Store Bought Serotonin

Setting the scene

Store Bought Serotonin lives at the intersection of laughter, compassion, and evidence-based care. We aim to normalize seeking help and finding humor in the journey.

A cozy living room scene centered on a small, bright yellow ceramic pill organizer shaped like a smiling sun, resting on a soft, heather-gray knit blanket draped over a couch arm. Nearby, a well-used spiral-bound journal lies open, pages filled with tiny, colorful doodles of clouds and hearts. Natural mid-morning light filters through an unseen window, creating gentle highlights on the glossy pill organizer and soft shadows in the knitted texture. In the blurred background, a bookshelf holds neatly stacked self-help books and a tiny cactus in a painted pot. Photographic realism, shot at eye level with a shallow depth of field, creates a warm, playful, comforting mood, balancing seriousness with light-hearted humor.

A neat wooden bedside table holds a pastel mint-green lightbox with changeable letters spelling “MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS” in mismatched colors, slightly crooked on purpose. Next to it sits a ceramic mug shaped like a cartoon brain, steam curling up from inside, with whimsical cracks painted in gold like kintsugi. A small stack of sticky notes with scribbled reminders—"take meds,” “drink water,” “be kind to yourself”—fans out casually. Soft late-afternoon sunlight enters from the left, casting long, gentle shadows and a cozy glow across the grain of the wood. Photographic realism from a slightly elevated angle, with shallow depth of field keeping focus on the quirky objects, creates an inviting, empathetic, gently humorous atmosphere suited for a mental health blog.

Meet the Team

There are few of us but we mean well. To begin, there’s my wonderful husband (Wade) who helps with my website management and giving the once over to things I write. You might notice I mention him from time to time depending on the topic. Next, there’s our amazing son who we affectionately refer to as Frodo. For his privacy we don’t use his name online if we can help it but he’s apart of the team for sure. He keeps me on my toes not only as a mother but also as a therapist. This is also something I will talk about sometimes. Then there’s our two furry mascots. Our dog Titan and our cat Lulu. They are wonderful supportive companions as anyone with pets can attest to. Pictures of those two can be found below.

As for myself, I am a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker in the state of Washington. I graduated from the University of Washington in 2016 and I’ve been practicing in the field ever since. In my early days I spent a lot of time working in psychiatric inpatient facilities as either a Case Manager or an Intake Clinician. I have also worked in ERs, ICUs and a few other hospital departments as a general Medical Social Worker. One of the jobs I enjoyed quite a bit was in Crisis Assessment where I went out into the community to perform assessments on minors to determine what is going on, if they needed more intensive treatment or what services the child and family could utilize. This was often difficult but also really fulfilling work. Nowadays I am working in the world of private practice therapy and really enjoying the ability to get to know my clients on a longer term basis. I am also a mom to a child with Autism while also being neurodivergent myself. Both my partner and myself have ADHD and we work hard to manage that as parents. Hopefully my experience comes through in my writing and that you, the reader, find some of the material here useful or supportive.