April
18 , 2003 Psychiatrist
Judith Lewis Herman to Lecture April 29
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Dr.
Judith Lewis Herman
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When
you get right down to it, pain is pain,” says Dr. Judith
Lewis Herman, a pioneer in the study and treatment of post- traumatic
stress disorder and the sexual abuse of women and children. Herman
argues that while their lives and circumstances may be worlds
apart, a battered woman or rape victim can suffer the same psychological
harm as a political prisoner or a victim of terrorist attack—namely
the disempowerment and isolation caused by destruction of systems
of care, protection, and meaning. Herman will present a lecture
titled “Resilience and Recovery in the Aftermath of Trauma”
Tuesday, April 29, at 4 pm in Mary Woolley Hall’s New York
Room. A reception will follow at 5:15 pm. The lecture is sponsored
by the Barbara Reck Hastorf ’43 Lecture Fund in conjunction
with the Department of Psychology and Education and the Office
of the Dean of Faculty.
“Dr. Herman provides an integrated view of violence by pointing
to the elements of trauma that are shared among victims of domestic,
combat, and political violence,” said Sally Wendt, visiting
assistant professor of psychology and education. “Her views
have particular relevance at this point in our country’s
history.”
Herman’s lecture will focus on recovery for victims of violence,
a process of restoring relationships and empowerment, with particular
attention to the role of advocacy and social action. “I
don’t think therapists can do therapeutic work alone,”
said Herman on the need for community action against violence.
“When we’re isolated with this, we do give in to despair.
We do burn out. Or we lose our perspective. Ultimately if you’re
talking about horrible abuses of power, you’re talking about
the atrocious things that one person does to another person. And
just when you think you’ve heard everything, and there’s
simply nothing else that you could imagine that one person would
intentionally do to another, somebody comes along with a story
that just blows you away all over again. So, you’re dealing
with very profound questions of human evil, human cruelty, human
sadism. The abuse of power and authority. And the antidote to
that is the solidarity of resistance. Nobody can do that alone.”
Herman is professor
of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and director of training
at the Victims of Violence Program at The Cambridge Hospital.
She is a well-known lecturer on sexual and domestic violence and
the author of two award-winning books: Father-Daughter Incest
(Harvard University Press, 1981), and Trauma and Recovery
(Basic Books, 1992). Herman is the recipient of the 1996
Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Society for
Traumatic Stress Studies and the 2000 Woman in Science Award from
the American Medical Women’s Association.
For more information, contact the Department of Psychology and
Education at x2338.
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