CAP Half Day Conference

COVID Blues and Racial Trauma in the Lives of New York City Children: A View from Here

via zoom

Keynote Speakers:
9:30 – 9:50 | Carlos Padron – Introduction/Opening Remarks
9:50 – 10:20 | Virtue Sankoh Clinical Presentation: Black Kids and the Pandemic
10:20 – 11:30 | Kirkland Vaughans/Francesca Schwartz Discussants/ Questions
11:30 – 11:45 | Break
11:45 – 12:15 | Suzan Sayder Clinical Presentation: A perilous path toward the elusive ‘bright horizon’
12:15 – 1:15 | Sujatha Subramanian Discussant/ Questions

Black Kids & the Pandemic

— Virtue Sankoh

Financial uncertainty, loss of social ties to school and extended family, racial stress and trauma, and “cabin fever” are just a few of the destabilizing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic particular to Black families. Our youngest children have been in some ways shielded from the harshest realities of the pandemic, while also left to fend for themselves as they struggle to understand and process what the pandemic means for themselves, their families, their hopes, and their greatest fears. I will present my work with two black children and their respective families since the pandemic struck NYC in March 2020. These cases address race, socio-economic status, and the racial trauma reaction triggered by the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter social movement. Moreover, I will reflect on the subjective experience of being a black woman psychologist preparing to give birth in the midst of this upheaval, searching for steady psychological grounding both for myself and my young clients.

A perilous path toward the elusive ‘bright horizon’

— Suzan Sayder

There is hope that comes with having a baby — the chance for a fresh start. Becoming a mom often seems to propel a woman to try to repair the ruptures of her early experience by motivating her to try to make a better life for herself and her child. However, for mothers who come from backgrounds with poverty and relational trauma, the path is filled with perils that may keep this dream cruelly beyond reach. I will present my on-going long-term work with a mother and her two young children, aged 1 and 4. This dyadic and family work is an Anni Bergman Home-Visiting Project case. There is evidence of hope and resilience in this young woman’s determination. However, the history and repetition of abuse, foster care and racial and class discrimination interfere with efforts to move forward.

 CEUS Credits offered – To register visit here