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Our Guests
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Dr. Nafissa Ismail
Dr. Nafissa Ismail is an Associate Professor at the School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa and
the holder of a University Research Chair in Stress and Mental Health. She obtained her PhD from
Concordia University in 2009. She then completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of
Massachusetts and joined the University of Ottawa in 2012. Her research expertise is in Neuroimmunology and Neuroendocrinology. She was awarded Young Researcher of Year by the
University of Ottawa and Early Researcher Award by the province of Ontario. She was also awarded the
prize for activity in the media and in the community 2021 by the Faculty of Social Sciences. She is also a member of the Global Young Academy.
the holder of a University Research Chair in Stress and Mental Health. She obtained her PhD from
Concordia University in 2009. She then completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of
Massachusetts and joined the University of Ottawa in 2012. Her research expertise is in Neuroimmunology and Neuroendocrinology. She was awarded Young Researcher of Year by the
University of Ottawa and Early Researcher Award by the province of Ontario. She was also awarded the
prize for activity in the media and in the community 2021 by the Faculty of Social Sciences. She is also a member of the Global Young Academy.
Angel
Angel is a high school junior, artist, and neophile. She is currently enrolled in an Advanced Placement (AP) Art class, and she is working on a portfolio focused on redefining what it means to be a "woman" and reclaiming her identity as one the world sees as such. Angel likes to work in a variety of mediums, including collage, charcoal, and doll making.
Jose Hernandez
Jose Hernandez stands apart for his vivid saturation of color, his ethereal subject matter and the calming presence of his art.
A visionary with acute perception, Jose ascribes his intuition directly to his near-death experience and there is a tangible power in his artwork. His works express deep sensuality and emotion, uplifting and transmuting this energy to transcendent forms of color and light.
Interpretation is central to Jose’s life and he has a rare gift to express the dramatic emotions and experiences of human existence with an insight that brings new awareness and understanding.
His works are appreciated for their originality and their intrinsic and real value and can be found in corporate and personal collections worldwide.
Jose has co-founded Immersive Arts LLP, a collaborative of art and design professionals working with health care organizations, corporations and individual and corporate donors. Together they create sanctuaries and other contemplative spaces, providing immersive living art to foster a calming, healing and centering environment that cannot normally be directly and immediately experienced from within the confines of interior work and healthcare care settings.
Jose is a member of the Association of Transformational Leaders. He currently lives in the Okanagan, in BC with his wife, Anastasia, and youngest daughter, Gabrielle, travelling regularly to speak on his NDE and on the subject of Art as a Conduit for Healing.
A visionary with acute perception, Jose ascribes his intuition directly to his near-death experience and there is a tangible power in his artwork. His works express deep sensuality and emotion, uplifting and transmuting this energy to transcendent forms of color and light.
Interpretation is central to Jose’s life and he has a rare gift to express the dramatic emotions and experiences of human existence with an insight that brings new awareness and understanding.
His works are appreciated for their originality and their intrinsic and real value and can be found in corporate and personal collections worldwide.
Jose has co-founded Immersive Arts LLP, a collaborative of art and design professionals working with health care organizations, corporations and individual and corporate donors. Together they create sanctuaries and other contemplative spaces, providing immersive living art to foster a calming, healing and centering environment that cannot normally be directly and immediately experienced from within the confines of interior work and healthcare care settings.
Jose is a member of the Association of Transformational Leaders. He currently lives in the Okanagan, in BC with his wife, Anastasia, and youngest daughter, Gabrielle, travelling regularly to speak on his NDE and on the subject of Art as a Conduit for Healing.
Rev. Kelsey Beebe, MFA Dance, MDiv (Pronouns: she/her)
Pastor Kelsey believes firmly in an all-loving God, embodied Christ, and ever-moving Holy Spirit that connects us all. She is a trained dancer, yoga instructor, as well as an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. She serves as a solo pastor at two churches just south of Milwaukee, WI, and is the Executive Minister and President of Dancing Pastor Ministries and host of the Lady Preacher Podcast. She has performed, preached, and led retreats all around the United States and even in Costa Rica.
With a love for movement and ministry, and a passion for embodied prayer practices, Pastor Kelsey has been called the 'Dancing Pastor' since her early teenage years. She earned the title lady preacher while serving two churches in rural Missouri where she became known around the town as “the lady preacher.”
