Why Does Race Have To Be So Hard?
Working with Race Psychoanalytically
A Saturday Morning Seminar
presented by
Mary Ellen Griffin, PhD, and
Leticia Flores, PhD,
with a case presentation by
Connor Smith
Saturday, February 11, 2017
9:00am–12:15pm
University of Tennessee Medical Center
Morrison Education and Conference Center
1924 Alcoa Highway
Knoxville, TN 37920
This program meets the requirements for psychologists licensed in the state of Tennessee for continuing education that pertains to cultural diversity.
Description of Program:
Racial tensions have mounted in the United States in the past decade, contributing to growing political unrest and cultural division. Political opposition was strong and sustained against President Barack Obama, the nation’s first African-American president, during his two terms in office. Numerous shooting deaths and related violence against unarmed black men and women, often perpetrated by white police, led to the founding of the Black Lives Matter political movement. Previously latent national racism and fear of “the other” was made manifest, exploited, and capitalized on by the Trump campaign, which can be seen as part of the reason for his win in the 2016 election. Our increasingly multicultural society faces heightened awareness of racial disparities as well as heightened racial anxieties and political polarization.
How can psychoanalytic thinking help mental health practitioners respond more skillfully, compassionately, and productively to racist feelings, attitudes, and behaviors in ourselves and others, in personal, professional, and civic domains? Participants will further develop their racial understanding and responsiveness by:
1) Studying how psychoanalytic theory understands racial conflict within individuals and the society;
2) Practicing psychoanalytically-informed self-exploration, to gain greater personal insight about racial privilege, feelings, and attitudes, and thereby enhance our capacity to talk about these issues with others;
3) Applying these theoretical and personal insights to a clinical case, with group discussion.
Teaching methods will include a lecture with PowerPoint presentation, video, personal vignettes, a clinical case presentation, and group discussion.
Schedule:
8:30am Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:00am How Psychoanalytic Theory Offers Added Insight about Racial Conflict Beyond the Perspective of Multicultural Psychology
10:00am Our Task: Developing (White) Self-Understanding without Shame and Guilt to Enhance Responsiveness
10:30am Break
10:45am Our Task, Continued: Presenter Reflections and Group Discussion
11:15am Case Presentation by Connor Smith, with Group Discussion
12:15pm Complete Evaluations & Adjourn.
Educational Objectives:
After attending this intermediate-level program in full, participants will be able to:
1. Articulate three psychoanalytic principles that help explain the intensity of racial conflict within individuals and the society, and explain how these principles add depth to a multicultural perspective in psychotherapy.
2. Identify one’s personal, felt experience of social disadvantage and privilege, and describe one’s insight about racial privilege as it affects oneself and others.
3. Practice applying theoretical as well as personal insights to clinical work by discussing a colleague’s psychotherapy case and considering how these insights may apply to one’s own cases.
Presenters:
Mary Ellen Griffin, PhD, is a psychologist in private practice in Sylva and Asheville, North Carolina. She earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Northwestern University in 1997, and completed her Predoctoral Internship and a Fellowship in Developmental Neuropsychology at The Cambridge Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Born white in Memphis, TN, in the 1950’s, Dr. Griffin dates her awareness of racial and gender discrimination to her preschool years. As a Master’s student at Episcopal Divinity School in the mid-80’s, she taught a for-credit graduate seminar entitled “White Anti-Racism Training.” She has published 2 book reviews on multicultural psychotherapy in Division 39’s “Psychologist Psychoanalyst,” and is a board member and past presenter of the Appalachian Psychoanalytic Society.
Leticia Y. Flores, PhD, is a licensed psychologist, Associate Professor in the UT Psychology Department and Director of the UT Psychological Clinic. She earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from UT Southwestern Medical Center in 1996, and completed her Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Washington Medical Center in 1998. Dr. Flores has taught graduate multicultural psychology courses at 2 universities in the South, which have focused on the experiences of racial and ethnic minority individuals. Dr. Flores is a board member of the Appalachian Psychoanalytic Society.
