<![CDATA[Multicultural BRIDGE - Mosaic Stories]]>Thu, 28 May 2026 08:59:42 -0400Weebly<![CDATA[Dr. Jean on the challenges of mental health care in a rural area (part 8)]]>Tue, 06 May 2025 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.multiculturalbridge.org/mosaic-stories/dr-jean-on-the-challenges-of-mental-health-care-in-a-rural-area-part-8Dr. Jean knows from many sides the challenges of offering mental health care in the country, where resources can be strained. 

She also knows the challenges someone may face when they are living with abuse in a rural area — and leaving that situation may bring greater risk, even with the resources available through the Elizabeth Freeman Center and related places, and finding safety and protection may have challenges.
Kate: (Pauses and looks around the group, giving space for anyone who wants to ask more. Everyone is listening, and she goes on.) Sarah and I, we were talking some about resources we have in the Berkshires, and also (01:11:30) are there resources we need in the Berkshires? Because this is a rural area, are there challenges? 

Dr. Jean: When it comes to rural areas, there are always challenges to resources, just because of the limited amount of people and the limited amount of funds. So a lot of people aren't paying the amount of taxes that they do in other places, and it’s the taxes that fund the resources. 

And so, you know, we have one domestic violence and sexual assault agency here in the Berkshires. The county runs from Vermont to Connecticut. Yeah, we try to provide the supports.

But I mean, there has to be — because we know that when it comes to sexual assault, more people need services than are reporting the issue for services. So what that means is, it may look like there's nobody who need those services, so we would need three rape crisis center, about, we know that in rural areas, people are abused more — and they report less. 

So the incidents that we hear about, people just don't talk about. And we know also that most of the people who cause sexual assault or abuse, the harmers, is the proper term, the harmers are not (she indicates they are not being named or caught or stopped). People are not telling. A lot of sexual abuse has gone unreported. (01:13:00)

So that means those people are not supported, because you have to report to be able to get some help. You have to tell somebody what happened to you before they will help you. I mean, we have rape crisis hotlines. 

We have RAIN that people could just reach out to and get help anonymously, but I don't know if they're doing that so much as they should. 

So the resources, yeah, we probably could get more if we could prove that we need that, but we can't prove that we need that, because people are not reporting the incidents. 

Kate: So there's a higher rate of harm in rural areas? 

Dr. Jean: Of sexual abuse. Yeah. Well, you think about that. What do people do with their time? 

Kate: Are there practical challenges in protecting someone? … In a rural place like the Berkshires, even if you can come to a place like the Elizabeth Freeman shelter, (someone may be at risk any time they go out.) 

When you go to Stop and Shop — there may be limited number of places that you can go to do things like get groceries. And so the chance of running into the person you are trying desperately not to — 

Dr. Jean: It's very high. So, well, I think we live in an age now where we can get groceries delivered to us …. but it's expensive, and I want the pleasure of picking up my own groceries. 

So then you become isolated if you report. There's so many reasons, so many challenges, so many barriers to reporting. Because most of the people who commit sexual assault, sexual violence, are family members. They're people you know. They're acquaintances. They're not some guy hiding behind a bush. 

So when you report, if you think of the effects of that, it could cause problems in a family. Sometimes a person who's doing it (causing harm) is a breadwinner. (And if you report the harm) you take the breadwinner out of the house. 

Sometimes it's somebody who everybody knows. So you know what happens when everybody knows that person, that's “a wonderful person in our community” —you know what happens? You're not believed. You're not believed. 

So it’s complex. And like I say, How many places do you go for whatever you need? You will run into people that you know.
 
Kate: Or it may just be how do I know that if I leave I can be safe. How do I know that the person I'm trying to get away to me from won't be able to find me? 

Dr. Jean: Well with that we have a really good complex System throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and Hawaii You can get sent that far But most people don't want to go because you know what happened why you wouldn't want to go that far? You don't have a support system. 

Kate: Yeah. 

Dr. Jean: You'll be away from every you know everyone you knew. When I fled here 30 years ago, I knew (I would be leaving people I knew). And I didn't even know the way. I got lost. I ended up in Deerfield — not even realizing that five years from that my daughter would be entering Deerfield Academy. We got lost coming that way. 

