The Value of Community

We talk a lot about community at Womencare- we honor it, celebrate it, and use it to support ourselves and our clients.  We recently posted a blog about the power of groups... in all the thought and discussion, I became aware of a self-truth I’d never before acknowledged. As much as in my head I celebrate the power of groups, it isn’t a natural inclination. I had to truly learn the full value of community, by being embraced within a community I’d never intended to join.

Several years ago, when my son was born, and it became clear that he had special needs, my impulse was to bunker down within myself and my family until I figured it out and figured out how to name it to the world. Fortunately, other members of my family had a different wisdom they tapped, and called in the troops.  I resented the intrusion at the time, but the food and love the troops brought helped immensely.  And later I realized that the people who responded or showed up registered somewhere on my heart as family, regardless of where they had fit earlier.

Sometimes we need community in ways we could never have anticipated- for support, for information, for validation. After fighting my own discomfort, I got in my car one day and headed to a meeting of other families with kids with special needs.  I needed to- I just didn’t have access to the kind of wisdom I truly value above all others and so desperately needed- the wisdom of shared experience. Over time, I found my way to greater comfort and competence as the kind of mother I’d never imagined becoming, through sharing with and the active support of others. For a year, I drove over an hour each way to connect with people in similar circumstances. Just so we’re clear… I get bored driving long distances, but the train didn’t reach my destination, and I had come to realize how much I needed this support.

When presenting, I smile to find myself passionately advocating the importance of community and the power of groups- and I do so from the stance of someone who, rather reluctantly, was pushed into a place of needing it, had to learn it over time... and found more benefit than she’d ever imagined possible.  

-Ellen Lonnquist, MS, LMFT

Tools for Moving from Surviving to Thriving

Sexual violence is an abuse of power and control. It is a violation of the body, mind and soul. It renders a person powerless.

Sometimes, there is a single act of abuse, but often the horror is repeated over and over. Compounding this horror, the perpetrator is rarely the stranger lurking on the street but a person who is supposed to love us, take care of us… or just be able to respect our integrity as human beings.

Sexual abuse crosses all ages, gender, ethnic, religious and socio-economic lines.

We at Womencare are dedicated to understanding and supporting survivors on their journey to heal the wounds of abuse. We also acknowledge the flaws in our larger society, which often times makes survivors of abuse feel voiceless, shattered and somehow at fault.

Womencare has a series of workshops aimed at helping survivors give voice to what has happened to them.

These one-day, small group workshops educate, provide community, and offer a place for survivors to deepen their understanding of the impact of abuse.

I am honored to facilitate two of these workshops, one for women and one for men. Tools for Moving from Surviving to Thriving is designed to provide just that… in a safe environment where survivors of sexual, physical and emotional trauma can come together, be heard and work on the impact of the trauma in a concrete way.

I believe that awareness, understanding and education equal transformation.

-Judith Ierulli, MSW, LCSW, specializes in working with adolescent and adult survivors of sexual, physical and emotional trauma. Click here to read her bio on WomencareCounseling.com.

Please click here to read more about workshops at Womencare

Free Event: When Families are Special: Working with Families with Special Needs

As part of our foray into the blog world, we would like to increase your awareness of events that staff members from Womencare Counseling Center are involved in or speaking at. Please take a look at this event, When Families are Special: Working with Families with Special Needs, which is happening at the end of this week. We'd love for you to see Ellen speak!

When a family has a child or children with special needs, they face unique challenges both out in the world and in their relationships. The reverberations of these challenges can wreak havoc within the family system, or open it up to new possibilities. This workshop will explore the multi-systemic impact of having a child with special needs. Participants will be offered suggestions and tools in assisting families to make their own healthy meaning.

This event is presented by Ellen Lonnquist, a staff member at Womencare Counseling. Ellen is a marital and family therapist who graduated from the Family Institute at NU in 1999. From then until 2004, she worked in community mental health in Washington State and Chicago. At Womencare, she counsels individuals, couples, and families. Her specialization is in understanding and helping families with special needs.

Event Details

When Families are Special: Working with Families with Special Needs

Date and Time: Friday, February 14th, 9:00am-12:00pm

Location:  St. Vincent De Paul Center, 2145 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL, 60614

Presented by: Ellen Lonnquist

Cost: Free, with food provided

Register: To register, please visit StarNet and fill out the form on their website.

Celebrating 15 Years of the Natalie Haimowitz Postgraduate Fellowship Program

Are you a clinician with one to five years of experience?  Are you interested in deepening your clinical skills and learning more about trauma treatment and the feminist relational perspective?  Are you ready to grow and join a community of supportive therapists?

I was part of this engaging professional training program from 2010 to 2013.  I interviewed some of the therapists in the program with me to hear more about their experiences.  Here is what they shared:

“I learned so much during the program.   Besides learning a lot about working with survivors and feeling like I deepened my skills as a therapist with this population, I also learned how to be in community with other therapists and what a benefit that is for my work.  In fact, I am no longer able to go it alone.  I can't imagine doing this work without support and consultation.  Womencare embraced me as a community and the support has been a lifesaver to me professionally,” shared Tovah Means.  Tovah Means is the founder of Watch Hill Therapy.

