Ashley Judd Describes Life of Activism and Overcoming Difficult Past

“That I am here with you tonight is a testament to therapy,” said actress and activist Ashley Judd in a keynote address at the Opening Session of APA’s 2023 Annual Meeting.

Judd came to public attention as an actress for such roles in “De-Lovely,” “Ruby in Paradise,” “Norma Jean and Marilyn,” and “Double Jeopardy.” However, she went on to gain worldwide acclaim for her work in human rights, focusing on gender equality and public health. Her work includes such service as a global ambassador for both Population Services International and Polaris Project; the chair of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project: Curbing Abuse, Expanding Freedom; and a member of the leadership council of the International Center for Research on Women. She has also become an outspoken advocate for mental health and treatment of mental and substance use disorders.

Judd spent much of her youth in Kentucky; her late mother, Naomi Judd, became a country music singer as did her sister, Wynona Judd. “[Coming from] a family that didn’t work very well, I really wondered as a kid where people like you were,” she said. She described a harrowing past of sexual abuse and exploitation, addiction, and mental illness—but also of remarkable perseverance and growth.

Judd attended the University of Kentucky, where she was introduced to feminist Jeannine Blackwell. “I saw something in her scholarship that showed me what I wanted to do and be—which was to connect my head with my heart,” Judd said. “One day Professor Blackwell wept in the classroom while talking about non-Jewish people in Holland who harbored Jews and risked their lives for Jewish people who were being hunted by Nazis. She showed me that it was OK both to care and to be smart, to be a scholar, and to have a soul,” she said. “I hope that’s what I have been able to do with my life since I got into recovery.”

In 2006, Judd entered Shades of Hope Treatment Center in Texas for treatment of depression. “I go back to treatment once a year as a choice because of how that has enriched my life in meaningful and substantial ways.” She said today she is active in the recovery movement, sponsoring other women, and continues to see a psychopharmacologist for management of her depression.

“I believe in you, and I trust you,” Judd said in closing. “The healing arts—what you do every day—have been a stabilizing and life-giving force for me. You do make a difference.” ■