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 Norfolk Public Library Presents
“The Ocean Within You A Woman’s Journey - Motherhood & beyond"
There is a quiet pain of sorts going on in the lives of women. Unlike the economic crisis, this chronic condition never makes the news. It is this very invisibility of the condition that leads to its repetition generation after generation.
What does it mean to never have your life’s work acknowledged or respected? Or to have the costs of this work (exhaustion, emotional fragmentation, low self-esteem, loneliness, despair) remain silent, minimized or devalued? Dr. Malik & Associates will be holding a workshop for mothers, part of a series dedicated to supporting women (regardless of whether you have been a mother) who are living, or more importantly, have lived, lives of caring and service to others. A major part of this series will be focused on how to make changes in the here and now of
your life.
This series is suitable for women/mothers of all ages. Women in the life stage of active mothering will discover that a mother’s stress has been largely ignored in medical as well as psychological literature, when not actively minimized. New research suggests that a woman’s stress response is markedly different from a man’s, and needs very different interventions. When these are not provided, mother’s suffer from stress related disorders such as sleep disturbances, constant fatigue, anxiety, depression, and that age old “woman’s problem,” low self-esteem.
Older women will be accorded the respect that is due to them for their experience, and will also have small focus groups with other women in their life stage.
Women’s autobiographies, letters and journals, as well as fiction and non-fiction, all point to the incontrovertible truth that women of ALL ages live lives circumscribed by the gender role of a woman.
How do we acquire these roles/rules, and how can we understand our life as we live it today within that context? Such understanding is necessary for every woman, regardless of her age, as a first step to dismantling internalized codes of conduct.
These internalizations function in relationships with husbands and significant others, with our children, and with the way we make meaning of our life after the children have left.
If you are interested in beginning a process that is aimed at understanding, unfolding and then making vibrant your core “voice,” you may want to consider attending this workshop. Dr. Malik is offering this workshop as a public service free of charge, to honor all the women who have contributed to their own journeys.
When: Saturday March 21st : 10-5
Where: Norfolk Public Library
Cost: Free, with a small materials charge.
How: Call the library at 508-528-3380 x.2 to register
Attendees should wear comfortable clothing, and bring their lunch and a yoga mat or blanket. Snacks and drinks will be provided.
About Dr. Malik
Dr. Kumkum Malik is a licensed psychologist. She is the founder of Dr. Malik & Associates, and maintains offices in Wellesley & Norfolk. Dr. Malik is also the founder of Amma (pronounced Uhmma), A Mother’s Journey, an enterprise dedicated to helping mother’s access their strengths.
Dr. Malik brings over 25 years of experience to her work, along with a calm, deeply nuanced appreciation for the journey of life. She has specialized in working on Motherhood as a life journey, and wrote her Doctoral Dissertation on women’s autobiographies, or “women telling their life story in their own words.”
Dr. Malik is also a specialist in Mind-Body Medicine (how the mind and body interact in human behavior, emotions, and illnesses), as Fellow, Harvard Medical School, at Cambridge Hospital. Dr. Malik uses holistic approaches such as relaxation based therapies, deep breathing techniques, imagery based interventions, self-hypnosis strategies, as well as meditation based techniques. In addition to her doctoral degree, Dr. Malik has two Master’s Degrees (Delhi University and the Harvard Graduate School of Education).
Dr. Malik believes that her most valued credential is the humility she experiences when sitting with women as they make meaning of their complex lives. Currently she is immersed in helping mothers develop the tools to progress in their life choices, and connect with their own strengths. Her approach integrates careful attention to a woman’s concrete life realities, with the impact of these upon her mind as well as her body.
The NPL is pleased to be able to offer this series free of charge to all participants. Dr. Malik is generously donating her services to the women of Norfolk — her usual fee for this workshop is $500 per person.
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