Cracked Up

“The worst crime is not what happened.
The worst crime is being expected not to tell.”
-Darrell Hammond
A FREE event for the community. Call The Ridgefield Playhouse box office at 203.438.5795 to reserve your tickets.
In Cracked Up, director Michelle Esrick’s Award-winning documentary, we witness the impact that childhood trauma can have across a lifetime through the incredibly courageous and personal story of comedian, actor and Saturday Night Live legend Darrell Hammond. Renowned for his impressions of Bill Clinton, Sean Connery and hundreds more, Hammond wowed SNL audiences for a record-breaking 14 seasons. Although Hammond performed brilliantly on live TV, behind the scenes he suffered from debilitating flashbacks, self-injury and addictions, symptoms which were misdiagnosed by over 40 doctors as mental illnesses, including: multiple personality disorder, manic depression and schizophrenia. Not until a suicide attempt that brought Hammond together with Dr. Nabil Kotbi, was he properly diagnosed and treated, unleashing the memories his brain had locked away for over 50 years.
Esrick, gracefully weaves together comedy and tragedy, helping us to understand the biological effects of childhood trauma in a new light. Breaking down barriers of stigma and replacing shame with compassion and hope, Cracked Up reveals what is possible when science meets the human spirit.
Cracked Up is a rallying cry to be part a movement that is transforming our communities one by one to become trauma informed.
Q&A following the screening with Laura Babala, LCSW, CYT;  Kathy Hayes-Bloch, LCSW; Mark D’Agostino, M.D., MS, MSc, & Liz Driscoll Jorgensen, CADC
Laura Babala, LCSW, CYT
Laura’s passion is using compassion to help people get through hard things and transition to a more peaceful and meaningful life.  She has combined her sense of humor, empathy, and connectivity into a down-to-earth style that is approachable, actionable, and welcoming to all.  She maintains a private therapy practice in Fairfield and Ridgefield, CT serving individuals, families and groups. While she has specialty training in treating trauma and attachment injuries that have occurred as a result of abuse, violence, neglect and family dysfunction, she doesn’t treat diagnoses; she treats people for whatever is troubling them in any way that expresses itself including anxiety, depression, low self-worth, divorce, family dysfunction, co-parenting and other interpersonal issues using a range of therapeutic approaches – including psychodynamic, trauma-focused, somatic experiencing, and attachment, regulation and competency (ARC) treatment .  Laura believes in an integrative approach for treating the whole person.  She teaches yoga, breath work (pranayama) and embodiment through classes and workshops.
Kathy Hayes-Bloch, LCSW
Kathy Hayes-Bloch, MSW, LCSW is a seasoned psychotherapist who has accompanied many people on their healing journeys over the past 20 years. While helping patients face depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and other mental health issues she noticed the limitations of traditional psychotherapy.  Kathy began to explore mindfulness practices and hypnosis as additional tools that could support client’s movement from helplessness to empowerment as they learned skills to promote a greater sense of wellbeing. She spent 3 years studying hypnosis with Daniel Brown, Ph.D., at Harvard University. Kathy has helped many  people manage acute and chronic pain, lose weight, stop smoking, and recover from trauma, utilizing this evidence-based skill set for treating many of the conditions that bring people to counseling. She consults with hospitals, schools, and agencies to conduct workshops, lectures and professional trainings.  Kathy is part of a select clinical team currently training in Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness, with David Treleaven, Ph.D. She is an active member and trainer with the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis and a sought after speaker discussing a variety of mental health topics promoting wellness in the community. She has spoken at NASW’s professional conferences, New York Presbyterian: Westchester Division- Social Work Conference, The CT Oncology Social Work Group, Ann’s Place, and RVNA Ridgefield Visiting Nurse Association.  Kathy received her MSW at New York University, has a daily meditation, practice, and enjoys gardening, cooking and spending time with her family.
Mark D’Agostino, M.D., MS, MSc, Director of Outpatient Services
Dr. D’Agostino is the Director of Outpatient Services at Silver Hill Hospital. Prior to joining Silver Hill, he was an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College and New York Presbyterian Hospital. At Cornell, he drove innovation through leveraging technology to measure and analyze results of patient reported outcome measures, and was an invited member of the Patient Experience Executive Leadership Council. Dr. D’Agostino is a former Medical Officer and Emergency Medicine Practitioner in the U.S. Army, where he served as a Brigade Surgeon (Chief Medical Officer) and helped lead a Task Force integrating the Disaster Response capabilities of the Department of Defense and Homeland Security. He attended Brown University Medical School and completed residency training in Psychiatry at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. He sought additional training and Board Certification in Addiction Medicine. As a Marshall Scholar in the United Kingdom, he obtained a Master of Science in Health Policy, Planning, and Financing at the London School of Economics, and a Master of Science in Biochemistry at the University of Nottingham Medical School. He is also an alumnus of Harvard Business School.
Liz Driscoll Jorgensen, CADC, Clinical Consultant
Liz Jorgensen has 30 years experience with adolescent and adult psychotherapy and counseling. She is a nationally recognized expert in counseling, particularly in engaging resistant teens and motivating them to change. She was the coordinator of Adolescent Substance Abuse Services at Danbury Hospital and created and ran dual diagnosis partial hospital, intensive outpatient and outpatient services in her 18 years there. Since 2000 Liz has been the owner and director of Insight Counseling in Ridgefield, CT where she collaborates with seven dedicated colleagues to run a full spectrum of outpatient counseling programs, including medical care, extensive group services for adolescents and young adults and DBT programs. Liz is also a consultant to Newport Academy, an adolescent treatment system with residential centers in CT and CA and outpatient centers in CA, WA, NC and CT..