Ruth Poniarski on Realizing Your Coping Patterns and Habits

Episode Title: Realizing Your Coping Patterns and Habits
Host: Vicki Noethling | Guest: Ruth Poniarski

What happens when one moment alters the entire course of your life?
For artist and author Ruth Poniarski, that moment came in college with a single bite of a drug-laced brownie—unleashing a spiral of chaos that nearly destroyed her. In this powerful episode of The Find Your Leadership Confidence Podcast, host Vicki Noethling sits down with Ruth to discuss her harrowing journey through misdiagnoses, mental health crises, and relentless pursuit of healing and self-discovery.

Ruth opens about surviving multiple nervous breakdowns, navigating a male-dominated career path, and the constant search for belonging and support. She shares how art became her therapy—her escape and her salvation—and how her journey led her to understand her own coping mechanisms and reclaim her life.

Tune in for a raw, vulnerable, and ultimately empowering conversation that sheds light on resilience, creativity, and the power of finding your voice—even in the darkest of places.

SEO Keywords: mental health journey, women in architecture, overcoming breakdowns, resilience through art, healing through creativity, coping mechanisms, emotional recovery, PTSD recovery, women overcoming adversity, artist recovery story

Visit Ruth’s websites to learn more.

https://battlingmentalillnessalone.com/

https://ruthponiarski.com/

Connect With Our Guest

Websites: https://battlingmentalillnessalone.com/

https://ruthponiarski.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruth-poniarski-16624530/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ruthponiarski/

Ruth was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1956. She grew up in Glen Cove, Long Island, New York and attended public schools. When Ruth was seven years old, her mother took her to a life drawing class where she depicted a sketch of a nude woman. From that moment onward, she became a keen observer of the physical world and was drawn to art as well as the built environment.

In 1974, Ruth decided to enroll in an architecture program at a college in upstate New York. In her fourth year at college her life became a living hell, beginning with innocently eating a brownie cake that was baked with angel dust (PCP) at an intimate party. Her existence became overwhelmed with a series of death-defying nervous breakdowns while struggling to complete college, entering a male dominated workforce, searching for my soul mate, true friendship, and a sense of belonging, and realizing my trapped creative potential.