As the Dancing Pastor and Lady Preacher, Pastor Kelsey works with folks from all walks of life, helping them find safe, embodied ways to connect more deeply to themselves, to others, and to God. Her life's work is based on 1 Corinthians 16:14: “Let all that you do be done in love,” and her favorite part of ministry is helping people experience the transforming love of God that moves around, among, and within us all.
Outside of movement and ministry, Pastor Kelsey loves donuts, being by the water, and nothing gets her laughing harder than a good dad-joke. She also believes pints of ice cream are meant to be finished in one sitting. She lives in Kenosha, WI, with her husband Rev. Kevin Beebe and their cat Velcro.
With a love for movement and ministry, and a passion for embodied prayer practices, Pastor Kelsey has been called the 'Dancing Pastor' since her early teenage years. She earned the title lady preacher while serving two churches in rural Missouri where she became known around the town as “the lady preacher.”
As the Dancing Pastor and Lady Preacher, Pastor Kelsey works with folks from all walks of life, helping them find safe, embodied ways to connect more deeply to themselves, to others, and to God. Her life's work is based on 1 Corinthians 16:14: “Let all that you do be done in love,” and her favorite part of ministry is helping people experience the transforming love of God that moves around, among, and within us all.
Outside of movement and ministry, Pastor Kelsey loves donuts, being by the water, and nothing gets her laughing harder than a good dad-joke. She also believes pints of ice cream are meant to be finished in one sitting. She lives in Kenosha, WI, with her husband Rev. Kevin Beebe and their cat Velcro.
Rev. Jonathan Barker
Rev. Jonathan Barker serves as the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Kenosha, Wisconsin and the co-founder of Grace Welcome Center. He is the author of “Jesus Would Demand a Green New Deal: The Story of Why One Christian Pastor Went on a 12 Day Fast for a Green New Deal.” Pastor Barker has been involved in racial justice and climate justice efforts in his community and has received numerous awards for his work.
Evelyn Schaefer, PsyD
Dr. Schaefer is a clinical and sport/performance psychologist living and working in Fond du Lac, WI. She is a clinical supervisor for Outpatient Behavioral Health at Agnesian Healthcare/SSM and Training DIrector for their APA accredited predoctoral internship. Dr. Schaefer is involved in systems level work in the areas of provider wellness and diversity, equity and inclusion. After many years of working primarily in the field of trauma, Dr. Schaefer followed the road not taken and respecialized in sport/performance psychology. She currently works both at St. Agnes Hospital in Fond du Lac and as a consultant to atheletes, performers, coaches and teams throughout the United States. She works with the United States Figure Skating Association providing education in the areas of peak performance and athlete mental health. Dr. Schaefer is a member of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s Mental Health Registry and hopes to one day to reach her lifelong goal of finally making it to the Olympics! A particular delight for Dr. Schaefer is encouraging young psychologists to bring their passions into their work and find their unique path. Mom of 2 active teenagers, her happy place is found onboard a SUP watching the sun set over a lake or making a big pot of soup on a snowy day.
Dr. Nathalie Rieder
Nathalie Rieder, Psy.D., is a postdoctoral psychology fellow at the Milwaukee VA Medical Center, working primarily in outpatient and inpatient geriatric care settings. She received her doctorate in psychology from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (APA-Accredited) and completed her internship at the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center (APA-Accredited). She was awarded IUP’s Graduate Research Grant Award for her dissertation investigating the relationship between family caregivers’ well-being and the quantity and quality of received social support. Throughout her training, Dr. Rieder has come to appreciate the unique role of geropsychologists while working in interdisciplinary teams. Older adults often face a variety of biopsychosocial problems—which makes the job of a geropsychologist ever-evolving! They must hone a diverse set of skills to address concerns faced by many older adults and their families. Dr. Rieder is excited to be a part of the rapidly expanding geropsychology field and hopes that many future psychologists consider this specialization.
Rachel Newcombe
Rachel Newcombe is a psychoanalyst, supervisor and teacher on Orcas Island and Seattle, Washington. As a teacher she practices a radical pedagogy and thrives in a room of the disobedient who refuse indoctrination. She learns with and from students who dare to question and make learning their own. One of her favorite classes to teach is, The Unconscious Goes to School.
