent Essays
From the Desk
We Should Not Need a Courtroom: Part Three
I heard someone use the phrase stay-at-home jurors, and I have not stopped thinking about it.
We Should Not Need a Courtroom: Part Two
The difference between postpartum depression, anxiety, OCD, and psychosis is the first thing the culture should have known before this summer, and...
We Should Not Need a Courtroom: Part One
I had postpartum depression three times.The first time, I did not really know what it was. I had just had a baby...
The Distance Between Us: Part Four
Part Four: What Repair Can and Cannot Do Repair is one of the most misunderstood words in estrangement. People hear it and...
The Distance Between Us: Part Three
Part Three: The Silence After Being Left When someone you love stops speaking to you, grief and anger are usually there, but...
Monthly letters
Letters From the Practice
A letter each month from Center for Balanced Living. Pick one up.
Dr. Serravalle's desk
- Letters from the Practice October 2026 Letters From the Practice / October 2026: Now and Not Now Open the letter
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