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.

This workshop examines the significance of racism, heterosexism, and sexism in American colleges and universities and its effects on women of color faculty. By examining the stories of women of color who serve as faculty and administrators in academia, presenters and participants will analyze the effects of institutionalized American racism, heterosexism, and sexism. The presenters provide a guide to avoiding the perils and pitfalls of academia, strategies for affirming and enhancing diversity, and methods for using membership in the academy and its privileges for challenging social inequity. Presenters, who are psychologists and women of color, bring their many years of experience and learning to questions of great significance to racism, sexism, and heterosexism in academia. The formal presentation outlines frequently encountered obstacles, critical issues in the struggle and offers psychological analyses and commentary on its various aspects. Presenters will focus on the interaction of racism, sexism, and heterosexism and their effects on the careers and lives of women of color professors, their students, and associates. Bringing the personal experiences of successful, “resilient” professionals to bear on these issues, they analyze and synthesize various perspectives to offer a comprehensive look at the small numbers of women of color who find their way to the front of the university classroom, and their effects on students, the nation and themselves. Keywords: social oppression, academic discrimination, women of color

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.

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.

Over the past two decades, visual methods have grown increasingly popular in narrative, critical, feminist, and participatory research (Prosser, 2011). Mapping and photovoice, in particular, have been lauded by users as accessible and creative tools capable of transcending many of the limitations of conventional text-based methods (Futch & Fine, 2014; Wang & Burris, 1997). At the very least, mapping and photovoice provide enticing alternatives to positivist methods, particularly when working with populations who may experience language and literacy barriers. At their best, they expand the ways we express, represent, and construct our multiple selves; they shift power and agency into the participant’s hands; they provoke critical dialogue between visually documented lived experiences and sociopolitical forces; and they illuminate tensions, contradictions, and struggle as they highlight diversity within, and across, shared experiences (e.g., Futch & Fine, 2014; Katsiaficas et al., 2011; Wang & Burris, 1997). This workshop offers a practical introduction to mapping and photovoice. Drawing from our own experiences using these methods, we will guide workshop participants through a brief overview of the epistemological underpinnings of each method; an explanation of how they are used both to generate research data and enrich qualitative analyses; hands-on exercises with both techniques aimed at exemplifying the strengths and limitations of each method; suggestions for how to analyze visual data; and a discussion of the many applications and implications for broadening our epistemological lenses. It is hoped that by the end of this session, participants will see the world differently.

In this workshop we explore what feminist psychotherapists can learn from The Body Positive’s model for cultural transformation. Elizabeth Scott, psychotherapist and Co-director of The Body Positive will share powerful resources developed through 25 years of listening to middle school, high school and college-aged women as we worked together to resist body hatred, recover from eating disorders, and build Body Positive communities. The Body Positive is a non-profit organization that transforms cultural ideas about body image, weight, and identity through peer leadership in collaboration with secondary schools, community organizations, and colleges. Together we reverse our passive internalization of aggression directed at our bodies, and embrace beliefs and actions that promote confidence and excellent self-care. We begin to transform the violence directed at our bodies by speaking truth to power, and this starts by learning to confront the critical voices inside ourselves. We challenge thin privilege and its intersections with race, gender and class and declare our own beauty and worthiness. With fierce self-love we are equipped to stand up to the critical voices inside and outside of our bodies and transform them into powerful allies. We use creative arts to expand our imaginations related to beauty, beginning with the beauty in one's own ancestral inheritance. Because our path is based on individuals learning to trust their own bodily wisdom, it can be used by people from diverse cultures, body sizes, and gender identities. Results from research on The Body Positive’s leadership model conducted at Stanford University will be released in spring of 2015. In this workshop psychotherapists will learn about The Body Positive’s five powerful competencies that support the development of a peaceful and satisfying relationship to the body.