In 2018 Rachel received the Distinguished Educator Award from the International Forum for Psychoanalytic Education.
Rachel co-leads a writing collective of fellow therapists/analysts who share an interest in writing from the margins and exploring ways creative non-fiction, poetry and art can be an aspect of professional writing. Rachel’s writing has appeared in Contemporary Psychoanalysis, The Psychoanalytic Review, Fort/Da, The Rumpus, 7X7LA, Anti-Heroin Chic, Ellipsis Zine and elsewhere. She can be found on Twitter @rachelnewcombe8 where she enjoys writing daily micro-fiction with the group #vss365.
Dr. Monica Rico
Dr. Rico (PhD) is a Professor of History at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. She is also affiliated with Lawrence’s Environmental Studies Program (director 2016-2020). Her teaching and research explore American cultural, intellectual, and environmental history in the early American period and the nineteenth century. She has a particular interest in the connections between gender studies and environmental studies, as well as public history and community-based teaching and learning.
She is the author of Nature’s Noblemen: Transatlantic Masculinities and the Nineteenth-Century American West (Yale, 2013) and multiple articles and book reviews, including “Don’t Forget This: Annie Oakley and the ‘New Girl’ in Anglo-American Culture,” in The Popular Frontier: Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Transnational Mass Culture, edited by Frank Christanson (Oklahoma, 2017). My current research focuses on the connections between visual culture and natural history in the eighteenth-century Atlantic World.
Her research has been funded by fellowships from the Smith Library at Mount Vernon, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming. She is an inaugural fellow of the Bright Institute in American History at Knox College.
Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, she was educated at the University of California, Berkeley and moved to the Midwest in 2001. She is active in the Fox Cities as a member of the Northeastern Wisconsin Land Trust, the Outagamie County Democratic Party, and various other local initiatives. In 2014 she was recognized for my community work by being named one of the region’s “Future 15” emerging leaders. In 2018, the Outagamie County Historical Society presented the Lillian Mackesy Award for Local History to me in recognition of my nine years of service on the society’s board, including several terms as president.
She is the author of Nature’s Noblemen: Transatlantic Masculinities and the Nineteenth-Century American West (Yale, 2013) and multiple articles and book reviews, including “Don’t Forget This: Annie Oakley and the ‘New Girl’ in Anglo-American Culture,” in The Popular Frontier: Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Transnational Mass Culture, edited by Frank Christanson (Oklahoma, 2017). My current research focuses on the connections between visual culture and natural history in the eighteenth-century Atlantic World.
Her research has been funded by fellowships from the Smith Library at Mount Vernon, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming. She is an inaugural fellow of the Bright Institute in American History at Knox College.
Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, she was educated at the University of California, Berkeley and moved to the Midwest in 2001. She is active in the Fox Cities as a member of the Northeastern Wisconsin Land Trust, the Outagamie County Democratic Party, and various other local initiatives. In 2014 she was recognized for my community work by being named one of the region’s “Future 15” emerging leaders. In 2018, the Outagamie County Historical Society presented the Lillian Mackesy Award for Local History to me in recognition of my nine years of service on the society’s board, including several terms as president.
Dr. Elisabeth Paquette
Elisabeth Paquette (she/her) is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Women's and Gender Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She works at the intersection of social and political philosophy, feminist philosophy, and decolonial theory. Her book, titled Universal Emancipation: Race beyond Badiou (University of Minnesota Press, 2020), engages French political theorist Alain Badiou’s discussion of Négritude and the Haitian Revolution to develop a nuanced critique of his theory of emancipation. Currently, she is working on a monograph on the writings of decolonial theorist Sylvia Wynter. Her publications can be found in the following journals: Badiou Studies; Philosophy Today; Radical Philosophy Review; Hypatia; philoSOPHIA; and Philosophy Compass.
Candice Czubernat
Candice Czubernat has been a therapist for 15 years and is the founder of the LGBTQ affirming counseling, coaching and spiritual direction practice, The Christian Closet. She’s also the founder of Progressive Christian Counseling, an online therapeutic resource for Christians who come from a progressively minded faith. She works with people from all over the world undoing limiting beliefs about God and the self in order to find beauty, freedom and wholeness.
