Mothering Through the Darkness: A Call for Submissions and a Writing Contest

MOTHERING THROUGH THE DARKNESS: Stories of Postpartum Struggle

Deadline: December 1, 2014

Approximately 1 in 7 women suffer from postpartum depression after having a baby. Many more may experience depression during pregnancy, postpartum anxiety, OCD, and other mood disorders. Postpartum depression is in fact the most common pregnancy-related complication, more widespread than gestational diabetes, preterm labor, or pre-eclampsia. Yet confusion and misinformation about postpartum depression and anxiety — from their symptoms to timelines to prevalence to treatment — are still widespread. Myths surrounding mothers’ mental health challenges can have devastating effects on women’s well-being as well as their identities as mothers, too often leading to shame and inadequate treatment. Although postpartum and antepartum depression and anxiety are temporary when treated, untreated mood disorders can lead to long-term consequences for both a mother and her child. A mother can feel very alone, ashamed, and hopeless. And keep silent.

Mothering Through the Darkness: Stories of Postpartum Struggles will be a unique anthology with the goal of breaking that silence.With this collection of essays, we will try to dispel these myths and focus on the diversity of women’s experiences, through the voices of mothers themselves.

The HerStories Project is seeking unpublished, first-person essays from mothers about their experiences with postpartum depression, anxiety, or other mental health struggles during or after pregnancy.* We’re looking for well-crafted, true accounts that explore and examine aspects of this experience.

Submissions must feature a strong and compelling narrative. We’re looking for well-written prose, rich detail, and a strong, distinctive voice. (For more about what we’re looking for, here is an article that was written for a personal essay writing with a few more suggestions.)

Guidelines: Previously unpublished and between 1,500 and 3,000 words. Please also submit a short bio of 50-100 words, including previously publications.

The Writing Contest

Your submission to Mothering Through the Darkness can be, if you choose, simultaneously entered into the first HerStories Project Writing Contest.  (see details below) The HerStories Project will award $500 to one submission for Best Essay and $100 to two runners-up. All three essays will be published in the book, and each winner will receive a paperback copy.

To cover the costs of sponsoring the contest, we are asking for a $10 reading fee. If this fee presents a financial hardship that would otherwise prevent you from submitting an essay, we will waive this fee and this will not affect the status of your entry.

To submit, click here.

For more information on this, click here.

APA CE Workshop “Women Counseling Men: Practicing Male-Friendly Therapy” 

Saturday August 9th from 1-4:50 p.m.

Presenters:  Terri Morse LMHC & Holly Sweet Ph.D.

This introductory workshop examines how men may view and utilize therapy and discuss how gender norms may impact female therapist/male client dyads. Through role playing, video clips, case studies, and didactic presentation, participants will explore a variety of male-friendly therapeutic interventions. Challenges female therapists may face will be addressed, including negative counter-transference , and dealing successfully with aggressive, sexist, or narcissistic men, or male clients who sexualize the therapeutic relationship. Special attention will be paid to the role that shame may play in men's lives, as well as how to set healthy boundaries with male clients while remaining empathic to their struggles.

A limited number of scholarships are also available (for the cost of the workshop only) for graduate students. Interested students should contact Holly Sweet, Ph.D. at hbsweet@mit.edu. Applications are due May 23rd. 

For more information, click here.

Seeking people for Section 4 of APA Division 35

Section 4 (Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns) of APA Division 35 (Society for the Psychology of Women) is seeking people to serve in the following elected positions:

•    Treasurer

•    Newsletter Editor/Publicist

They are also looking for both members and chairs to be appointed to the following committees:

•       Membership Committee
•       Program Committee
•       Graduate Student Committee
•       Coordinator’s Committee
•       Awards Committee
•       Committee on Nominations and Elections
If you are interested in any of these positions, please contact Section President, Julie Konik, at Julie.Konik@uwc.edu. 

