cpsylist: thoughts, encouragement, and resources

[Ellen H McWhirter]

Dear CPSY Community,

Below I have collected emails from the Division 17 listserv that provide recommendations (and attachments) that I thought we might find useful.

One thing that really stands out to me today is how our identities and histories, including multiple types of traumas, are contributing to how we respond. Silence, withdrawal, minimizing, and humor might feel like manifestations of privilege or negligence, and may actually be part of tolerating the shock and getting through the day. It might be helpful for us to proactively talk about this with students, clients, etc. Healing and transformation come from action and reflection, and not in a set order or timeframe. Some will not be ready or able to move, act, or speak out and won't be able to tell us why. Let's try hard to make that ok.

Keep breathing,
Ellen

>From Jill Lee Barber:
I'm in Marty.  Thanks for the call to action.   Here at Georgia State University Counseling & Testing Center we just finished meeting with our interns and post-docs in case conference.   Our case conference today was scheduled to be on working with Muslim clients and clearly, we needed to talk.  We sat together with  heart break, anger, and fear, and committed that despair is not an option.    The resources that have been shared are good medicine and I will share them.  I've also attached a favorite piece called "Fixed Stars: A message from our past for our troubled present" by C. Gilbert Wrenn.

I am grateful and humbled by the opportunity to be in community with our staff, trainees and with Div17 colleagues.
I agree with Mother Jones writer Clara Jeffery  "Don't mourn, fight like hell."
JB

>From Anneliese Singh:
On Wed, Nov 9, 2016 at 2:40 PM, Anneliese Singh <annelieseasingh at gmail.com<mailto:annelieseasingh at gmail.com>> wrote:
Thank you Marty for your leadership. I appreciate your sharing as our President.

A couple of things about our division:

  *   There will be a NMCS gathering of More Pie - more info on that when the time/date is set.
  *   The Subcommittee on Social Action is a good place to get connected if you want to join a group that is working actively on SJ within our profession
In my role as Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity at my university, and Inclusion, my office has been open all day for students, staff, and faculty - tears have been shed, people are in shock, and people are angry and afraid. People are walking through the world with a lot of trauma getting reactivated. Using our privilege is so important, and also healing - so in that vein, I offer a couple of articles and a podcast on ancestral healing for when the time is right to listen/read these. There are several good reminders of what we already know - and what indigenous healing practices can help with healing post-trauma:

https://soundcloud.com/user-437512590/spirit-medicine-healing-with-our-ancestors-ep-1 (podcast)
Ascencio, C. (2016, July 8). We can help each other cope: One simple way to be with each other through pain right now. [Weblog post]. http://www.blackgirldangerous.org/2016/07/help-each-other-cope/
Ascencio, C. (2015, September 9). Caring for each other after violence: 4 things we can do to create trauma-informed communities in our schools, organizations and activists groups.  [Weblog post].   Retrieved http://www.blackgirldangerous.org/2015/09/caring-for-each-other-after-violence/
Jernigan, M. M., Green, C. E., Pérez-Gualdrón, L., Liu, M., Henze, K. T., Chen, C., Bazelais, K. N., Satiani, A., Mereish, E. H., Helms, J. E. (2015). #RacialTraumaIsReal. Boston, MA:  Institution for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture.
Knox your IX. (n.d.). Dealing with activist burnout and self care. [Weblog post]. Retrieved http://knowyourix.org/dealing-with/dealing-with-activist-burn-out-and-self-care/
>From Emily Voelkel:
This list today has provided me with much hope.
A colleague and dear friend, Kathy, shared this with me today. If you have not seen it, I hope it brings you the strength and hope it brought me.

https://our100.org/

Still with hope,
Emily
>From APA:

Dear Colleague,

We want to connect with you after yesterday's presidential election as we recognize the variety of reactions people have about the campaign, the subsequent vote, and its implications for the future of our country. Clearly, the results demonstrate how polarized our country has been.

