Theresa Larsen graduated from Florida State University with a degree in elementary education and a minor in psychology. She taught school in England, Wales, and the United States for over twelve years. She is a trained presenter and coordinator for the National Alliance on Mental Illness’s “Ending the Silence”-a mental health awareness program for youth. She is also a writer and her writing credits include a Welsh children's book, an educational article published in the Cardiff Advisory Service for Education, parenting and mental health articles published on Yahoo, PsychCentral, The Mighty, The Stigma Fighters Anthology Volume 2, and her award-winning memoir, Cutting the Soul: A journey into the mental illness of a teenager through the eyes of his mother. She has a daughter and a son and resides in Jacksonville, Florida with her husband and German shepherd.

     Theresa began writing the memoir, Cutting the Soul, after her son was diagnosed with a mental illness. Cutting the Soul is a journey into the mind of a mentally ill teenager as he faces intense feelings of depression, psychosis, addictive cutting, and suicidal behavior.

     Cutting the Soul has been awarded an honorary mention for non-fiction in The Great Southeast Book Festival and it is a B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree.

    

    Theresa is currently working on the biography of Dr. Erik Larsen, who's life spans over nine decades. 
     Dr. Larsen emigrated from Denmark in 1924 at the age of two and was the third son of a working class family. 
     Erik was determined to earn a medical degree, becoming a surgeon, and serving in the first MASH unit in Korea. He donated his time and medical services to the community. He was bestowed the Ridder of Dannebrog, Danish knighthood, by the King of Denmark in 1971 for his services to the members of the Danish Home in Chicago.

Check out these websites for information about Erik Larsen:

www.eriklarsenmdfacs.com

http://www.thepurpleheart.com/recipient/RecipientDetails.aspx?wid=0e8f77bb-748c-46d3-9157-4f95d5fe31ab

http://koreanwar-educator.org/memoirs/larsen_erik/index.htm