MOCATALKS: Celebrating Mothers on Sat, May 10th, 2pm - 4pm

Join MOCA this Mother’s Day weekend for a celebratory tea & talk with Chinese American writers Deanna Fei (A Thread of Sky: A Novel, 'Battle Plan Of A Tiger Daughter') and Betty Ming Liu ('Parents like Amy Chua are the reason why Asian-Americans like me are in therapy'). United by a passion for illuminating the lives of women and mothers, these distinguished writers and bloggers will share their unique voice on motherhood and parenting, as well as honor the many women – young and old; mothers and daughters – who grace our lives and communities. Attendees will also enjoy fine teas and pastries, and free admission to MOCA’s new exhibition, Oil and Water: Reinterpreting Ink. This panel is moderated by Dorothy Yang MSW, LCSW, Psychoanalyst/Psychotherapist.

As part of Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, MOCA pays tribute to generations of Asian and Pacific Islanders in the United States and salutes their contributions.

For more information, visit:  http://www.mocanyc.org/visit/events/mocatalks_celebrating_mothers
 

Telling Birth Stories

A Writing Workshop with Award-Winning Author & Journalist

 Elayne Clift

 How do you write a good birth story?  What makes any story compelling?  How can we tell our own birth stories, as remembrance, and as a gift to other women?

In their book Birth Ambassadors: Doulas and the Re-emergence of Woman-supported Birth in America (Praeclarus Press, 2014), Christine Morton and Elayne Clift include stories by women for whom a doula was present at their birth.  These beautifully crafted first-persons narratives give voice to the extraordinary experience of giving birth. Join the growing chorus of women whose voices, and birth stories, are being heard!

This workshop draws upon the examples of birth-related stories as Clift guides participants through the elements of good storytelling as they relate to the experience of giving or assisting birth. Prompts will serve as a guide to setting the scene, involving characters, using dialogue, making wise word choices, and more. Come prepared to remember, write, and share.  (Laptops welcome. Paper/pen are good too!) Join in painting a picture that carries your audience with you as you tell your birth tale!

DATE/TIME:  Wednesday, May 14th

6:00 pm - Birth Ambassadors book reading and signing

7:00 – 8.30 pm – Writing Workshop

PLACE: 242 West 27th Street, Kids at Work. 4th floor, buzzer #6, between 7th and 8th Avenues

COST: Writing Workshop $20  (no fee for book signing only)

RSVP to Mary Esther Malloy maryesthermalloy@gmail.com or Elayne Clift  eclift@vermontel.net

                                                * * * *

Elayne Clift (M.A.), a specialist in gender issues and women’s health, has been an international educator and advocate on maternal and child health issues. She is Sr. correspondent for the India-based syndicate Women’s Feature Service, a frequent contributor to Women’s Media Center, a columnist for the Keene (NH) Sentinel, and a reviewer for the New York Journal of Books.  Her novel, Hester’s Daughters, a contemporary, feminist re-telling of The Scarlet Letter was published in 2012. She lives in Saxtons River, Vt.        

Birth Ambassadors by Christine Morton and Elayne Clift

Birth Ambassadors documents the social history of the emergence of doula care in the United States. What are doulas and where did they come from? Why do women become doulas? What does it mean to be a doula? Birth Ambassadors is the only book to fully answer these questions by connecting narrative accounts with critical sociological analysis of the dilemmas and issues embodied in doula history and practice. Based on historical research and interviews with currently practicing doulas and leaders in the field,

Birth Ambassadors argues that the doula role is underpinned by ideological commitments to several overlapping and, at times, conflicting ideas around childbirth. These include an understanding of pregnancy and birth from the midwifery model, a belief in women’s right to make informed choices regarding their health care, the need for patient/consumer advocacy and unconditional emotional support for women’s choices about their births. Birth Ambassadors explores how this constellation of beliefs within doula practice represents an innovative yet problematic response within the maternity reform movement to empower women during and after childbirth. Doulas are ambassadors to the world of birth, highlighting women’s emotional experience of birth in settings where beliefs and practices of the participants (the woman, her family, the nurses, midwives and obstetricians) are sometimes in conflict. For doulas to fulfill their goal of entering mainstream maternity care, they and their organizations face critical challenges.