Now is a time to unite -- to work for what each of us believes to be good and true, and to provide hope to our diverse communities that we can, in many cases, find common ground. As our social psychology tells us, we must listen not only to those who agree with us but also to those who do not, and we need to work to understand each other more fully. It is a time for all of us to clarify what we stand for, to stay true to our values, and model civility and hope for the future. We must recommit ourselves to promoting health and well-being for all our people, most especially during this time of stress and concern. Now is a time for compassion and healing, a time to promote our inherent resilience.

Yesterday, while attending an international psychology conference in Haiti, the three of us heard a psychologist from Guyana say that it is dangerous when we cannot see ourselves in each other. That is our challenge now.

With best wishes for all of us,

Susan H. McDaniel, PhD
President

Antonio Puente, PhD
President-Elect

Barry Anton, PhD
Past President






>From Tiffany O'Shaughnessy:
Thanks all for this discussion, I share many of the emotions that you all have been expressing. I keep moving between grief and resolve. I found this article at Huffington Post to be useful:

If You're Overwhelmed By The Election, Here's What You Can Do Now<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/if-youre-overwhelmed-by-the-election-heres-what-you-can-do-now_us_5822c7d0e4b0e80b02cdf133>

It has useful information about self-care and concrete action steps we can take. Nathan, you asked for examples of what we do in our own communities. A step I took today was to clarify how I plan to use my economic privilege to work towards change. I created a spreadsheet<https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1liLiQzGlX-Q1225Xz4BM5LAE_tRKcKnvqow-7fUXJ-A/edit?usp=sharing> of 6 different social justice organizations that I plan to donate to each month on a rotating basis instead of just when I'm asked. Making that first round of donations today was one small step I took to support ongoing work. Prior to the election, I canvassed in a swing state and also helped get out the vote locally for down ballot measures including one to help combat gentrification and displacement that I'm very happy to say passed. I plan to stay connected to these organizations as we work for more local change. Also, later today, I'll be attending a solidarity march and protest with my local Showing up for Racial Justice group -- these groups exist across the country and they are a great way to get involved. Still feels like not enough, but it's something.

Sending love to all,
Tiffany
>From Marty Heesacker (this is the message I sent earlier today)
Dear SCP/D17 Colleagues and Student Colleagues,
If you are like me, you stayed up until 3 am and then tossed and turned the rest of the night. I am now more worried than ever about the well-being Americans who are women, Islamic,  Black, Latinx, first-generation, young, poor, undocumented, LGBTQ. I am more worried about the well-being of our international visitors and of refugees and other victims of dictatorships and terrorist groups around the world. This election won't make the lives of any of these people better.
In this election, privilege won. So, everyone lost.
I plan to wallow in my negative emotions for the rest of the day. Maybe a little longer. And I encourage you also to take care of yourselves right now, in the ways that work best for you.
But, after that-I mean RIGHT after that-I plan to get going. I plan to double down on justice, double down on activism, double down on critical thinking skills, and double down on empowerment. Will you join me? We must be better agents of change. We must do more as therapists, teachers, scholars, consultants, policy experts, and administrators. The American electorate has handed us a very long To Do list. That list must include (a) actions to protect those who are now even more vulnerable today than they were yesterday (b) teaching people to examine their privilege (c) helping people to make decisions based on careful and thoughtful reasoning, and data, not on their emotions and prejudices (d) facilitating higher-level moral reasoning, instead of just voting with your tribe, and finally (e) holding ourselves, each other, our elected officials, and our institutions accountable.
Let's work together to put that To Do list together. Then let's work tirelessly over the next four years and beyond to make a difference. Let me ask you again, will you join me?
Best,
Marty
Martin Heesacker
SCP/D17 President

*******************************************
Ellen Hawley McWhirter, Ph.D.
Ann Swindells Professor in Counseling Psychology
Director of Training, Counseling Psychology Program
5251 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-5251
(541) 346-2443 (office)
(541) 346-6778 (fax)
https://education.uoregon.edu/users/emcwhirter


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