STORIES OF HOPE

**These are real client stories, sent to Dr. Bill from clients and their families over the past 40 years. Because of the nature of Bill’s work as a licensed psychiatrist, in order to protect the identities of his clients, all personal identifying details have been changed.**

“Thirty-five years ago this week our daughter Sara had several meetings with Dr. Bill in Coral Gables.  A few days before my cousin Frank came across my husband in his office with tears in his eyes. David explained that Sara’s depression showed no signs of improving.  Frank said I insist that you call my Navy friend in Florida.  We thought there is nothing Dr. Pettit can do, but to keep Frank happy we will.  Dr. Pettit suggested that Sara come to Florida, so we acquiesced.

Sara had come home from an Ivy League college at the end of the first semester in 1980.
She was depressed, but being naive, we did nothing, thinking she would get up one morning and want to go back to school. Finally, we consulted with our pediatrician; he referred us to a psychiatrist, who was on the faculty at Harvard Medical School. The sad details of the four years under his care are lost in the mists of memory – the lethargic effects of medications, not being able to read or write, a 3-week hospitalization, an automobile accident, being “stuck” when her contemporaries were progressing through college, no improvement, a dislike of her therapist. When my husband and I had suggested to Dr. H. that Sara change doctors, he replied, “If you let her change, she will never get better.” In December of 1984 she went to an out-of-state hospital for two or three months; there she was under the care of a Harvard colleague of Dr. H. Still no improvement. Her jaw was locked for a few days, and the professionals didn’t know what it was. One can understand why my husband was crying when Frank came into his office at the end of April 1985.

Sara then saw Dr. Pettit every day for about a week. Not being present in these sessions, I do not know exactly what was said. However, it was all positive. Dr. Pettit himself lived his message. She came home and got a lifeguarding job at the Y. Within a short time she was off all medication. At the end of the summer she read in the Boston Globe that a college cross-country coach was leaving. She called the school and got the coaching job. That year she also took a couple of courses and lived in a residence with a few other students. The next fall she enrolled in a local college, majoring in Math and getting a 4.0. Then she attended Columbia where she got a Master’s in PT.

At her 15th high school reunion she met her husband. They have 4 children (one is graduating from Holy Cross, one is at Brown, one is heading to Dartmouth, and the youngest is being pursued by college coaches for running). Hooray for Dr. Pettit! In our life, you were a miracle worker. We will forever be grateful.”

– K. M. 

“Since late 90’s, I had been clinically depressed, and on SSRIs several times. In 2002, I discovered books on Three Principles by chance, and it soon lifted me out of depression. Yet I still felt insecure around my mental health to some degree and had a habit of “making sure I’m okay”, by constantly reminding myself of what I had newly learned. As there was a huge gap between what I have been told and read about “mental illness” in a psychiatric setting, and the world view of the Principles. 

In 2018, after I gave birth to my first child, I could not sleep well for months and felt the lowest since I learned about Innate Health. I wondered where I went wrong, reading and listening to various resources again. I was making sure why I should feel okay, yet I didn’t. I contacted Bill in March, and had sessions to read Missing Link together.

I had a consistent habit of thinking things through when I feel bad. However, in these sessions, I directly experienced the impact of learning through the feeling. Sessions with him were filled with humor and unforgettable metaphors, abundant in quotes from insightful stories of his clients. He both cracked me up and moved me to tears during these sessions. It was filled with lightheartedness that made me wonder why I was being serious in the first place.

I learned that the cause of slipping into a hole is always thought and you can only see that in hindsight. I learned to ride the storm calmer without wondering why or trying efforts to get out of it.

Bill is the best teacher with compassion and knowledge, both mind and body, and I learned a lot during our sessions. I believe the world would be a better place if there are more mental health teachers like him.”

– Yumi, Japan