Diversity Initiative
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
As psychotherapists and psychoanalysts, we deeply value diversity and recognize its significance in our work and community. This core value, shared across the WCSPP community, prompted the establishment of WCSPP’s Diversity Committee in 2014. Since its inception, the committee has been steadfast in its efforts to foster a meaningful dialogue and cultivate greater awareness and understanding of diversity-related issues within WCSPP and in the broader community.
Mission of the Diversity Committee
The Diversity Committee is dedicated to understanding and influencing the impact of diversity on the mission of WCSPP and psychoanalysis as a whole. This includes addressing issues related to race, gender, sexual orientation, social class, and economic disparities. The committee works to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the recruitment, education, and training of candidates at WCSPP. Additionally, the Committee aims to foster awareness and curiosity about the personal and professional implications of diversity within the WCSPP community.
To achieve its goals, the committee has expanded opportunities for thoughtful consideration of these topics across various aspects of our work and community life. This includes integrating discussions into curriculum development, enhancing the training and supervision experience, enriching our clinical work, and nurturing personal growth. Through initiatives such as committee process groups, book groups, film nights, Scientific Meetings, Town Halls, retreats, and trainings, a more robust dialogue has emerged, creating a space for exploration, learning, and growth.
Join Us
We welcome new members. If you are interested in joining, or in learning more about our committee, please reach out to one of us. We would love to hear from you.
Diversity Initiative Chairs
Irene Studwell, LCSW
Julie Willstatter, LCSW
Some highlights of our community’s efforts include:
- Book Club
- Retreats
- Film Nights
- Online Study Groups
- Scientific Meetings
- Town Meetings
- Faculty Diversity Training
Book Club
- How I Shed My Skin, Jim Grimsby
- Between The World and Me, Ta Nehisi Coates
- Citizen: An American Lyric, Claudia Rankine
- Hillbilly Elegy, J D Vance
- A Cup of Water Under My Bed, Daisy Hernandez
- A Human Being Died That Night, Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela
- She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders, Jennifer Finney Boylan
- White Fragility: Why Its So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism, Robin DiAngelo
- There There, Tommy Orange
- Contemporary African American Poets
- Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival and Hope in an American City, Andrea Elliott
- How the Word is Passed, Clint Smith
- Autism in Heels: The Untold Story of a Female Life on the Spectrum, Jennifer Cook O’Toole
Retreats
- He Said, She Said: Understanding the Transgender Community – Jack Pula
- Facing the Other: Implicit Bias, Hate and Transformation – Sue Grand, Anton Hart
- Living with Otherness: The Not-Me in Me and You
Film Nights
- “Psychoanalysis in El Barrio”. Q &A – Carlos Padron LP and Christopher Christian PhD
- “A Better Life”. Q & A – Executive Director of Neighbor’s Link – Carolla Otero Bracco
- “Rabbit Proof Fence”
- “El Norte”
- “Daughters of the Dust”
- “Do the Right Thing”
Online Study Groups
- “Fascist State of Mind” – Article by Christopher Bollas
- “Surviving Hating and Being Hated: Some Personal Thoughts about Racism from a Psychoanalytic Perspective”, by Kathleen Pogue White. Online Discussant – Kathleen Pogue White.
- “Far From the Tree”, Movie by Andrew Solomon. Online discussant – Andrew Solomon.
- Good Trouble; Necessary Trouble: Monthly Conversations About Race.
Scientific Meetings
- “Black Analysts Speak” – Q & A – Craig Polite, Kirkland Vaughn, Alexandra Woods
- “The Work Before Us: Whiteness and the Psychoanalytic Institute” – Alexandra Woods
- “Being Black in the Therapy Room — A Panel Discussion Among Five
Clinicians”—Moderated by Diana Hope Baker, LCSW
Town Meetings
- “Cultural and Racial Diversity” by Jonathan Rust, PhD
- “What’s the Difference: A community discussion of how we address or avoid difference in treatment relationships”
- “The Differences Amongst Us: A Conversation About Diversity”
Faculty Diversity Training
Micro-aggressions. Diane Goodman, PhD