In search of miracles

The movie The Third Miracle invites theological reflection on miracles, sainthood, and faith. A movie filled with Lutheran themes of unmerited grace and blessings of the ordinary life, the story line follows a Catholic priest tasked with exploring the authenticity of reported miracles associated with a lay woman and a bleeding statue. Faith and miracles are shown in their ordinariness, easily missed without the eye of faith, and sainthood is juxtaposed with the expected and unexpected vis‐à‐vis motherhood.     

Reports and Brief Communications - Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy: The Journal of the Psychoanalytic Institute of the Postgraduate Center for Mental Health,New York

Abstract

This article presents research into the mother–child relationship according to psychoanalytic theory. It is based on data from groups of mothers who have children with special needs in the context of their experiences with inclusive education policies.     

Women and Physical Distinction:

With few exceptions, the special concerns and status of women with physical distinctions (physical disability and facial disfigurement) have been largely ignored in the disability literature. Women with physical distinctions are perceived negatively and are devalued and marginalized in our culture. They face a double discrimination due to their gender and their disability. The situation is even more acute for ethnic minority women with physical distinctions. This paper will review the literature on women with physical distinctions and explore some of the issues for ethnic minority women with physical distinctins. Recommendations are offered for feminist therapists who work with this population.     

Postpartum Depression Among Women With Disabilities: A Multicultural Counseling Perspective

Postpartum depression is an important mental health problem for women, and women with disabilities are at greater risk than are women without disabilities. This article explores the disability‐specific contextual, environmental, social, and systemic causes of postpartum depression from an ecological perspective. I aim to help counselors develop a nonpathologizing, multicultural counseling–rooted approach and to prepare counselors to work effectively with this unique population. Implications of multicultural counseling tenets and advocacy are also examined for best practices. La depresión posparto es un problema de salud mental importante para las mujeres, y el riesgo es mayor para las mujeres con discapacidades que para las mujeres sin discapacidades. Este artículo explora las causas contextuales, sociales, del entorno y sistémicas de la depresión posparto relacionadas con la discapacidad desde una perspectiva ecológica. Mi objetivo es ayudar a los consejeros a desarrollar un enfoque no patológico basado en la consejería multicultural y preparar a los consejeros para trabajar de forma efectiva con esta población singular. También se examinan las implicaciones de los principios de la consejería multicultural y la defensoría para las prácticas recomendadas.     

Investigating the relationship between working memory and emotion regulation in mothers

Recent work suggests that executive functions, specifically working memory, may facilitate emotion regulation (ER). Here we examined whether measures of visuospatial working memory and verbal working memory relate to ER in a group of recent mothers. We found that while visuospatial working memory was associated with, and predictive of, self-reported measures of ER and emotion dysregulation—verbal working memory was correlated to only one dimension of emotion dysregulation. These findings suggest that working memory may play a unique role in everyday regulatory functioning. We frame our results in terms of the broader implications they may have for the potential role of executive functioning in parenting.     

The cause is worse: Remeeting Jocasta1

This paper will help bring Jocasta, a fi gure relatively neglected by psychoanalytic theory, whose lens upon her son has left her to the side, into greater focus. It is not that Jocasta is completely ignored but rather that, when studied, she appears as the dangerous, castrating, forbidden woman to be placated or avoided at all costs. So, although she stands at center stage as the fulcrum of Oedipus's destruction, it is never as a mother longing for her son. The author contends that Jocasta is the personifi cation of an ongoing developmental need on the part of all mothers to separate from their children coupled with a universal longing for reunion. As with Oedipus, Jocasta—a character in a play—is an example of the perverse outcome of forbidden gratifi cations; but also, as with Oedipus, she is the fi gurative presentation of normal variations on a theme.     

Phyllis Chesler – A Life on Behalf of Women

ABSTRACT

Phyllis Chesler’s life and work have made significant contributions on topics as diverse as pornography, prostitution, motherhood, custody, surrogacy, a woman’s right to self-defense, racism, including anti-Semitism, Israel, Islamic gender and religious Apartheid, and feminism. Her first major work, Women and Madness (Chesler, 1972 Chesler, P. (1972). Women and madness. New York: Doubleday. [Google Scholar]), was one of the earliest works of the second wave feminist movement to address issues such as the mistreatment of women, particularly in rape and incest; female role models; and spirituality in mental health services. She remains a much sought after speaker, a global activist, and a source of inspiration for many.     

Potential Positive and Negative Consequences of Coresidence for Teen Mothers and their Children in Adult-Supervised Households

In 1996, part of the creation of TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) required minor teen parents to live in an adult-supervised household in order to receive cash assistance. This literature review discusses the positive and negative consequences of coresidence. Research has suggested that coresidence may be beneficial for the educational and financial success of teen mothers. However, there is some evidence that coresiding teen mothers have poorer parenting skills than teen mothers who do not coreside. Implications for policy implementation are discussed. Case managers should be aware of the possible risks of coresidence and weigh these risks against potential benefits. In addition, families of teen mothers, especially grandmothers, should be included in programming and interventions in order to provide positive living environments for teen mothers and their children.     

‘You've got to grow up when you've got a kid’: Marginalized young women's accounts of motherhood

Teenage motherhood has been a source of considerable debate in policy and media circles in recent years. This paper explores the meanings of teenage motherhood for young women who were mothers before the age of 21, who were living in economically deprived areas of England and most of whom had been in residential or foster care. Qualitative interviews were carried out at several sites across England, with a total of 33 young women taking part in group interviews and one‐to‐one interviews. The accounts of the young women suggest that they talk about motherhood in three main ways: as ‘hardship and reward’, ‘growing up and responsibility’ and ‘doing things differently’. It is argued that these ways of talking about motherhood present a different picture of teenage motherhood from that of dominant discourses. Furthermore, the young women are active in negotiating and constructing their own identities as mothers, carers and women. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.