2015 Association for Women in Psychology Conference

Ferguson and Gaza raise complex political issues that impact personal and communal experiences. These events are iconic reflections of the ways structural violence dehumanizes people with less social and political power. When those in power control the discourse, reality is distorted. Some people use the dominant narrative to justify racist and inhumane treatment. Others experience dissonance as they try to integrate their sense of justice with conflicting loyalties to racial, ethnic or national identity. As feminist teachers and clinicians we are committed to interventions that challenge dominant narratives and encourage alternative dialogue. Circles -a gift from Native Nations widely used throughout the world- are natural tools for this endeavor. The use of Circles is auspicious at a time when feminism has found a place in Academia yet strayed from grassroots forms of consciousness raising. Circles, used in restorative justice practice, reflect feminism¹s grassroots and are powerful in extending feminist ideals to the exploration of challenging societal events. The use of Circles in feminist practice engages us in a healing process addressing dissonance and offering a space to consider possibilities for transformation of oppressive structures promoting exploitation. In this workshop participants will have the opportunity to join a Circle experience that highlights its use as a tool for feminist exploration and possible restoration. The Circle will focus on recent events in Ferguson and Gaza. It will provide a context for reflection and action through the use of four questions: How are you affected? How does your community respond or not to these events? What is your understanding of why these events happened? Considering the systemic forces causing these conditions, how can you contribute to change and/or restoration? Participants will be encouraged to bring Circles into their local communities to continue dialogue and to address the oppressive forces impinging on our lives.

Throughout life, individuals experience a wide array of adverse and meaningful events that play an integral role in shaping one’s identity and sense of self. One of the major characteristics of well-formed life stories is a sense of meaning or integration of one’s experiences and of oneself (McLean & Pratt, 2006). In particular, storytelling is one form of meaning making that individuals integrate to gain a sense of deeper understanding of their own identity development (Scott, 2011). Given the innate power of storytelling, it is the goal of this workshop to create a dialogue and explore how graduate students and professionals integrate past and present experiences to inform their current and future work and how these experiences have shaped their overall identity as social justice advocates. Presenters will guide participants to construct a timeline of these important experiences and moments of impact that have occurred in their life and will be given an opportunity to share their timeline with other program participants. In this workshop, participants will: 1. Explore past and present experiences and the ways in which these events have shaped their overall identity and inform their social justice agenda with marginalized and oppressed communities; 2. Utilize culturally competent techniques and gain a multicultural perspective on related issues that are raised and shared among participants; 3. Use a supportive interpersonal alliance to provide a space that will empower graduate students and professionals through the discussions of multifaceted issues that may arise during the workshop. Furthermore, it is the goal of this workshop to encourage participants to integrate the skills learned in this workshop to empower diverse, oppressed and marginalized communities as storytelling and meaning making have been found to be powerful agency granting tools for those who have been hidden from history or left on its margins (Scott, 2011).

Historically, eating disorders and disordered eating have been framed as a problem that happens to young, white, heterosexual, middle- and upper-class women (Schlundt, 1990). Despite a growing recognition that eating problems affect women across sociocultural locations (Harris & Kuba, 1997; Kuba & Harris, 2012; Lester, 2007; Thompson, 1994), there remains a dearth of research or treatment models which attend to multicultural issues in the treatment of eating disorders and disordered eating. This workshop proposes the incorporation of a post-structural feminist lens into the practice of relational-cultural therapy (RCT), specifically for the treatment of women with disordered eating. RCT is a feminist and social justice oriented therapeutic approach, which pays particular attention to relational connections and disconnections, the central role of social context, and the importance of therapist responsiveness and authenticity. Feminist post-structural theory may enhance the practice of RCT as it supports a more complex and layered understanding of the self and of the individual’s experiences, allowing for greater depth and authenticity in psychodynamic exploration. Special attention is given to the concepts of “the multiple and contradictorily constituted self” and “multiple gazes” (Eckermann, 2009, p. 13). The second portion of the workshop will present a clinical case study of a client with disordered eating, highlighting the importance of attending to sociocultural issues as an integral part of treatment. In the final portion of the workshop, participants will apply the model to the clinical case study and their own case material, in order to explore how the proposed model may enhance therapeutic process. Works Cited Eckermann, L. (2009). Theorising self-starvation: Beyond risk, governmentality and the normalising gaze. In H. Malson & M. Burns (Eds.), Critical Feminist Approaches to Eating Dis/Orders. Routledge. Harris, D. J., & Kuba, S. A. (1997). Ethnocultural identity and eating disorders in women of color. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 28(4), 341–347. Kuba, S. A., & Harris, D. J. (2012). Understanding the Role of Gender and Ethnic Oppression when Treating Mexican American Women for Eating Disorders. Women & Therapy, 35, 19–30. Lester, R. J. (2007). Critical Therapeutics: Cultural Politics and Clinical Reality in Two Eating Disorder Treatment Centers. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 21(4), 369–387. Schlundt, D. (1990). Eating Disorders: Assessment and Treatment. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Thompson, B. W. (1994). A Hunger so Wide and so Deep: American Women Speak Out on Eating Problems. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.