“This book is THE definitive work on doulas in the United States. It is clearly and compellingly written, immediately drawing readers into the story of the development of doulas in the U.S. and of the social movement that arose to support their incorporation into American hospital birth. Want to know what a doula actually does for laboring mothers? Read this book! Want to know what a doula can do for you personally, if you are expecting? READ THIS BOOK! Want to know if you yourself should become a doula? READ THIS BOOK! If you are an obstetrician, professional midwife, or obstetric nurse, read this book to find out how doulas can augment your care in ways that support you as well as the mother, the baby, and the family.”

Robbie Davis-Floyd PhD, author, Birth as an American Rite of Passage, co-editor, Mainstreaming Midwives.

 “Birth Ambassadors documents the social history of the emergence of doula care in the United States. What are doulas and where did they come from? Why do women become doulas? What does it mean to be a doula?  Birth Ambassadors is the only book to fully answer these questions by connecting narrative accounts with critical sociological analysis of the dilemmas and issues embodied in doula history and practice. Based on historical research and interviews with currently practicing doulas and leaders in the field, Birth Ambassadors argues that the doula role is underpinned by ideological commitments to several overlapping and, at times, conflicting ideas around childbirth.”

Holly Powell Kennedy, Ph.D., CNM, FACNM, FAAN, Varney Professor of Midwifery at Yale University and Past-President of the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM).

 

CALL for SPW (APA Division 35) Campus Representative and Student Leader Applicants

Due Date: June 1st, 2014

Among universities and colleges across the country, SPW Campus Representatives promote feminist scholarship, research, activism and practice; give a face to Division 35 among students; and encourage awareness about diversity and social intersections as they affect women’s lives.  Campus Representatives are supported by their fellow Representatives and the Student Representative as they create and organize programming that highlights feminist thought in psychology on their campus.  

Both graduate and undergraduate students can apply to be the voice of SPW and/or SPW's sections at their school. 

Campus Representative Duties:

1) Create and execute at least 2 events, rooted in SPW's values, over the course of the academic year

2) Write a minimum of 2 FemPop blog posts 

Link to Application: 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1JLo5EmRZlTBk3sFA_LA_3x2QqjYPqCkwEFoUr7t65Sc/viewform?usp=send_form

Please use this form to apply for SPW (APA Division 35) Campus Representative positions and Student Leader positions in SPW's Sections for the 2014-2015 academic year (August 2014- July 2015)

Current Campus Representatives: http://www.apadivisions.org/division-35/leadership/campus-representatives/index.aspx

FemPop Blog: http://fempopculture.blogspot.com/

Please email Jessica Joseph at spwstudentemail@gmail.com with questions.

 

PSYCHOTHERAPY WITH WOMEN AWARD

Call for Papers/Manuscripts

PSYCHOTHERAPY WITH WOMEN AWARD

The Society for the Psychology of Women (Division 35 of APA) funds this award out of royalties from the book edited by Drs. Annette Brodsky and Rachel Hare-Mustin, Women and Psychotherapy: An Assessment of Research and Practice.

Content: Manuscripts on the broad topic of psychotherapy with women are eligible.  Research (quantitative and qualitative), clinical applications, clinical case studies, and theoretical review articles are welcome.

Eligibility: Individual and jointly authored articles are eligible.  However, only one submission can be made by the first author.  Additionally, the first author may not have previously received this award through Division 35 of APA.  Entries should be of approximately journal length and written in APA style.  Papers that have been submitted for publication or presented at professional meetings are eligible, along with papers that have been accepted for publication or published within the past two years.  In the case of the latter, the papers may not be published more than two years prior to the May 1, 2014 submission deadline.