Anna Horvath, who trained as an art therapist, currently works at a hospital's psychiatric emergency room assessing patients who are either hospitalized or referred for outpatient psychiatric care and/or psychotherapy.  Anna shared, “I loved my relationships and contact with my mentors Judith and Ellen.  I learned a lot from their exemplary, empathic attitude toward clients.  As their student, I could experience their compassionate concern and thoughtful contribution to my learning process.  I could sense their wish to understand the nature of my concerns and to assist in resolving difficulties."

Check out what some of my other fellow postgrads are up to now:

Kathleen Brennan

Rachel Wright

*This blog post was written by Alissa Catiis, Staff Therapist and Yoga Teacher at Womencare Counseling Center.

A Mentor

As therapists, it is crucial to understand and apply theory in our work. A degree and a license give a therapist the right to practice. But therapy is also an art, which requires us to be an instrument, finely tuned and resonate. An artist cannot emerge by simply being given a canvas. It is not something one can accomplish alone or in isolation. Consultation and mentorship is key to the development of a skilled clinician.

A mentor will not give you a detailed map or prescribe each intervention- they will invite you on a journey, the journey of becoming a therapist. A mentor will teach- not with lectures but with who they are and with their response to your questions and the dilemmas you encounter in your work. They will honor your strengths and vulnerabilities. Your mentor helps you turn your strength and vulnerabilities into the instruments necessary to do this remarkable work.

• A mentor will ask you to show the same compassion for yourself that you show to your clients.
• A mentor will greet mistakes with curiosity and compassion.
• A mentor will invite you to welcome and embrace your demons.
• A mentor will want you to know what moves and what frightens you.
• A mentor compassionately confront when you inadvertently objectify, distance or pathologize a client.
• A mentor understands that to be impassive in the face of your clients’ nightmares, abuse and betrayals will intensify their shame and despair.
• A mentor will create a safe space to discover the meanings that emerge in your work with your clients.
• A mentor will applaud your authenticity.
• A mentor will help protect you and your client from the difficulties that lax boundaries can cause for you and your clients.
• A mentor will teach you to be an exquisite listener, hearing both the rhythms and melodies in the therapeutic relationship.
• A mentor will know that humility is essential to do this challenging work.
• A mentor will show respect for you as a person and a clinician.

*Click here to learn more about our Post Graduate Fellowship Program. Information night is Thursday, January 23, 2014; 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.*

-Laurie Kahn, MA, MFA, LCPC

Teen Therapy Groups

Despite greater public awareness of gender inequality, studies on teen girls have repeatedly shown that girls lose self-esteem and self-confidence between the ages of thirteen and eighteen.  Girls lose themselves as they try to become what the dominant culture defines.  Girls are neurologically and physiologically built to “tend and befriend,” to grow and thrive by harnessing the emotional and social benefits of close relationships.

Research has been repeatedly shown that girls’ developmental strivings for autonomy are coupled with a strong desire to maintain important relationships, and further the emotional intimacy within these relationships.

At Womencare, our teen therapy groups are designed not only to meet the ordinary challenges young women face, but also the traumatic challenges they must work to overcome.  Within these groups, the growth of each girl’s autonomous self, which strives for competency and individuality, can be encouraged and celebrated.  Within our groups, the growth of each girl’s relational self, which desires connection and collaboration with others, can be developed and nurtured.  When provided with a safe place to give voice to goals, dreams, feelings and desires that may be in sync with or run  counter to the dominant culture, girls are afforded the opportunity to find and honor their true selves. 

   

We invite you to visit our website, www.womencarecounseling.com, to check out our two teen therapy groups, A.R.T. Adolescent Girls Reclaiming Themselves and Stronger Together, which are specifically created to meet the needs of young women as they grow through their adolescent years.

-Beth Holzhauer, LCSW and Nicole Howell, MSW, LCSW

Launching the Womencare Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Program

The memories of traumatic events are often stored in our bodies and may lay dormant.  Talk therapy with a trauma therapist can help move wordless, unspeakable events into words.  Yet sometimes, these memories are still held in our bodies.  There is a growing body of evidence to support that yoga is helpful in managing anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress. 

As an adjunct treatment for trauma, Womencare will be launching a trauma-sensitive yoga program.  Beginning in January 2014, Womencare will offer a trauma-sensitive yoga (TSY) group on Monday nights from 7:30 to 8:30 pm.  No previous yoga experience is necessary to join this group.  You do need to have an individual talk therapist in order to participate.

Trauma-sensitive yoga is different from traditional yoga.  TSY is yoga that focuses on creating safety so that students can practice:  interoception, choice, and action.  Interoception is sensitivity to stimuli originating inside of the body; it is a specific type of mindfulness that focuses on body-based internal experiences.  Traditional yoga classes are often directive and command-based whereas TSY classes incorporate invitational language.  Also, traditional yoga classes often involve the yoga teacher adjusting students by physically placing his/her hands on your body.  In TSY, there are no physical adjustments or assists.  Students can safely practice yoga without worrying whether the yoga teacher will touch them.

Interested folks may also participate in individual trauma-sensitive yoga sessions, if they prefer.  If you are interested in the trauma-sensitive yoga group or in individual sessions, please contact yoga teacher and staff therapist, Alissa Catiis at 847-475-7003 x37.

For more information about yoga and trauma, click here.

If you are interested in trying a chair-based trauma-sensitive yoga class, click here.