Creating the Future:

1. Creating the Future: Practicing Feminist Multicultural Therapy in Conservative Environments

2. Working Group Facilitators Emma Mansour Elizabeth Gosset William Elder Lynette Averill Sue Morrow University of Utah

3. Working Group Members • Jenny Arm • Jill Barber • Andy Case • Linda Castillo • Monica Cowart • Krista Curl • Telsie Davis • William Elder • Victoria Frehe • Valerie Ignatenko • Roseanne Illes • Maureen Lafferty • Teri Madura • Emma Mansour • Crystale Marsh • Susan Mathews • A.J. Metz • Sue Morrow

4. More Working Group Members • Soumya Palreddy • Diana Schofield • Amanda Smith • Erin Snyder • Sue Trotner • David Whitcomb • In Absentia: • Lynette Averill • Elizabeth Gosset

5. Agenda • Day 1 • Introductions, Contexts, & Working Definitions of Feminist Multicultural Work • Focus Groups: Challenges to Conducting FMC in Conservative Environments • Day 2 • Strategies for Addressing Challenges to Conducting FMC in Conservative Environments • Recommendations/ Action Steps/ Projects

6. Components of FMT • Social advocacy ~ using our positions of privilege & power to advocate for those who are oppressed • Collaborative process • Co-creating • Commitment to the eliminating oppression • Empowering the freedom to choose • Trusting ;yourself, using your voice

7. Components of FMT (Continued) • Pain is a symptom that something needs to change • Context • Truly embracing diversity, beyond tolerance • Validating people’s pain, issues • Open minded exploration • Affirming people as they are • Client as functioning person, trust coping strategies, resilience

8. Components of FMC (Con’t.) • Each individual as multidimensional • Political analysis • Understanding cultural values, beliefs, and behaviors from a political context • Viewing people from a multifaceted context, each person is a multicultural person • Recognizing double binds, how privilege wounds everyone

9. Components of FMC (Con’t.) • Paying attention to power dynamics and differentials, assessing who benefits • Intersectionality • Embracing the complexity and contradictions of feminism and multiculturalism • It’s okay to say, “That was wrong!” • Naming what is wrong/ what we are doing

10. What Are the Challenges? • Being the token liberal in a context • Support networks/ structures may be scarce • With clients, dealing with racism/ sexism/ etc • Collective self-pity • Radicalism is tamed • How much power can you display? • How much empowerment to facilitate with clients/ students? • Naming what you are doing, naming the oppression

11. What Are the Challenges? • Where you can reasonably intervene given oppressive forces (systemic, poverty, etc.) • As students/ new professionals, what happens when we work in a FMC framework but faculty/supervisors do not? • When those in power talk the talk and don’t walk the walk • Clients in struggle related to cultural beliefs vs empowerment • Dealing with anger in an empowering way • Being patient with baby steps

12. What Are the Challenges? • Breaking the barrier of distrust in communities • Conflict between culture of profession and personal culture • Lack of power, formal and informal • Misunderstanding of what feminism and multiculturalism really means • Generational issues ~ young women and feminism • Lack of safe environment • Limited resources and personal power to make change

13. What Are the Challenges? • People believing they’re multicultural or feminist when they’re not ~ “It’s in our mission statement!” • Socialization to view self as source of the problem • Finding the right words in the moment in the face of ignorance • Overt and covert intimidation • Double message: Actions don’t match values • Personal and professional risks to advocating • Negative reactions to identifying publicly as a feminist

14. What Are the Challenges? • Balancing professional lifestyle with personal values • Struggle with being privileged and oppressed at the same time • Sharing power (we’re not stealing it!) • Finding balance between our vision and our reality, pacing of moving forward • Coping with hopelessness, isolation, burnout • Ways to find our voice in any given situation that is not received as criticism, uncollegiality, creating distance

15. Strategies • Mentoring from outside environment, ½ a generation above you • To be hopeless is to dishonor those who have gone before” Cris Williamson • Thinking outside the box; finding creative solutions • Ask, “Do I have the energy for this?” Being intentional, choosing your battles; you don’t have to go to battle every time • You need a variety of mentors ~ patchwork

16. Strategies • As a member of one minority group that is oppressing another group, choosing ways to educate without alienating those you need for support • Networking to maintain support • Educating self and others as ongoing process & responsibility • When advocating, monitor own defenses to stay open • Political advocacy needs to happen on a number of levels

17. Strategies • When there is a lack of diversity, bring resources in that will expose people to other cultures • Helping others to develop empathy • Identifying where the other person is in her/his own stage of identity and what they need for support and change • Being persistent • Know there will be discouragement and apparent lack of progress; use support systems • Initiating dialogues; be proactive, not reactive

18. Strategies • Look at what you have achieved • Advocate on a daily basis • Be patient with the process • When dealing with racist/sexist comments • Ask for clarification • Give yourself transition time • Transitional statements: “I’m having a strong reaction . . . “; “I’m going to take a risk there

19. Strategies • Validate your anger, present it in a productive way • Consult with colleagues before going into tricky situations • Having daily mottos, sayings, etc. to put on your door, book, etc. to have daily in your life to remind you of your support systems • Recognize that even the little things are forms of resistance • Audre Lorde: “I consider every act of care I do for my body as a political act.”

20. Strategies • Support and networking, support in our communities outside the university • Be assertive • Permission to not be perfect, know we will make mistakes • Challenge our own socialization • Knowing and understanding efficacy research re: FMC • Conduct research on FMC

21. Strategies • Develop language to communicate your own FMC perspective in a respectful way • Just sing a song (freedom songs) ~ music as a strategy • Performance art • Establish interdisciplinary relationships • Do things that re-energize you, activist work outside • Self care • Learn how to engage others in the process of understanding FMC, in dialogue

22. Next Steps & Opportunities for Involvement • Blog • Conversation hour at APA re: challenges, support, strategies/ panel discussion ~ presentation from this working group for Toronto • MORE PIE conversation hour!!! • Publishing • Distribution list • Find ways to be inclusive of people who might otherwise not join us in this work

23. Contact Information for Getting Involved • Emma Mansour ~ emmamansour@hotmail.com • Elizabeth Gosset ~ elizabethgosset@msn.com • William Elder ~ william.elder@utah.edu • Lynette Averill ~ averill.psych@utah.edu • Sue Morrow ~ sue.morrow@utah.edu University of Utah ~ Ed Psych 1705 E Campus Center Dr Rm 327 Salt Lake City UT 84112-9255