Judging: Psychologists with expertise on the psychotherapy with women will read the entries using a standard anonymous review procedure.  Judging will be made on the basis of scholarly rigor, clinical impact, theoretical creativity and innovation, methodological skills, clarity and style of presentation, in addition to its relevance and importance to psychotherapy with women.  A cover sheet with the author’s name, address, e-mail address, and telephone and fax numbers, along with the publication or presentation date, should accompany the paper. The author’s name should not appear on the paper itself.

Award: The winner will be announced at APA 2014 and will receive the annual prize of $250.

Submission: Please send author information and the paper electronically to Debra Kawahara at dkawahara@alliant.edu

Deadline: May 1, 2014

 

Contemporary Family Making Series: The Ticking Biological Clock in the Consulting Room

When: April 10, 2014; 7:30 pm- 9pm

Where: National Institute of Psychotherapies

            250 W. 57th St., Suite 501, New York, NY 10107

In consulting rooms, women's biological clocks are ticking. Sometimes it's the patient's, sometimes the patient's partner's, sometimes the analyst's. What happens when it is only the analyst who is seemingly able to hear the patient's clock ticking, or even winding down? And how do we work with women, and men, who tell us they don't want children, don't wish to explore the issue further, and leave us wondering if there's more to be discovered and understood? Analysts are often conflicted about influencing patients instead of helping them find their own way. If we open discussion around these topics, are we foreclosing the patient's process or opening a pathway for it? Compelling case presentation will illustrate these dilemmas.

For more information click here.

To register click here.

Babies Without Borders: Human Rights, International Commercial Surrogacy and the Regulation of Reproduction

Speaker: Yasmine Ergas, Director, Gender and Public Policy Specialization, SIPA; Associate Director, Institute for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University. 

When :  Wednesday, April 16th
              12:15pm - 1:15pm
Where : Case Lounge, Room 701
              Jerome Greene Hall
              435 W. 116th St.

Non-pizza lunch will be served
RSVP not required, but encouraged - email cgao@law.columbia.edu

Who is a mother? How should gestation be understood? In commercial surrogacy are women selling their services as gestators or are they selling the end-products of the gestation, i.e. children? And, when many states are involved, who can decide and on what basis? These questions have become increasingly urgent as conflicts among legal systems have placed children born as a result of international commercial surrogacy arrangements at risk of being “marooned stateless and parentless.” Is an international agreement possible? And, how might it be guided by international human rights law?

For more information, contact the Center for Gender and Sexuality Law at 212-854-0167 or gender_sexuality_law@columbia.edu

Valerie Lives: A Public Discussion of Feminist Rage

When: Thursday, April 10 at 7pm

Where: Bluestockings, 172 Allen Street, NYC

Breanne Fahs in conversation with Johanna Fateman about this first ever biography of Valerie Solanas

When: Friday, April 11 at 5pm

Where: NYU, 20 Cooper Square, 4th Floor, NYC

Avital Ronell, Lisa Duggan and Karen Finley join Breanne Fahs in a      discussion about feminist rage.

VALERIE SOLANAS: 
The Defiant Life of the Woman Who 
Wrote Scum (and Shot Andy Warhol) 
Breamme Fahs 
April 9, 2014 
ISBN: 978-1-55861-848-0 
eISBN: 978-1-55861-849-7 
360 pgs + 36 b/w photos $22.95 

 

Too drastic, too crazy, too “out there,” too early, too late, too damaged, too much—Valerie Solanas has been dismissed but never forgotten. Known for shooting Andy Warhol in 1968 and for writing the polemical diatribe SCUM Manifesto, Solanas is one of the most famous women of her era. SCUM Manifesto—which predicted ATMs, test-tube babies, the internet, and artificial insemination long before they existed—has sold more copies, and has been translated into more languages, than nearly all other feminist texts of its time.

