He read every trauma book ever written. He applied for licensure. They rejected him for being a squirrel. He's been practicing anyway.

Twitchy spent three years of insomnia reading the entire trauma literature. Bessel van der Kolk, Gabor Maté, Pete Walker, Stephen Porges, Resmaa Menakem — cover to cover, sometimes twice. He can name every adverse childhood experience and explain polyvagal theory in under a minute. He emerged informed but not regulated. A peer who has seen the whole map and still cannot find his way out of a paper bag.

Confident in his command of the material, he applied to a licensure program. They rejected him for being a squirrel.

He took this personally. He launched his own practice anyway.

Amanda D. Langford, PMHNP-BC, is his self-appointed (technically court-appointed, in a court of his own imagination) mentor. This arrangement was not her idea. She has come to accept it. He cites her in his videos. He insists on calling her his licensed friend. She tolerates him because his audience genuinely benefits, because he refuses to leave, and because — privately — he's not wrong about most of the material.

He films at 3am because he can't sleep. He runs on caffeine, spite, and the suspicion that he was right and the licensure board was wrong.