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.

The purpose of this workshop is to provide an overview of the use of peacekeeping circles as a unique supervision and training approach for therapists-in-training. The workshop will describe the peacekeeping circle process, its history, and its roots in the Restorative Justice model. Then, we will overview the model adopted by Northwestern University’s Mental Health Human Rights Clinic (MHHRC) as an example of peacekeeping circles in supervision and training. The MHHRC primarily serves clients who are immigrants, political refugees, and asylum seekers and who have survived traumatic histories by providing psychological evaluations and culturally sensitive counseling. Peacekeeping circles are utilized in supervision and training as a mechanism to build trainees’ awareness, skills, and confidence in order to increase comfort and competence in providing services to the clients. In this workshop, we will describe the structure and process used in the weekly healing circles as a mechanism by which trainees are able to explore their clinical work and experiences with clients. We will also overview current adaptations in different settings and the benefits and limitations of using peacekeeping circles as a clinical supervision and training model. Its target audience includes clinical supervisors, clinical trainees, educators, and individuals interested in the application of restorative justice based practices in counseling. The content will be presented via an interactive workshop with didactic and experiential components.

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).

Feminism and the trans* revolution share a common foundation in the struggles against patriarchy, and for the full humanity of all people. A system of power and privilege that values white, young, cisgender, able-bodied men over all others limits people’s access to a rich and full life, and oversimplifies complex experiences and expressions of identity. Trans* activists and feminists share a desire to inhabit a body that is transgressive and challenges systems of beauty, sexuality, and body autonomy. Feminists and trans* activists share an adversarial relationship with the medical community that continues to be centered on the needs of cisgender white men. We also share an extensive history of having ordinary needs dismissed, pathologized and criminalized, from hysteria to limiting reproductive rights to forcing a narrative of gender transition. We share being part of a patriarchy that defines access to housing, healthcare, etc. according to bodies that count. Bodies that do not count are institutionalized and criminalized. In this interactive workshop, we want to build on the strengths of these movements, and to acknowledge that being a trans* activist and being a feminist are not only compatible, but they empower one another. Valuing interdependence, acknowledging systems of oppression, and empowering people relationally only serve to strengthen the realization of feminist vision, challenging patriarchy and helping all oppressed and marginalized people (including women of all gender identities, expressions, races, abilities, and gender nonconforming people) to thrive. We will look at the richness and complexities of intersecting identities, highlighting how systems of oppression make false dichotomies. Over the last several decades in the feminist movement, we have seen incredible and positive change: women working against being pathologized, having consistent access to healthcare, and having access to the workforce. These same changes have been gaining momentum in the trans* rights movement, especially over the past 15 years. Our movements cannot exist without one another. The feminist and trans* movements are strengthened when connections are made between racial, gender and economic justice. Both movements have learned and are learning about building true solidarity with people of color, people living in poverty, people living with disabilities, and people of all sexual and gender identities and expressions. Race and class divides among women continue to run deep. This is true for trans* and cisgender women of color who continue to live at an intense level of poverty and endangerment compared to white wealthy women. Trans* women of color especially experience extreme rates of unemployment and job discrimination, incarceration, and HIV infection. The foundations of the feminist movement compel us to value the lives of trans* women. There are many places where our movements are pitted against one another, and this is not new in the struggle for social justice. We are constantly invited to feed on each other rather than looking toward a common goal. This is how oppression works, in a systematic way. Patriarchy sustains the ways that our people and our movements are pitted against one another. We are working toward a common goal of ending oppression, and we have and continue to encounter misogyny in all social movements. Scarcity and fear, both in feeling and reality, can compel us to see others working toward similar goals as the enemy. By emphasizing the strengths of the feminist and trans* movements, we will come to a place where we remember and recognize that we are not at odds. In fact, we need one another to create a world where people of all genders have access to what they need to build not just healthy, but vibrant, thriving lives.