Usually this time of year I reflect on my conference ventures. In both 2015 and 2014 visual journals documented the events, people, and travels. However, things were a bit different this year. In the previous installments of this blog, I wrote about a prior pregnancy loss and the choice to keep the news of a successful pregnancy to ourselves (for as long as possible). As much as I tried to keep it casual and practical, some choices were removed from the table.
Early in the year, during the second trimester, news arrived that I'd been accepted to present at this years AATA conference -- for no less than 2 sessions. I was ecstatic, until I realized conference was only 4 weeks to the day of my 'expected' delivery date. Our OB flat out said, that I could no longer "plan" my life as I was used to, and not to count on being able to make it to anything within 2 months of the birth. The final decision was mine, and although it pained me withdrawing from conference highlighted the impact of pregnancy on professional practice. But it wasn't the only change.
As described by several authors (Dyson & King, 2008; McGourty, 2013; Schmidt, Fiorini, & Ramires, 2015) and noticed by those who have chosen to work while pregnant, boundaries take a major hit during this time. The bigger the bump, the lower boundaries go on part of the "other". I'm not talking about advice, that comes at you from all angles and theres no way around it. I'm referring to the less nuanced but quite unsettling increase in comments of a sexual nature. I expected and received many comments about my "weight gain", it was after that stage, once things began to look like what they were -- then, doubt went out the window and the comments became bolder.
"Dam, girl the extra weight looks good on you."
"Looking good. I find women sexier when they are pregnant."
"Still looking sexy."
Still, as the bump grew ever more pronounced, physical boundaries decreased to near extinction. Individuals I had not seen in months or years and some whom I did not even know, went immediately for that "touch" first, questions later.
Never so much as an, "excuse my touch" -- while pregnant your identity shifts and for those months (and if nursing possibly longer) you digress into a sexualized being first and foremost. This in spite of any professional gains.
So where I ask (no one in particular) is this conversation in the art therapy profession? For a group where the majority are females of reproductive age, these topics affecting their professional practices are not heard nearly enough.
Next Post: A time for change and resiliency.
Dyson, E. & King, G. (2008). The pregnant therapist. Psychodynamic Practice, 14:1, 27-42, DOI: 10.1080/14753630701768958
As described by several authors (Dyson & King, 2008; McGourty, 2013; Schmidt, Fiorini, & Ramires, 2015) and noticed by those who have chosen to work while pregnant, boundaries take a major hit during this time. The bigger the bump, the lower boundaries go on part of the "other". I'm not talking about advice, that comes at you from all angles and theres no way around it. I'm referring to the less nuanced but quite unsettling increase in comments of a sexual nature. I expected and received many comments about my "weight gain", it was after that stage, once things began to look like what they were -- then, doubt went out the window and the comments became bolder.
"Dam, girl the extra weight looks good on you."
"Looking good. I find women sexier when they are pregnant."
"Still looking sexy."
Still, as the bump grew ever more pronounced, physical boundaries decreased to near extinction. Individuals I had not seen in months or years and some whom I did not even know, went immediately for that "touch" first, questions later.
Never so much as an, "excuse my touch" -- while pregnant your identity shifts and for those months (and if nursing possibly longer) you digress into a sexualized being first and foremost. This in spite of any professional gains.
So where I ask (no one in particular) is this conversation in the art therapy profession? For a group where the majority are females of reproductive age, these topics affecting their professional practices are not heard nearly enough.
Next Post: A time for change and resiliency.
Dyson, E. & King, G. (2008). The pregnant therapist. Psychodynamic Practice, 14:1, 27-42, DOI: 10.1080/14753630701768958
McGourty, A. (2013). The pregnant therapist and the psychotic client: A phenomenological understanding of the impact of the therapist’s pregnancy on the therapeutic process, European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling, 15:1, 18-31, DOI: 10.1080/13642537.2013.763462
Schmidt, F. M. D., Fiorini, G. P., & Ramires, V. R. R. (2015). Psychoanalytic psychotherapy and the pregnant therapist: A literature review. Research in psychotherapy: Psychopathology, process and Outcome, 18:2, 50-61, DOI:10.741/RP.2015.107
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