Candice is a graduate of The Moody Bible Institute and The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. She identifies as a lesbian and a Christian. She lives in a small mountain town in southern California with her wife, the love of her life, Crystal, and their 6-year-old boy/girl twins Deacon and Dylan. If she's not working you can find her testing science projects with her kids, playing family board games and wrestling with their puppy Charlie Bonz.
Candice is a graduate of The Moody Bible Institute and The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. She identifies as a lesbian and a Christian. She lives in a small mountain town in southern California with her wife, the love of her life, Crystal, and their 6-year-old boy/girl twins Deacon and Dylan. If she's not working you can find her testing science projects with her kids, playing family board games and wrestling with their puppy Charlie Bonz.
Jeremiah Lindemann
Jeremiah Lindemann is a product engineer with Esri working in the geospatial industry based in Colorado. He spends much of his time supporting health and human services and public safety agencies. His career has helped him be an advocate after a personal loss of his brother to opioids, mapping various opioid topics and helping people tell their stories of loss. More recently, similar mapping around loss and vaccinations has been applied to COVID-19 with the assistance of GISCorps, a non-profit volunteer organization.
Dr. Dale Bespalec
Dr. Bespalec has been a licensed psychologist in Wisconsin since 1978. He has served as the President of the Wisconsin Psychological Association and the Dean of the Wisconsin School of Professional Psychology. Dr. Bespalec is currently Professor Emeritus at WSPP and the elected Wisconsin representative to the APA Council of Representatives. He maintains a consulting and clinical practice in Milwaukee.
Kimby Shult Hughes
Kimby Shult Hughes is a highly sensitive empath who has her Master of Science in Marriage and Family therapy and currently specializes in the treatment of children and youth impacted by trauma. She is deeply immersed in her doctorate work in Education where she researches the teachers who teach students impacted by trauma. Additionally, she is an assistant college coach for volleyball and loves being around the athletes who, oxymoronically, cause her to feel young and quite old at the same time. Kimby is also the author of three children’s books (can be found on Amazon); Love Transcends, Love Wins, and Where Peace Lives. After thoroughly enjoying the process of working on Where Peace Lives with her children, Kimby and her two kids have another book in progress, so stay tuned! Despite the many hats she wears, being a mama of two highly sensitive kids is, undoubtedly, the biggest blessing and privilege of Kimby’s life. The child in her is deeply healed by them and she sits in daily awe of their insight, authenticity, kindness, compassion, bravery, and general amazingness. Kimby loves to be active and outdoors (especially with her husband and kids) and feels like life is more sustainable when she approaches it with joy, humor, gratitude, and authenticity.
Dr. Tracy Sidesinger
Tracy Sidesinger, PsyD is a psychoanalytic psychologist, currently practicing virtually from Brooklyn and upstate New York with a focus on gender and sexuality, maternal mental health, spirituality, and the arts. Her writing can be found in Studies in Gender and Sexuality, Public Seminar, and Routledge. She is currently working on a collection of essays bridging psychoanalytic insight, interviews, and memoir to bear on the topic of feminine knowing. She serves on the board of directors for the Museum of Motherhood as artist residency coordinator, and is currently engaged in research on support structures outside of the nuclear family. She is passionately involved in the community psychoanalysis movement which makes psychological care accessible to all as a matter of social justice and equity.
Dr. Almas (Ally) Merchant
Dr. Almas (Ally) Merchant received her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from the Institute for Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University, Garden City, NY. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at the Jewish Board for Family and Children, specializing in treating adolescents with trauma histories. Since then she has served as a program psychologist at SCO Family of Services in their residential program for adolescents within the juvenile justice system, followed by her job as a psychologist at Brightpoint Health, a nonprofit agency providing integrative care to community members in New York City. Besides her clinical work, she is also the externship coordinator at Brightpoint Health, where she supervises students from doctoral programs in psychology.
Dr. Merchant has worked extensively within the field of trauma—ranging from early childhood abuse to domestic violence, and the traumatic impact of structural racism, homophobia, and transphobia—as well as with anxiety and panic disorders, mood disorders, and personality disorders. The scope of her experience includes working with children, adolescents, adults, and families, in both inpatient and outpatient settings. She is trained in Brief Psychodynamic Treatments, Transference Focused Psychotherapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Skills Training in Affective and Interpersonal Regulation-Narrative Story Telling (STAIR-NST) for adult trauma survivors as well as Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Treatment (TF-CBT) for children. Currently, she is a candidate at NYU’s postdoctoral program in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis.
