RESENTED BY ICSW CONTINUING EDUCATION COMMITTEE

Virtual Event

Description:

Black men living in America have been designated as an “endangered species” for a variety of reasons, namely the targeting and violence done to young Black men by police. Such experiences leave the parents of young Black boys to worry on a constant basis about the safety of their sons. Few scholars, however, have examined the unconscious effects of such worry on the young Black child’s experience of the holding environment and the subsequent identifications that inform his sense of self in relation to others. Inspired by a recent qualitative research study, this program explores the implicit and explicit psychological effects of cultural trauma. It aims to prepare the clinician: (1) to understand normative psychological experiences of racism for Black boys; (2) to cultivate a positive racial identity for Black boys; and (3) to teach Black boys ways to navigate safety in harmful racist environments.

Learning Objectives:

1.  Describe cultural trauma, endangerment, and racial socialization for Black male children.

2.  Explain how psychodynamic therapy can help Black male children navigate safety in systematically racist environments.

3.  Identify how to create a holding environment where Black male children can develop a positive racial identity.

4.  Summarize the harmful effects of societal systems on the unconscious development of Black boys.

5.  Explain how the intersection of class, gender, familial history, and geographic location affect the Black male child’s experience of race. 

Presenters:

Dr. Huey Hawkins, LCSW is a graduate of ICSW and a licensed clinical social worker who has provided individual and group psychotherapy since 2000.  He has worked therapeutically in post-secondary schools, the Family Court of St. Louis County, Washington University School of Medicine and in private practice (St. Louis and Oklahoma City).  He has advanced training from the St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute and most often treats depression, anxiety, and trauma in adults. Currently, Dr. Hawkins is an academic lecturer at the University of Oklahoma and Core Faculty at ICSW.

Kirkland Vaughans, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst. A Fellow-training and supervising analyst-on the faculty of IPTAR, he is also faculty and Clinical Director of the Derner/ Hempstead Child Clinic and Supervisor in the Child & Adolescent Program of the Derner Postgraduate Program and is on faculty at NYU Postdoctoral Program and the Stephen Mitchell Relational Study Center. He is Founding Editor of the Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy and the co-editor of the two-volume Psychology of Black Boys and Adolescents. He has presented at over 125 conferences and panel discussions on issues pertaining to white racism, generational trauma among African Americans, and the school-to-prison pipeline for boys and girls of Color, and is a subject of the documentary, Your Mum and Dad. He Is a founding member of Black Psychoanalysts Speak and was a member of the Holmes Commission. In addition, he is a recipient of the 2024 Founder Award of SPPP. (Div. 39) APA.

Saturday, March 22, 2025

1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.CST

VIA Zoom

Cost: $75 – General Public – $50 ICSW – Community

(contact Elree C. Smith for the ICSW Community link at esmith@icsw.edu)  

2 CEUs: LSW/LCSW, LPC, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST

This presentation will be recorded

Registration ends on Saturday, March 22