In this episode we talk with Khara Croswaite Brindle about her book Understanding Ruptured Mother-Daughter Relationships.

We hear about how therapists can prepare to address ruptured mother daughter relationships in a therapeutic space. Whether it is repairing the estrangement or preparing for it, Khara takes us through the cycle of estrangement and offers tools to manage the different stages. We focus on areas such as identifying the cycle, challenges of each stage and how to attend to these in a skilful and therapeutic way.

Khara bio:

Khara Croswaite Brindle is a licensed mental health therapist in private practice in Denver, Colorado. She holds various roles, including financial therapist, TEDx Speaker, burnout consultant, author, and professor. Her book is Understanding Ruptured Mother-Daughter Relationships: Guiding the Adult Daughter’s Healing Journey through the Estrangement Energy Cycle (Rowman & Littlefield, July 1, 2023).

In this episode we are joined by Ozlem Kose PhD to discuss an article she co-wrote with Fatma Arıcı-Şahin & Ahmet Abakay, A Tale of Three Sisters: A Movie Analysis from Critically Informed Family Therapy Perspective. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 33(4), 315-329 (Kose et al 2019).

Özlem Köse, an associate with Couple and Family Therapy Montreal, holds a Ph.D. in medical family therapy and is a registered clinical counsellor boasting 15 years’ experience in individual, couple and family therapy.

Ozlem invites us to talk with her about the film A Tale of Three Sisters (2019) by acclaimed Turkish film maker Emin Alper. The film follows the stories of three young girls who are taken from rural, central Anatolia to work for affluent families as foster children. We discuss systemic themes such as intergenerational patterns, roles, gender, culture and power and how these ideas are woven into this intimate family drama.


Ozlem bio:

Özlem Köse, an associate with Couple and Family Therapy Montreal, holds a Ph.D. in medical family therapy and is a registered clinical counsellor boasting 15 years’ experience in individual, couple and family therapy. With a strong background in trauma-informed and evidence-based systemic therapy, Özlem counsels individuals and couples on issues such as relationship conflict, separation and divorce, relational traumas (e.g., C-PTSD, emotional neglect and abuse), infidelity, management of chronic illness as a couple, couples’ sexual desire discrepancy and early childhood trauma. Özlem has extensive training and supervision in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), which is one of the only scientifically validated couple therapy approaches.

Besides her clinical work with couples and adults, Özlem has a background in school counselling and enjoys working with teens on a variety of issues. She is also trained as a behavioural health specialist, helping individuals and couples improve their overall health and achieve their behavioural health goals such as weight loss, exercise and illness management. Özlem works in English and Turkish.

Paper reference:

Köse, Ö., Arıcı-Şahin, F., & Abakay, A. (2021). A Tale of Three Sisters: A Movie Analysis from Critically Informed Family Therapy Perspective. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 33(4), 315-329.

Film:

Original title: Kiz Kardesler
Director: Emin Alper

Dr Jamila Holcomb is a marriage and family therapist and supervisior in Florida joins us to discuss racial trauma. Given the current climate and the ongoing wrestle with racism and its impact on communities and individuals this episode offers essential tools for anti racist practice.

Jamila takes us through the important area of racial trauma in clinical settings. We hear her talk about defining racial trauma, barriers to addressing it, clinical best practices for therapists and supervisors and a call to the field!

https://www.holcombcounselingandconsulting.com/