Disrupting the Script, Rewriting the Narrative: Overextending Less, Living More
This interactive workshop is designed for professionals in highdemand environments who often prioritize others at the expense of their own well-being. Attendees will learn to "break the cycle" of overextending by identifying how their daily actions and internal beliefs contribute to stress, burnout, and self-doubt. Using a combination of guided reflection, practical exercises, and group discussions, participants will: • Examine the hidden ways they deplete themselves emotionally and physically. • Explore the connection between their values, behaviors, and self-worth. • Learn techniques to reframe self-critical thoughts into empowering, actionable beliefs. The session will conclude with an actionable self-care framework attendees can immediately apply to create sustainable, balanced lives, without compromising their professional or personal responsibilities.
Joy is a Form of Resistance Against Despair
Women need to learn to give themselves permission to fully experience joy. Positive emotions like joy are often seen as shallow or trivial. Perhaps we believe that expressing joy—especially in a world filled with pain and loss—is disrespectful, naïve, or privileged. When we think about joy this way, we overlook its capacity to be a powerful counteragent to despair and even a companion during suffering. Rather than focusing solely on mitigating depression and anxiety, we need to be intentional about helping women live open to joy. Joy has grit. There is no imprisoned mind, barren space, or deafening silence that joy cannot break through. Because joy arises from recognizing and feeling connected to meaning, goodness, beauty, truth, and others, it sustains us on the days when life breaks our hearts. Since joy is an illumination—the ability to see beyond to something more—it provides inspiration and motivation in the midst of pain and suffering. It is crucial not only to help women grieve and navigate crises but also to encourage them to recall and reflect on experiences of joy and actively engage in gateways to joy.
The Iatrogenic Dilemma: Understanding and Mitigating Obstetric Violence in Healthcare Through Provider Perspectives at MHG
80% of maternal deaths, primarily caused by cardiovascular conditions, hemorrhage, infection, preeclampsia, are preventable; 17% occur within 24 hours of birth and 40% in the first 6 weeks postpartum (Green et al, 2021). Yet, the phenomena of obstetric cascade iatrogenesis, which is the sequential set of medical interventions that exist along a spectrum of unintentional harm (UH) and Disrespect and Abuse (D&A) in maternity care, has been unexplored in how it contributes to these preventable deaths (Liese et al., 2021). 1 in 5 US women have reported experiencing mistreatment, varying from verbal abuse to coerced procedures during childbirth. D&A has also been associated with decreased uptake of healthcare services, and those who reported disrespect during childbirth were two times as likely to suffer from postpartum depression. How can we better understand the role of disrespect and abuse (D&A) in routine maternity care as a form of cascade iatrogenesis, and how can this understanding inform improvements in intrapartum care practices? Learning Objectives 1. Understand the current landscape of maternal healthcare in the United States, literature gaps in understanding D&A, and why this type of research and work is imperative. 2. Identify dimensions of respectful maternity care (RMC) and what key elements need to be prioritized in routine obstetric care, such as values of communication, respect, autonomy, and dignity, so as to prevent cascade iatrogenesis. 3. Explore methodologies and data from mixed-methods surveys, linear regression, and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) in order to demonstrate how this research can fill a gap in literature. 4. Theorize practical solutions at both the hospital and policy-level that prioritize values of RMC. This will illustrate how the patient-centered care model is crucial to improving maternal outcomes in the United States.
The Relationship Between Amenorrhea and Anorexia across the Life Course
Anorexia nervosa (AN) affects approximately 1% of the population in their lifetime and is associated with numerous medical complications, an often chronic and/or relapsing course, and an elevated risk of mortality. Amenorrhea, or the absence of menstruation is a common symptom in AN, but not currently required for a diagnosis. The relationship between amenorrhea and anorexia varies across the reproductive life course, such as at menarche, during/after pregnancy, and throughout perimenopause, by a host of factors such as changes in menstrual flow and body weight. For instance, during adolescence, individuals with early-onset anorexia nervosa (i.e., anorexia before 14 years of age) often exhibit delayed menarche. Conversely, early-onset menarche is associated with body dissatisfaction, which may lead to AN. Pregnancy can also exacerbate eating disorder course due to factors such as weight gain and retention. Menstrual irregularity and then amenorrhea during the (peri)menopausal period can also impact eating behavior and AN symptom. This lecture will synthesize the current body of scholarship examining the relationship between amenorrhea and anorexia. We will contextualize research by life phases and reproductive health events, including menarche, young adulthood, pregnancy/postpartum, and (peri)menopause. We will highlight opportunities for practitioners to think more holistically about how menstruation and reproductive health events may impact the course of AN. Additionally, we will offer insights for how menstrual taboos may differentially impact patients and how clinical practice can be responsive to menstrual stigmas while better understanding patient pathology in relation to menses.