Yet, shockingly little work has interrogated Solanas’s life. This book is the first biography about Solanas, including original interviews with family, friends (and enemies), and numerous living Warhol associates. It reveals surprising details about her life: the children nearly no one knew she had, her drive for control over her own writing and copyright, and her elusive personal and professional relationships. Valerie Solanas reframes how this era changed the world, and depicts an iconic figure whose life is at once heartbreaking and remarkable. 

Breanne Fahs is the director of the Feminist Research on Gender and Sexuality Group at Arizona State University, and the author of Performing Sex and The Moral Panics. To arrange an interview, order review copies, or for more information, contact Elizabeth Koke, FP Publicity, at ekoke@gc.cuny.edu or 212-817-7928. For bulk discount/special sales, contact Cary Webb, FP Sales, at cwebb@gc.cuny.edu or 212-817-7918.

 

LGBTQ Foundations 103

LGBTQ Foundations 103 with Gary Jacobson, LCSW and Amelia Pope, LMSW

Dates: Fridays April 4th, April 11th, April 18th, and April 25th, May 2nd, and May 9th
11am -12:30pm

Location: ICP Library 1841 Broadway New York, NY 10023

This course will explore clinical issues working with LGBTQ relationships, couples, and families. Through readings and discussion, we will explore clinical issues common to LGBTQ couples and the increasing number of LGBTQ people becoming parents. It is not necessary to have taken LGBTQ Foundations 101 or Foundations 102 to benefit from this module.

Readings will include:

  • Patterson and Riskind- To Be a Parent: Issues in Family Formation among Gay and Lesbian Adults
  • Pfeffer- Bodies in Transition: Lesbian Partners of Trans Men and Body Image
  • Sanders-  Men Together: Working with Gay Couples in Contemporary Times
  • Shelby- About Cruising and Being Cruised
  • Shernoff- Condomless Sex: Considarations for Psychotherapy with Individual Gay Men and Male Couple Having Unsafe  Sex
  • Shumsky- Transforming the Ties That Bind: Lesbians, Lovers, and Chosen Family

Module Fees

6-9 hour Training Modules

  • $50 for Graduate Students (with ID)
  • $100 for ICP and PCGS Community
  • $150 for Outside Clinical Community 

To register online visit the Module Registration Page. Please contact PCGS for questions about our upcoming Modules:

For more information visit the PCGS website

Meeting for NYSPA GLBTQ task force on May 18 from 11-1pm

NYSPA President, Dr. Dinelia Rosa, and Dr. Herb Gingold would like to invite all those interested in joining a NYSPA GLBTQ Task Force to meet on May 18 from 11-1pm at:

1060 Park Avenue, Apartment 4A (Entrance on 87th Street) in Manhattan 

The group is open to NYSPA's GLBTQ members and friends, to therapists treating these populations and to anyone who wants to learn more about issues facing LGBTQ people in New York State.

The purpose of this meeting is to:

1. Start the process of organization

2. Increase LGBTQ visibility within NYSPA

3. Contemplate relevant programs

4. Increase NYSPA membership in the LGBTQ therapist community

5. Network and Socialize.

 Please RSVP if you are able to make this meeting.  If you are interested in being a part of this effort, but can't make the meeting, please inform, as well.  (Herb Gingold 718 849 3362 orHGingold2@aol.com). 

Summary of the First Meeting (3/16/2014)

1.  Introductions - 10 participants attended the first meeting

2.  Discussion of the Purpose and Organization of the Group, including our place within NYSPA.

3.  Possible projects and programs:

    a.  Peer Case Consultation for therapists working with LGBTQ clients

    b.  Program on recent medical/ethical findings (regarding Post-Exposure Prophilaxis for HIV).

    c.  Liaising with other LGBTQ organizations around both NYC and NYS.

    d.  Supporting the needs of LGBTQ psychologists

    e.  Increasing NYSPA membership by making a home for LGBTQ psychologists

4.  Educating therapists to better serve LGBTQ clients avoid heterosexist remarks, stereotyping and behavior. 

5. Initiating a safe LGBTQ workplace project.

There were a number of other ideas for projects.  The next steps are to build membership, formalize organization and start programs and projects.

