Psychiatrist commits suicide at clinic
Patty
Psychiatrist is found dead
Marvin Gillick apparently hangs self from ceiling beam at San Mateo clinic
BY BARBARA FEDER
Mercury News Staff Writer
A respected psychiatrist -- known as ``Shoshanna'' to his colleagues --
apparently hanged himself Monday in the foyer of a county mental health
clinic in San Mateo.
Stunned co-workers found Dr. Marvin Michael Gillick hanging from a ceiling
beam when they entered the clinic at 7:45 a.m., authorities said.
Gillick, 54, had worked for the outpatient clinic for less than a year, San
Mateo County health chief Margaret Taylor said Wednesday. Gillick's
professional references were ``extraordinary,'' his performance
``excellent,'' she said, noting that no one had raised any concerns about
his well-being before the suicide.
Gillick, who had cross-dressed for about six years, was considering an
operation to become a woman, said his daughter, Hillary Gillick, referring
to her father as ``her.'' He had been let go by Cigna Corp., where he worked
as a staff psychiatrist in Southern California for several years, because he
was ``preoperative'' and apparently violated the dress code there, she said.
``Treatment like that is what led her to do this,'' Hillary Gillick, 25,
said, through tears. ``(Shoshanna was) in pain, internal pain. She obviously
had something upsetting her.''
Neither Gillick's co-workers nor Cigna Corp. officials could be reached for
comment late Wednesday. An autopsy is under way, county coroner Bud Moorman
said.
``The loss of anyone in our profession is a tragic thing,'' Taylor said. ``I
think Dr. Gillick should have the highest regard given (him).''
Gillick was board certified in child and forensic psychiatry. Trained at
Georgetown University, he served as a psychiatrist and drug treatment
counselor in the U.S. Navy in the 1970s and taught psychiatry at the
University of California School of Medicine for more than a decade, Hillary
Gillick said. Gillick also worked with the California Autism Foundation,
treating adults, and with the Los Angeles Unified School District, serving
emotionally disturbed children.
``She loved to work with children,'' the daughter added.
Gillick moved to San Francisco from Southern California after he was fired,
in part, to be near his daughter and to find a more accepting community.
``My father was a kind, wonderful person whose intellect matched her ability
to be gentle and caring,'' Hillary Gillick said. ``She was who she was, and
she was considered a genius by most people who met her. I loved her very
much. There's a piece of my life missing right now.''
The family is requesting contributions be sent in Shoshanna Gillick's name
to the Museum of Tolerance, 9786 West Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif.,
90035.
caroly...@gmail.com
Natalie Parkerson
Well, my insurance the the time, an HMO, (CIGNA) didn't pay for a clinical psychologist or a psychotherapist but it did pay for a psychiatrist.
So I called Cigna and made an appointment to see the psychiatrist.
They had a couple choices to offer and I didn't know one from the other. When they offered Shoshanna Gillick, I was fascinated by the name. Then the clerk told me that she was the head of psychiatry there. I immediately said, 'YES! GIVE ME HER!'
I was excited to see her anyway because I never had much confidence (at the time) in my ability to become ANYTHING. I came from a horribly abusive home where I was often told that I'd never amount to anything.
I thought I proved my family wrong when I became a prostitute at the age of 22, though I turned tricks off and on, starting as early as 16. That was my image identity and it made me feel important.
At the age of 30, I retired though my family was enraged. I had NO SUPPORT SYSTEM from my family, and they fought me on my decision to quit and go to college, claiming that I was making a terrible mistake. Well of course I was in their eyes - I supported them.
I started in Pasadena City College, graduated and went on to Mortuary school in Cypress. From there I decided to go on an become a psychotherapist.
I was sitting in the psychiatry office of CIGNA in Pasadena California, thinking, 'I'm not smart enough to be a psychotherapist. I'm not worthy or good enough. Who am I kidding here? Look at me, trying to be somebody - what a fking JOKE.'
There I sat, trying to figure out what exactly I was going to tell this psychiatrist lady. I thought, 'She'll probably agree with me that I've raised the bar a little too high here and out of my league.'
I heard my name called, bellowed out by a deep, sonorous, voice. A man's voice. I had been pretending to look at a magazine. I lifted my head, starting at the floor. I saw a woman's pair of shoes, then stockings, then a skirt, then a blouse and then a heavy set MAN in the skirt and blouse and stockings and shoes. No makeup, wig on, nails done. That was it.
I WAS HOME FREE. When our eyes met, my psychiatrist, the chief of staff was a transgender - A BIG MANLY DUDE IN A SKIRT WITH PUMPS!
Everything in that moment changed (no pun intended). Shoshanna took me to her office where our conversation was very strained. She wasn't connected to anything I said.
The irony was that I was a finishing my Masters as a psychotherapist and interning as a therapist at AIDS Project Los Angeles.
Remember I was there primarily as a school project but hadn't told her that. We would sit close to each other and just sort of chat like friends - I scheduled with Shoshanna on a regular basis but not for me - for her. I began to realize that my psychiatrist was in the throes of profound and serious depression. I began to counsel her. We became very good friends. She always told me that what a GREAT therapist I was going to be as I was just about there and that I was "Destined for greatness." She was my greatest inspiration and it was her far more tragic life story that enabled me to realize that my dreams would be a walk in the park.
She began to tutor me during our sessions in clinical psychology and educate me in issues concerning children, AIDS, clinical depression, homosexuality and transgenderism, while I encouraged her not to give up.
Had I been then, who I am today, she'd be alive.
http://www.yellowpages.com/palm-springs-ca/mip/natalie-parkerson-480654841
Natalie Parkerson
He gave it to me and I gave it to Dr. Gillick. She said, "A patient has never given me a gift [tears welling up in her eyes] but I guess that's still true today since you're not really a patient, you're my friend."
vanderm...@gmail.com
Love,
Denise Vandermey