Her treatment approach is collaborative; she ensures that she and her patients agree upon an integrated treatment plan, blending multiple modalities specifically tailored for each individual and family. Dr. Merchant has also held a two-year Research Fellowship at the Pacella Parent-Child Center, New York Psychoanalytic Institute. She has taught both undergraduate and graduate-level college courses and has contributed multiple presentations in the fields of trauma, family dynamics, and the psychotherapy process. She is an active member of the American Psychological Association’s Division of Psychoanalysis, where she serves as a co-chair on the Scholars committee for graduate student and early career professionals.
Dr. Merchant has worked extensively within the field of trauma—ranging from early childhood abuse to domestic violence, and the traumatic impact of structural racism, homophobia, and transphobia—as well as with anxiety and panic disorders, mood disorders, and personality disorders. The scope of her experience includes working with children, adolescents, adults, and families, in both inpatient and outpatient settings. She is trained in Brief Psychodynamic Treatments, Transference Focused Psychotherapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Skills Training in Affective and Interpersonal Regulation-Narrative Story Telling (STAIR-NST) for adult trauma survivors as well as Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Treatment (TF-CBT) for children. Currently, she is a candidate at NYU’s postdoctoral program in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis.
Her treatment approach is collaborative; she ensures that she and her patients agree upon an integrated treatment plan, blending multiple modalities specifically tailored for each individual and family. Dr. Merchant has also held a two-year Research Fellowship at the Pacella Parent-Child Center, New York Psychoanalytic Institute. She has taught both undergraduate and graduate-level college courses and has contributed multiple presentations in the fields of trauma, family dynamics, and the psychotherapy process. She is an active member of the American Psychological Association’s Division of Psychoanalysis, where she serves as a co-chair on the Scholars committee for graduate student and early career professionals.
S. Alfonso Williams
Interlocutor
Venus Washington
Venus Washington is a Health and fitness entrepreneur the founder and CEO of Venus inspires and developer and head coach of Madison Elite Track Club inc. Venus inspires is a health and wellness company that encourages individuals to start their health and wellness journey from within. She does this by helping them to figure out what’s stopping them from getting what they want and how to keep it. Venus teaches mindful and healthy behavior changes to individuals with substance and mental health issues as a contract agency with Wisconsin Dane County Comprehensive Community Services. Madison Elite Track Club inc. the purpose is to bring communities together through track and field.
Venus teaches free fitness classes for seniors sponsored by the African Americans Fighting Alzheimer’s Disease in Mid-Life Research. Venus also is currently a new University of Wisconsin-Madison employee and a part of the Wisconsin Partnership Program (WPP) COVID-19 grant as the African American social influencer. Her job is to connect with the African American community and provide accurate COVID-19 updates and helpful resources. UW scientists will provide medical information about the virus, and Venus will provide health and wellness tips to support the African American community through the pandemic. “Venus’s philosophy about health and wellness is, “The more we practice awareness of ourselves in the present moment, the more connected to ourselves we are, which allows us to connect with other.”
Venus teaches free fitness classes for seniors sponsored by the African Americans Fighting Alzheimer’s Disease in Mid-Life Research. Venus also is currently a new University of Wisconsin-Madison employee and a part of the Wisconsin Partnership Program (WPP) COVID-19 grant as the African American social influencer. Her job is to connect with the African American community and provide accurate COVID-19 updates and helpful resources. UW scientists will provide medical information about the virus, and Venus will provide health and wellness tips to support the African American community through the pandemic. “Venus’s philosophy about health and wellness is, “The more we practice awareness of ourselves in the present moment, the more connected to ourselves we are, which allows us to connect with other.”
Alex Chiodo, LPC (she/her)
Alex Chiodo, LPC (she/her) earned an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Adler University. She specializes in working with LGBTQIA+ college students and young adults. She also treats issues related to depression, trauma, anxiety, self-harm, identity, behavioral and relationship issues in young adults. She has a special interest in issues specific to the LGBTQIA+ experience, such as identity, gender, sexuality, or relationship issues. I also provide therapy for individuals post psychiatric hospitalizations regarding their experience and their mental health stressors that led them to the initial hospitalization.