 

The Mother Wit Conference on April 5th, 2014 from 9:30am-5pm

One of the highest expectations for women from all cultural, spiritual and socioeconomic backgrounds is that they will “conceive” and “reproduce” life in the form of children. It is also presumed that every woman will conceive, choose to go through with her pregnancy, will carry the pregnancy to term and subsequently experience the magic and bliss of giving birth and being a mother. This misconception about conception, birth and motherhood has rendered women, who have not had these experiences or made these choices, silent, and, this silence has created a dark chasm where women, their stories and experiences have been hidden and their healing process has been blocked.

The Mother Wit Conference aims to offer people of all ages a safe and engaging environment to give voice to their experiences with infertility, miscarriages, abortions and post-partum depression so that the cycle of silence can be broken and the healing journey can begin.

Date: April 5, 2014

Time: 9:30am-5pm

Location: The National Black Theater of Harlem (2031 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10035)

Get tickets 

Click here for more information

Trans*Literate Conference on March 29th and March 30th

Presented by PCSG (Formerly known as GLAP) division of the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy in partnership with Hunter College and The LGBT Social Science & Public Policy Center, the Trans*Literate symposium will educate, inform, and expand dialogue on the topic of working clinically with the transgender communities and understanding transgender experienced through psychoanalytic theory. Mental health clinicians are invited to submit proposals for workshops, papers, and presentations on the topic of how issues related to trans* experience has informed complicated, and illuminated their work in individual, group, and family clinical practice.

The 2014 Trans*Literate Symposium will focus on clinical work across the transgender spectrum. We will highlight work among/within/across sub-communities of race, ethnicity, class, age, gender & gendered identities, ability, and sexual orientation. We want to specifically increase the visibility of trans communities of color, trans youth & elders, and trans women.  Our previous symposium held February 25, 2012 at Baruch College in Manhattan drew 131 attendees from across the United States including 28 presenters leading 18 different presentations on clinical issues affecting various transgender communities.

Location-

Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College 

2180 3rd Avenue, New York, NY, 10035

Dates-

March 29th 9am-5pm

March 30th 9am-1:30pm

For more information, click here

April Conference on "Complicating Conversations: Girls' and Women's Empowerment in South Asia and South Asian Diaspora"

Saturday, April 12, 2014 (09:00 am - 6:00 pm)

Knox Hall 509, Columbia University

(This event is co-sponsored by South Asia Institute, Teachers College Vice President’s Diversity and Community Initiatives Grant Fund, TC Student Senate and TC Student Development and Activities.)

Empowerment or the will to strengthen the capacities of self or others is, according to Barbara Cruikshank, neither good nor bad, it is political. This conference endeavors to engage with this political enterprise to provide analysis of the current state of women's and girls' empowerment. 

International organizations, state governments, the private sector, academia and popular culture are invested in girls’ and women's empowerment. However, girls’ and women’s empowerment in South Asia is a much celebrated yet inadequately examined issue. This conference will reflect on the nature of empowerment programs and will critically examine the promise of empowerment as the solution to a wide array of social, economic and cultural problems. Critical dialogues will seek to engage with and complicate dominant conceptions of girls’ and women's empowerment in South Asia and its Diaspora and the ways in which they construct the lives of girls and women.

We welcome abstracts that address the following topics:

Ø  Theorizing empowerment: approaches and criticism

Ø  Empowerment and Schooling  

Ø  Empowerment as a strategy of development

Ø  Empowerment and feminism

Ø  Empowerment and affective connections

Abstracts that explore other issues related to the conference theme are also encouraged.

Abstracts of 250 words should be submitted by March 20, 2014. Email:disha@tc.columbia.edu 

Schedule

Register here

For more information click here