2015 Association for Women in Psychology Conference

This workshop will expose attendees to the process of developing a disability ally program at a post-secondary university and will include topics addressed, collaboration, initial data and lessons learned. We will also discuss the process of purposefully developing an “ally” program and not an “advocacy” program, as well as thoughts about the inclusion of culturally immersive experiences within programming and the stand we have decided to take on disability simulation. Although touted for being a disability-friendly institution, disability was consistently ignored or treated differently in conversations regarding the spectrum of inclusivity and cultural awareness on our campus. When others on campus were engaging in conversations around disability, it was piecemeal, fragmented and generally unsupported. We found this in the literature as even in Sue, et al.,’s descriptions of microaggressions, ability is not on the table (an oversight which they are currently amending). As information that ability microaggressions were increasing towards our students despite our efforts, we felt as though developing a disability ally program and developing an official statement on disability simulation was absolutely imperative in improving our students’ mental health by changing the environment they are a part of. In addition, we engaged in many discussions across the country where if disability programs existed, they were advocacy programs from outside of the community that appeared to fizzle when student interest waned. We developed this program based on current best practices in culturally competent programming, fusing cultural awareness, intersectionality, and social-emotional connection and would like to share the disability ally program we have piloted to assist other feminist practitioners in helping to restore justice in environments that have been harmful to us and our students. We would like to encourage others to include ability in every conversation about diversity, equity, and inclusion in order to help repair this longstanding oversight. Sue, D.W., Capodilupo, C.M., Torino, G.C., Bucceri, J.M., Holder, A.M.B., Nadal, K.L., & Esquilin, M. (2007). Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for Clinical Practice. American Psychologist, 62(4), 271-286. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.62.4.271

Helping professionals may (unknowingly) hold certain stereotyped views towards specific social class groups. These types of beliefs can have a significant impact on one’s work with an individual in a helping relationship. This workshop is designed to help working professionals, such as psychologists, social workers, and other helping professionals become aware of the importance of social class during cross-class encounters. Diversity training frequently focuses on race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation; diversity training typically fails to acknowledge the importance of social class, and the intersection of class, race, and gender. Class is at best acknowledged as impacting the individuals’ access to resources; the culture of class is not acknowledged or examined. Social class can be signaled in interpersonal interactions, through language, dress/appearance, and values (Fiske & Markus, 2012). Differences in social class can impact how one treats an individual during cross-class encounters. This workshop examines the culture of class and how this culture influences one’s understanding of the world and interactions with others. This workshop will consist of interactive activities, discussion, and role plays. Participants will generate stereotypes of 4 class groups, and discuss the origins and consequences of such stereotypes. A short presentation on the myth of meritocracy will be followed by a discussion of how this ideology impacts interactions across class boundaries. A series of role play will be used to demonstrate the role of social class and class-based micro-aggressions that might occur in helping relationships. The workshop is designed to help mental health professionals to have insight into their own beliefs about members of specific class groups, and will be better able to navigate cross-class encounters.

"A crippled politics of access and engagement …. yearning for an “elsewhen” - in which disability is understood ….. as political, as valuable as integral. (Kafer presents) … a hybrid political/relational model …..mak(ing) room for people to acknowledge – even mourn – a change in form or function while also acknowledging that those changes can not be understood apart from the context in which they occur. …. allow(ing) for important questions about healthcare and social justice (Kafer, 2013, pp. 3-6)." In this workshop we will talk about relational, political, existential, & practical issues clients face living with physical disabilities & chronic illnesses. We will explore how the above quote from Kafer challenges those with and without disabilities to engage this issue. Presenter will encourage participants to draw on their wisdom in this discussion. Reference: Kafer, A. (2013). Feminist, queer, crip. Indiana University Press.

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.