Dr. Susan Vaught
Author of TRIGGER
Feb 16, 2007 Mechele R. Dillard
Three out of every 10 teenagers will consider suicide. One out of 10 will actually attempt taking her own life. Roughly, that comes to 200,000-400,000 teenage suicide attempts in the United States every year. Of these attempts, 2,000-5,000 will succeed.
Dr. Susan Vaught studied Clinical Psychology and Mental Retardation Research at Vanderbilt University. She completed her internship and fellowship at Temple University Health Sciences Center, during which she developed a passion for neuropsychology—the branch of psychology focusing on the human brain and behavior.
Through her work and her desire to reach out and help others, Dr. Vaught rediscovered her first love: writing. Now, while continuing her practice with brain-injured adolescents and adults, she educates the public by compiling the stories of the many hurt and healing people she has known over the years into fictitious characters in realistic teen fiction—like the story of Jersey Hatch in Trigger.
Mechele R. Dillard: To begin, let me just say that Trigger is a phenomenal book—it had me entranced from beginning to end. That being said, this book, while definitely a teen read, is also a story that adults will find both intriguing and informative. Did you actually write Trigger for both audiences, or do you leave those “target group” thoughts behind while crafting a story?
Dr. Susan Vaught: I hold target group thoughts in mind only so far as not breaking conventions that would rule it out of either audience. Once I start the story, have the character and voice, all the rest fades to the back and I just write. I do believe most teen/young adult novels work fine for adult readers, too—in fact, very well!
MRD: Trigger is not your first YA novel. It is, however, in a different vein of fiction than your previous works, in that it does not contain a plot to which magic, fantasy, witches, etc. are integral. In fact, if a reader didn’t realize Trigger was fiction, she could believe it to be a documentary. Do you plan to continue this realistic turn in your works, or was this a single story you wanted to tell along the path to more witches, magic, and fantasy?
SV: I had written one contemporary before Trigger, which was Fat Tuesday—actually the first novel I ever had published. I do plan to continue a contemporary/realistic vein, and am working to finish one of those right now, currently entitled Exposed, for Bloomsbury USA (the same publisher who did Trigger).
MRD: You are a neuropsychologist, which played a large role in your choosing to write Trigger. In fact, you’ve stated that Jersey Hatch, the teenager who tried and failed to commit suicide in the book, embodies all of the teens you have encountered through your practice “in struggle and spirit.” Do you find that your profession also plays a role in your fantasy novels? Or, are they a chance for you to leave the world of injury and treatment behind and explore something only your imagination can create?
SV: I don’t think I can escape my profession anywhere I go. The psyche, problems, and motivations of characters have to make sense to me, have to be accurate in a psychological sense, or I’m just not happy. I do think, though, that fantasy gives me a break from grittier realities, and allows for more possibilities—such as miraculous healing—that I rarely get to see.
MRD: At this point in your career, you’ve chosen to work specifically with brain-injured adolescents and adults. Do you find that there are significant differences in how you approach a teen who has been injured as opposed to an adult? Also, I assume you treat brain injuries that are non-suicide related. Do you find it harder to deal with one as opposed to the other? Do injuries that are not self-inflicted tend to cause more resentment, frustration, etc. on the part of the victim who is, in such a case, truly a victim of an outside force?
SV: There are definite differences in how I approach teens in practice vs. adults, whether they are intact or injured. Teens tend to be more resistant initially, then as they accept the therapeutic process, they get more honest, more direct, and more insightful than most adults. With respect to brain injury, I can’t assume that all impulsivity is due to the brain injury, though, as teens and young adults, as a whole, are more impulsive and quick to act than adults.
When working with teen patients, I always have to keep developmental issues in mind—what teens are working on vs. adults, what teens have to learn to regain independence, what teens want to bother with—it’s all very different!
I don’t find it harder to treat non-suicide-attempt related brain injuries or suicide-attempt-related injuries. Brain injury is brain injury, no matter the cause, and in true cases of brain insult, patients like Jersey don’t remember the injury itself. They usually don’t remember the day, days, or even months or sometimes years leading up to the moment of injury. So, typically, we’re not rehashing the injury, or how or why it happened. We’re focused on current life issues, and learning coping skills.
By and large, the teens I work with don’t express much resentment about their injuries. The why-me question comes up more with adults, I suppose because adults had more lifespan without deficits—and adults can be more jaded in general, with a tendency to think in such terms. Most of my teens are relentlessly optimistic and motivated, despite serious injuries and deficits, and big life problems. They are usually an inspiration to me.
MRD: Has this book affected your private practice?
SV: Nah. I’d say most of my patients don’t even notice I write books. If they do, it’s a distant sort of noticing. I live in a very small, very remote place, and I’ve had a specialty practice for almost 2 decades now, so my referral base and rate of referral has been steadily the same for many years. I’d hazard a guess that most of my referral sources . . . ah, really don’t care *what* I’m doing other than neuropsychology, so long as I get people seen when they need to be seen, and answer the assessment questions they ask.
If I’m doing my job as a therapist, too, what happens in my life should have very little bearing on my patients’ lives. The patients come to me to work on their problems, so in a way, I really need to be a kind, supportive, at times stern of course, but always consistent talking piece of furniture. And to many patients, I am just that! For example, across the last year, I’ve lost over 130 pounds. I have patients who haven’t noticed. I’m totally serious. And that’s fine. Me, my body, how I look, the color of the walls at my office—none of that is their problem. They’re focused on what they need to be working on, and I’ll let ‘em stay just like that!
MRD: What can we expect from Susan Vaught, author, in the future?
SV: I have two books under contract, EXPOSED and OATHBREAKER, both with Bloomsbury. EXPOSED is a contemporary piece about a sixteen year-old girl who gets involved with an online predator and must find her way to hope and redemption. OATHBREAKER is an epic fantasy co-written with my son JB Redmond. The tale involves a lost and damaged prince who doesn’t want to return to his throne, a young assassin’s apprentice with psychic gifts so powerful they might be too dangerous to be allowed, and a girl who is one of the last survivors of a frightening ancient race. When these three are forced together by war and betrayal, the choices they make will change their world in ways no one can imagine.
And of course I have lots of other stories started, another contemporary, and actually a fairly classical horror piece, too. We’ll see where those go!
Dr. Susan Vaught has dedicated her life to helping those who need healing, inside and out. Learn more about Dr. Vaught and her message on her Web site, Stay Alive! And, don't forget to pick up your copy of TRIGGER, available online or at a bookstore near you.
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