Dr. Lara Sheehi (she/her/hers)
Dr. Sheehi (she/her/hers) is an Assistant Professor in Clinical Psychology at George Washington University. She works on decolonial struggles as well as power, race, class and gender constructs and dynamics within Psychoanalysis. She practices from a trans-inclusive feminist and liberation theory model.
Dr. Sheehi is the Secretary of the Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Society (SPPP) and is the chair of the Teachers Academy of the American Psychoanalytic Association. She is an executive committee member of The American Psychological Association (APA), Division 39 (Psychoanalysis) Section IX (Psychoanalysis for Social Responsibility), is the co-chair of the Multicultural Concerns Committee, and is a mentor in the Minority Scholars Program. She is on the editorial board for the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association (JAPA) and Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society (PCS). She is on the advisory board to the USA-Palestine Mental Health Network and Psychoanalysis for Pride, as well as a member of the Taskforce for Indigenous Psychology.
Dr. Sheehi is the Secretary of the Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Society (SPPP) and is the chair of the Teachers Academy of the American Psychoanalytic Association. She is an executive committee member of The American Psychological Association (APA), Division 39 (Psychoanalysis) Section IX (Psychoanalysis for Social Responsibility), is the co-chair of the Multicultural Concerns Committee, and is a mentor in the Minority Scholars Program. She is on the editorial board for the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association (JAPA) and Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society (PCS). She is on the advisory board to the USA-Palestine Mental Health Network and Psychoanalysis for Pride, as well as a member of the Taskforce for Indigenous Psychology.
Dr. Jack Drescher
Jack Drescher, MD, is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in private practice in New York City. He is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, Past President of the Group for Advancement of Psychiatry and a Past President of APA’s New York County Psychiatric Society.
Dr. Drescher is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons and Faculty Member, Columbia Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research. He is Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry, New York Medical College and Clinical Supervisor and Adjunct Professor at New York University’s Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. He is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the William Alanson White Institute.
Dr. Drescher served on APA’s DSM-5 Workgroup on Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders. He serves as a member of the World Health Organization’s Working Group on the Classification of Sexual Disorders and Sexual Health addressing sex and gender diagnoses in WHO's forthcoming (2018) revisions of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). He also served on the Honorary Scientific Committee revising the 2nd edition of the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual (PDM-2) scheduled for 2017 release.
Dr. Drescher’s professional honors include the Albert M. Biele Visiting Professor in Psychiatry, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University (2016), Sheppard-Pratt’s Harry Stack Sullivan Award Lecturer (2013), an APA Special Presidential Commendation (2009), an APA Distinguished Psychiatrist Lecturer (2009), APA’s Irma Bland Award for Excellence in Teaching Residents (2006), and the James Paulsen Service Award from the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists (2004).
Dr. Drescher is board certified in psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and certified as a Fellow in Adult Psychoanalysis by the American Board of Psychoanalysis.
Dr. Drescher is Author of Psychoanalytic Therapy and the Gay Man (Routledge) and Emeritus Editor of the Journal of Gay and Lesbian Mental Health. He has edited and co-edited more than a score of books dealing with gender, sexuality and the health and mental health of LGBT communities. He has authored and co-authored numerous professional articles and book chapters as well. His publications have been translated into Italian, Portuguese, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Finnish and German.
Dr. Drescher frequently speaks to both professional and lay audiences. In addition to speaking invitations at Grand Rounds throughout the New York metropolitan area and elsewhere, he has presented at meetings of the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association, the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the World Psychiatric Association. He is a frequent international lecturer and has been invited to speak in Argentina, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Dr. Drescher has served as an expert witness in legal cases dealing with LGBT rights in California, New Jersey and New York.
He is presently a Visiting Scholar of the Liberty Education Forum and serves on the Medical Advisory Board of Faith in America.
Dr. Drescher is an expert media spokesperson on issues related to gender and sexuality. He has appeared on ABC: World News Tonight, Good Morning America, 20/20, and Nightline; CBS: Sunday Morning; PBS: In The Life; CTV: AM Canada; CNN: Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper 360, Paula Zahn; Fox: The O’Reilly Factor, Fox News; MSNBC: The Most; NPR: On Point, Here and Now, To the Point. BBC: Radio 4.
