Between Two Worlds

For four decades, Ellen Bassuk has navigated the worlds of psychiatry, advocacy, and motherhood—shaped by her son Daniel Schoonover’s lifelong struggle with mental illness, especially schizophrenia.

Between Two Worlds is their deeply personal memoir, chronicling Daniel’s journey through a broken health care system, an ill-equipped educational system, and the parenting challenges that came with it.

Ellen Bassuk and Daniel Schoonover, mother and son, will share their journey together.

From early childhood, Daniel’s developmental milestones were atypical, leading to hospitalizations, rejections from institutions unable to see beyond diagnoses, and even expulsions from school. As a single mother and medical professional, Bassuk fought to protect her son from systems that prioritized efficiency over humanity, forging an alternative path that allowed Daniel to reclaim his life.

Drawn from hospital and school reports, first-hand accounts, as well as a graphic description of Daniel’s inner experience, Between Two Worlds offers an unflinching look at the impact of systems that marginalize vulnerable people.

Bassuk calls for a transformation in mental health care—one that embraces recovery principles and person-centered approaches focused on relationships, empathy, and individual needs. 

Now close to forty years old, Daniel has found independence, purpose, and community. Their story is a beacon of hope and a call to action—urging a shift from institutionalization to connection, from labels to lived experience, and from stigma to compassion.

Between Two Worlds is a powerful memoir for individuals, parents, families, caregivers, professionals, and advocates seeking hope, guidance, and reform in the face of mental illness and systemic injustice.