Connor Smith is a 2nd year graduate student in the clinical psychology doctoral program at the University of Tennessee. He earned a Bachelor's of Science degree in secondary education with a mathematics focus. He later returned to Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan to study psychology. He was born and raised in the neighboring town of Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is currently a student therapist at the UT Psychological Clinic, which serves a diverse patient population in Knoxville and the surrounding East Tennessee region.
Participants:
This program is open to all APS members and other interested mental health professionals who may not be members. It is not limited to individuals practicing in a predominately psychoanalytic mode. The material will be appropriate for clinicians with intermediate levels of experience and knowledge.
Registration Fees and Policies:
Professional and Scholar Members:
$45 through February 6, 2017,
$55 after February 6, 2017.
Non-members:
$60 through February 6, 2017,
$70 thereafter.
Free to Early-Career Professional Members until February 6, 2017,
$10 thereafter.
Graduate Student Members: Free.
Online registration will close on February 9, 2017.
Although walk-ins will be accepted, please register online at www.aps-tn.org in advance to assure adequate food and seating.
If you prefer to pay by check, please print the form: Saturday Morning Seminar Registration, and mail with your payment to:
Elaine Erickson, PhD
APS Treasurer
515 Booth Street
Knoxville, TN 37919.
Refunds honored with written/electronic notice at least 24 hours before date of conference. Contact Elaine Erickson, PhD.
Contact the APS President Heather Hirschfeld, PhD to negotiate fees, if needed.
Facility is accessible to persons who are physically challenged. If participants have special needs, we will attempt to accommodate them. Please address requests, questions, concerns and any complaints to Heather Hirschfeld, PhD.
APS Membership:
Eligible professionals can join APS or renew their membership for the 2016-2017 program year for $70. Scholars can join/renew for $50 and Early-Career Professionals can join/renew for $35. Graduate students may join or renew for $25.
American Psychological Association Approval Statement:
Division 39 is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Division 39 maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
Continuing Education:
This program, when attended in its entirety, is available for 3.0 continuing education credits. With full attendance and completion of a program Evaluation and Learning Assessment, a certificate will be issued. Psychologists will have their participation registered through Division 39.
In order to fulfill licensure requirements, the Rules of the Board of Examiners in Psychology in Tennessee (http://tn.gov/health/article/board-of-examiners-in-psychology) state that psychologists must obtain three continuing education hours that pertain to cultural diversity as specifically noted in the title, description of objectives, or curriculum of the presentation, symposium, workshop, seminar, course or activity. Cultural diversity includes aspects of identity stemming from age, disability, gender, race/ethnicity, religious/spiritual orientation, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and other cultural dimensions.
This program meets the requirements for psychologists licensed in the state of Tennessee for continuing education that pertains to cultural diversity.
APS and Division 39 are committed to conducting all activities in conformity with the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles for Psychologists. APS and Division 39 are also committed to accessibility and non-discrimination in continuing education activities. Participants are asked to be aware of the need for privacy and confidentiality throughout the program. If program content becomes stressful, participants are encouraged to process these feelings during discussion periods.
Selected References and Recommended Reading:
McIntosh, P. (2004) "How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion": Peggy McIntosh at TEDxTimberlaneSchools. TEDx Talks, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-BY9UEewHw#t=1102.242532582
Mishne, J. (2002) Multiculturalism and the therapeutic process. New York: Guilford.
Parker, R. N. (April 2016) “U. S. slavery and American whiteness: Dysregulated memories, disavowed violence, and collective trauma.” Presented at Division of Psychoanalysis (39) Spring Meeting, Atlanta.
Tummala-Narra, P. (2016) Psychoanalytic theory and cultural competence in psychotherapy. Washington, D. C.: American Psychological Association.
Suchet, M. (2004) A relational encounter with race. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 14(4), 423-438.
White, K. P. (2002) Surviving hating and being hated: Some personal thoughts about racism from a psychoanalytic perspective. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 38(3), 401-422. http://www.wawhite.org/uploads/Journals/surviving_hating.pdf
Contact:
Please address requests, questions, concerns and any complaints to APS President Heather Hirschfeld, PhD.
There is no commercial support for this program nor are there any relationships between Division 39, APS, presenter, program content, research, grants or other funding sources that could reasonably be construed as conflicts of interest. During the program, the validity/utility of the content and risks/limitations of the approaches discussed will be addressed.