Patric Gagne Doctor or Clinical Psychology, Former Therapist, Psychopathic Disorder Advocate

Patric Gagne is a writer, former therapist, and advocate for those suffering from sociopathic, psychopathic, and anti-social personality disorders. She earned her PhD in clinical psychology with a dissertation that examined the relationship between sociopathy and anxiety. This research, as well as her own experience with a sociopathic disorder, informed her own writing.

Gagne’s New York Times bestselling memoir, Sociopath, details her struggle to understand her sociopathy and shed light on the often maligned and misunderstood mental disorder. Since Gagne was young, emotions like fear, guilt, and empathy eluded her. Although she tried to blend in, the constant pressure to conform to a society she knew rejected anyone like her caused her to turn to occasional violence, lying, and stealing. But when she reconnected with an old flame and discovered that she is capable of love, she also learned that maybe she, and other sociopaths, aren’t monsters.

In her keynotes, Gagne emphasizes that sociopathy is widely distorted by misconceptions, extreme portrayals in film and media, and conflation with other mental disorders. Her honest accounts aim to build empathy for the challenges faced by sociopaths and psychopaths, who comprise roughly 5% of the population, and often experience it on a spectrum.

Gagne did her undergraduate work at UCLA and earned her masters and doctorate at the California Graduate Institute of The Chicago School. She lives with her husband, David, their two children, and a cantankerous black cat named Easter.