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Self-Care

In this Shrinks After Hours session, we chat with Allison Gibbs, LCSW of Therapy Concierge, LLC and Holly Sawyer, PhD, of Life First Therapy, LLC about the importance of taking time for self-care. It was pre-recorded before we were all sheltering-in-place so not all of it may apply to today though much of it can still be helpful. We’ll be doing an update to talk about what self care looks like during a pandemic, but in the meantime, this session might offer some insights. 

We explored our personal definitions of self-care, what keeps people from taking care of themselves, and what happens when they don’t. Listen in when you can – Maybe you’ll get some good ideas for your own self-care. We hope you do. 

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Black Mothering for White Spaces

The session in which we chat with LaChan V Hannon about mothering her two children and helping them learn to navigate white spaces, such as school and the classroom.

LaChan is the School of Education Certification Officer at The College of New Jersey and Executive Director of Greater Expectations Teaching and Advocacy Center.  She is a PhD candidate in teacher education and teacher development at Montclair State University. Her scholarly work focuses on the intersectionality of race, disability and parent involvement.  Her TEDx Talk entitled Young, Gifted & Black with Autism was released in 2016.

PostScript: We held our podcast interview with LaChan before the coronavirus took hold here this Spring. Recently, we asked her for an update regarding some of her thoughts at this time. She told us this: 

“Just as there is nothing predictable about what is happening right now in society, there is nothing predictable about Black mothering during a quarantine. My daughter loves online instruction and my son, with Autism, misses his friends and being at school. We are all creating a NEW normal both for schooling as well as daily life co-habitating. Daily check-ins are absolutely necessary to get a pulse on what we are all all experiencing. Now more than ever, it is important for us to hold fast to our family beliefs which are (1) we are in community with one another and have an obligation to each other, (2) we honor our word and do what we said we would do, and (3) we all make mistakes and can ask for forgiveness” 
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Intergenerational Justice

The session in which we had a spontaneous chat with Joyce E. Russell, RN, the mother of Assata Thomas, Director of the Institute for Community Justice. Assata’s mom accompanied her to our planned podcast session and sat in the waiting room while we talked to Assata about the social activism and justice work she is passionate about (you can hear the convo on our Prison Services and Reentry podcast). Afterward, we thought it would be nice to have Mom in the interview to talk for a few minutes about her daughter. Once we turned on the mic, we found out that Joyce has her own stories of social justice work having spent years as a nurse in a prison. She spoke about how the work changed her, and her ever-growing deep pride in her family which now has yet another generation of social justice warriors coming up.

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Prison Services and Reentry

The session in which we chat with Assata Thomas, Director of the Institute for Community Justice, about the work she does to promote the Institute’s mission of supporting people and communities impacted by mass incarceration. Assata is a strong advocate in the fight for “a world free from mass incarceration where communities have equitable access to health, safety, justice, and the opportunity to design their freedom.”

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Life without Parole

The session in which we met with Emily Abendroth and Layne Mullett, two collaborators in the LifeLines Project. Other collaborators on this long-term media project include 8 people serving sentences of Life without Parole, or in other words, the ‘other’ death penalty: Death by Incarceration.

Emily and Layne make it clear that they are not the most important voices in the project; if you want to hear what the other collaborators have to say, start at lifelines-project.org.

For a general understanding of the impact and immorality of Life without Parole and the LifeLines Project, this podcast session is a great start.  

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Body Politics

The session in which we talk to Melissa Fabello, Ph.D. about beauty, body politics, and eating disorders. Dr. Fabello is a social justice activist and feminist wellness educator.  She also currently works as a freelance digital content strategist. Melissa offers a clear and authentic perspective that we think you’ll appreciate.  

MelissaFabello.com 

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Art with Impact

The session with L’Oréal McCollum in which we learn about Art with Impact (AWI), a nonprofit that uses film and theatre to encourage young people to explore mental health and wellness through art. L’Oreal is a Philadelphia based sexuality and mental health educator, a consultant, and an actress. She is a facilitator for Art with Impact’s ‘Movies for Mental Health’ and ‘Our Bodies, Our Minds’ workshops. 

www.artwithimpact.org

 

 

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New Leash on Life

The session in which we talk to Norberto ‘Rob’ Rosa, Associate Vice President of Operations at New Leash on Life USA. New Leash is a nonprofit prison-dog training program improving the lives of people in prison and saving the lives of dogs. In this program, incarcerated people are paired with rejected dogs for training, and end up improving each other’s lives in countless ways.  New Leash believes that everyone deserves a second chance. 

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Body Image

We love the end of the month – time for the Shrinks to get together After Hours. In this personal session, the Shrinks After Hours discuss Body Image! We are more than our bodies. Join us (Cindy and Julie) and our colleagues Dr. Holly Sawyer of Life First Therapy, LLC and Allison Gibbs, LCSW of Therapy Concierge, LLC as we explore our bodies, and ourselves. And, since we’re all Shrinks, our conversations inevitably turn to how we help others (and ourselves) with body image concerns. Listen in.