Dr. Drescher’s expert views have also been sought and quoted by The Associated Press, Reuters, Time, Newsweek, People, Esquire, The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Miami Herald, and numerous local media outlets, including the New York Daily News, New York Newsday, and The Village Voice. He is an occasional contributor to The Huffington Post, FoxNews.com and PsychologyToday.com.
Dr. Drescher is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons and Faculty Member, Columbia Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research. He is Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry, New York Medical College and Clinical Supervisor and Adjunct Professor at New York University’s Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. He is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the William Alanson White Institute.
Dr. Drescher served on APA’s DSM-5 Workgroup on Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders. He serves as a member of the World Health Organization’s Working Group on the Classification of Sexual Disorders and Sexual Health addressing sex and gender diagnoses in WHO's forthcoming (2018) revisions of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). He also served on the Honorary Scientific Committee revising the 2nd edition of the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual (PDM-2) scheduled for 2017 release.
Dr. Drescher’s professional honors include the Albert M. Biele Visiting Professor in Psychiatry, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University (2016), Sheppard-Pratt’s Harry Stack Sullivan Award Lecturer (2013), an APA Special Presidential Commendation (2009), an APA Distinguished Psychiatrist Lecturer (2009), APA’s Irma Bland Award for Excellence in Teaching Residents (2006), and the James Paulsen Service Award from the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists (2004).
Dr. Drescher is board certified in psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and certified as a Fellow in Adult Psychoanalysis by the American Board of Psychoanalysis.
Dr. Drescher is Author of Psychoanalytic Therapy and the Gay Man (Routledge) and Emeritus Editor of the Journal of Gay and Lesbian Mental Health. He has edited and co-edited more than a score of books dealing with gender, sexuality and the health and mental health of LGBT communities. He has authored and co-authored numerous professional articles and book chapters as well. His publications have been translated into Italian, Portuguese, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Finnish and German.
Dr. Drescher frequently speaks to both professional and lay audiences. In addition to speaking invitations at Grand Rounds throughout the New York metropolitan area and elsewhere, he has presented at meetings of the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association, the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the World Psychiatric Association. He is a frequent international lecturer and has been invited to speak in Argentina, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Dr. Drescher has served as an expert witness in legal cases dealing with LGBT rights in California, New Jersey and New York.
He is presently a Visiting Scholar of the Liberty Education Forum and serves on the Medical Advisory Board of Faith in America.
Dr. Drescher is an expert media spokesperson on issues related to gender and sexuality. He has appeared on ABC: World News Tonight, Good Morning America, 20/20, and Nightline; CBS: Sunday Morning; PBS: In The Life; CTV: AM Canada; CNN: Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper 360, Paula Zahn; Fox: The O’Reilly Factor, Fox News; MSNBC: The Most; NPR: On Point, Here and Now, To the Point. BBC: Radio 4.
Dr. Drescher’s expert views have also been sought and quoted by The Associated Press, Reuters, Time, Newsweek, People, Esquire, The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Miami Herald, and numerous local media outlets, including the New York Daily News, New York Newsday, and The Village Voice. He is an occasional contributor to The Huffington Post, FoxNews.com and PsychologyToday.com.
Dr. Leon Brenner
Dr. Leon S. Brenner is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Potsdam, a prospective postdoctoral fellow at the University of Ghent and lecturer at the International Psychoanalytic University, Berlin. He is a member of the APPI, LOB, and a founder of Lacanian Affinities Berlin (laLAB) and Unconscious Berlin. His latest book on the subject of the psychoanalysis of autism is called The Autistic Subject: On the Threshold of Language, where he presents a novel account of autistic subjectivity from a Lacanian psychoanalytic perspective.
Lacanian Affinities Berlin website:
https://lacanberlin.com/
Unconscious Berlin:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTcBQ_gTVDCHAETA3D8bcPg
The Autistic Subject: On the Threshold of Language:
https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030507145
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/leonbrennercom/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/leonbrennercom
Lacanian Affinities Berlin website:
https://lacanberlin.com/
Unconscious Berlin:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTcBQ_gTVDCHAETA3D8bcPg
The Autistic Subject: On the Threshold of Language:
https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030507145
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/leonbrennercom/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/leonbrennercom
Neha Wadekar
Neha Wadekar is a multimedia journalist reporting across Africa and the Middle East.
