Hello to all! This is the first time I have blogged, and I’m excited to get started and introduce myself.
In our book, we talk about how our identities shape how we view the world and areas of our lives where we have had privilege and where we have struggled. As psychologists, our identities influence what we care about and we research. This is definitely true for me as I have noticed my interests have shifted throughout the years as my life circumstances have changed.
I am a white, cisgender woman who grew up in New York City. I am Jewish, but non-observant except for celebrating Passover and Chanukah with my family and friends. My parents divorced when I was young, and my father suffered from severe mental illness. I was raised by my mother as an only child – she was a social worker, and we were extremely close. She passed away in 2017 after a multi-year struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.
I met my husband in college (Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT), and have been married for over 20 years. I have two teenage children (my son is 17 and my daughter is 15). I have watched as my children have been shaped by gendered expectations despite our attempts at gender-neutral parenting. Parenting teens definitely involves a lot of emotions, and there are a lot of ups and downs. But I am so proud of both of them, and they have both grown into remarkable human beings!
My research interests have been profoundly shaped by life experiences and my relationships. In college and graduate school, I became fascinated by people’s perception of feminists partly because my mother always refused to call herself a feminist despite holding feminist beliefs. When my children were young, I became fascinated by division of household labor and intensive parenting practices. I have thought a lot about how to balance work and family life and wrote a book with my friend and colleague Holly Schiffrin called Balancing the Big Stuff: Finding Happiness in Work, Family and Life. As I have dealt with stress and anxiety in my life, I have started to research concepts such as mindfulness and psychological flexibility.
I have wanted to teach at a small liberal arts college since I set foot on one. I love teaching and mentoring undergraduates. I am currently department chair and am starting to get comfortable in that role.
This textbook has been a labor of love and part of my life for almost 10 years. (We started working on the book proposal in 2014!) I have treasured the time I have spent with Kate and Mindy writing and revising this book!