When a sudden onset of manic episodes lands her in a psychiatric ward, what is an established, respected psychotherapist to do? Marcia Naomi Berger, single and twenty-nine, had her first psychiatric hospitalization and then two more in the next year and a half. A series of close friends and mentors stand by her through challenges with abusive colleagues, conflicted relationships with men, estrangement from her mother, and confusion about what truly matters. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder, after trying several medications, the answer comes in the form of lithium. Under her doctor’s guidance, she excels at a new job in San Francisco General Hospital’s psychiatric ward. A new patient there recognizes her from their time as patients in another psych ward. She is a psychotherapist and served as a lecturer on the clinical faculty at the University of California School of Medicine.