Her written and video work has been published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, CNN, Foreign Policy, TIME, Reuters and Quartz, among others.
Neha has received fellowships from Type Investigations, the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, the Groundtruth Project, the Overseas Press Club, the International Women’s Media Foundation, the United Nations Foundation and the Fuller Project for International Reporting.
Her written and video work has been published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, CNN, Foreign Policy, TIME, Reuters and Quartz, among others.
Neha has received fellowships from Type Investigations, the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, the Groundtruth Project, the Overseas Press Club, the International Women’s Media Foundation, the United Nations Foundation and the Fuller Project for International Reporting.
Wyndi Ervin
Wyndi Ervin earned her undergraduate degree in English and Secondary Education from Chicago State University and a master’s degree in School Counseling from Governors State University. She served 10 years as a High School English Teacher in her hometown of Chicago. She maintained leadership roles such as English Department Chair and Junior Grade Level Lead. As a result of her commitment to student equity, she partnered with community stakeholders in Chicago to create a restorative justice program. She was nominated for Teacher of the Year in 2019. She currently serves as an English Teacher, Intervention Specialist, Digital Portfolio Team Lead, and Mentor Teacher in Wake County.
Jessica Jensen and Paul Dietrich
Paul, a composer, trumpet player and educator based in the Midwest, has been the leader of the Paul Dietrich Quintet since 2012 and the Paul Dietrich Jazz Ensemble since 2016. The Chicago-based Quintet has released two albums: Focus (2017, ears&eyes) and We Always Get There (2014, Blujazz). The Paul Dietrich Jazz Ensemble’s 2019 album Forward features guest artist and world-renowned drummer Clarence Penn (Dave Douglas, Maria Schneider) alongside many of the Midwest’s best jazz musicians, including Greg Ward, Russ Johnson, Dustin Laurenzi, Matt Gold, and Andy Baker. Paul has twice been the recipient of the Greater Madison Jazz Consortium’s Artistic Development Grant. In 2017, he wrote the four-part suite “Forward,” inspired by the sights and sounds of his home state, which became the core of his 2019 album of the same name. In 2020, Paul received a grant to write and perform a project for a nine-piece ensemble including a string quartet which will debut in 2020 or 2021, depending on the public health situation. Paul holds a Bachelor’s degree in trumpet and jazz studies from Lawrence University (2010) and a Master’s degree in Jazz Studies from DePaul University (2012). While at DePaul, Dietrich wrote several pieces that were performed by the DePaul University Jazz Ensemble, including an arrangement of Phil Woods’ “Pairing Off,” which was recorded on the Jazzed Media release Right to Swing (2013) and featured Woods and the composer. Of this recording, All About Jazz called it “the sizzler of the disc, with a pronounced performance by the trumpeter.”
Jessica Jensen began playing trumpet at the age of 10 in her hometown of Hortonville, WI. She went on to earn her Bachelor's degree from the nearby Lawrence University in Appleton and later completed her Master's and Doctorate in Trumpet Performance from UW-Madison. While at Madison, she was a member of UW's faculty-ensemble-in-residence, the Wisconsin Brass Quintet. Currently, Jessica instructs a private studio of area music students and is a member of V3NTO, an award-winning, Chicago-based brass trio in addition to other various regional ensembles. Outside her musical activities, she enjoys spending time with her fellow trumpet-playing husband and their overly-enthusiastic golden retriever.
Jessica Jensen began playing trumpet at the age of 10 in her hometown of Hortonville, WI. She went on to earn her Bachelor's degree from the nearby Lawrence University in Appleton and later completed her Master's and Doctorate in Trumpet Performance from UW-Madison. While at Madison, she was a member of UW's faculty-ensemble-in-residence, the Wisconsin Brass Quintet. Currently, Jessica instructs a private studio of area music students and is a member of V3NTO, an award-winning, Chicago-based brass trio in addition to other various regional ensembles. Outside her musical activities, she enjoys spending time with her fellow trumpet-playing husband and their overly-enthusiastic golden retriever.
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