Yeah, so I leave my family, my house, everything — most people can't do that. And for a sexual assault? some people say they'll do that for domestic violence, but for sexual assault, it’s been minimized. It's really — or you get blamed. “What were you wearing? What were you in? Why were you where you are? Why do you entice him? Why did you do that?” 

I'm just standing at the sink washing dishes and your husband comes and touches me, how I was it my fault? Oh, “because you have a nice shape” — how is that your fault? And then you begin to feel guilt and shame for something you didn't do. God made you. 

And so in many families, that comes out, and the person still stays with the abuser, with the harmer, because they have children, they have mortgages. (01:17:00) They have — I think a lot of times the person who has been harmed just keeps quiet because it creates less problems. 

Because most of the people sexually assaulted, the harmers are in the family, or they're in the community, or people you know. And there are so many different forms of sexual violence. Someone could say something to you, or someone could touch you. 

Someone could harass you, someone could force you to watch porn, (01:17:30) somebody could — all the way from saying something to you to physically raping you. It's all sexual assault. 

So until it's something really physical and really bad, some people just put up with it. You know, “you forced me to watch porn, you forced me to perform certain kinds of sexual — until it's an orifice being penetrated, most people just — (She indicates in gestures and tone of taut sadness that people often don’t recognize or name a harmbul behavior, or pattern of behavior, as assault. many people will live with it day to day and think they can’t just leave). (01:18:00) And then they suffer. 

There's a big consequence to sexual assault in our society, because a lot of times people become depressed. They may become traumatized. When you’re traumatized, you really can't function, until you get that kind of help that you need. 

So then you're not working. You’re not enjoying life. All these things are happening to you, as a result of that trauma. So the people experiencing sexual abuse, a lot of times they just stay quiet because it seems to make an easier life, but it's not okay. 

Kate: It may also be — I think it's fairly common for someone who's in that kind of harmful relationship that they often don't have resources because the person causing harm doesn't want them to have resources enough to leave. 

Dr. Jean: That’s the isolation. 

Kate: So they're saying ‘well, if I leave this state I'll lose my benefits,’ or ‘the only thing that's keeping me going right now is my group of friends.’ 

Dr. Jean: My family, my church, my organizations. (nodding) If I leave —? So then that's the reason why a lot of tons and the more rural the area is you'll see the bigger problem that comes because what do you do? Especially if you're not financially stable yourself.

Dr. Jean turns to the BRIDGE community who have joined us, opening space and time for their thoughts.

Rosa: (01:19:20) So, what about the disabled people? 

Dr. Jean: Yes. And twhere are they going to go? And they get abused a lot. There's a lot of higher incidents of them, because sometimes if you're physically disabled or mentally disabled, or maybe not mentally, but they have developmental disabilities. 

A lot of times there's a correlation of people who have — I mean, sometimes people with developmental disabilities are hypersexual, so they may come on to somebody thinking they have consent. They don't have consent because a person's body is ruling them. 
So if you're a decent human being, you leave them alone. But some people will take advantage of them. So there's a high percentage of people with disability, any kind of disability, that's also sexually abused. 

Rosa: And also, people who are not right in their mind? 

Yeah, that happens a lot because like I said, you know, sometimes it's that they want friendship, so they're looking for friendship, and somebody takes advantage of them. 

Now all those marginalized groups that we think of, there's a lot. Because people control people through sex. You can control somebody in that way. “If you don't have sex with me, I'm going to tell everybody what you do in bed. If you don't have sex with me, I'm going to do this. If you don't have sex with me, I'm going to do that.” 

That becomes controlling, and the person may just let them do it to get it over with. So it seemed like it's consent, but it's not consent, it's direct. (01:21:15)

She checks with everyone on time and their comfort.

Dr. Jean: I want to make sure that everybody has a chance to ask questions, because they've been here all evening with Rosa and everything. 

Laura: Just to say, in our culture, it's very common, the assault. Yes. And all the time, most of the time, the women are (told they are) the bad person. Yeah, you get blamed — the women get blamed for it. (People say) 'You can do this,' or 'this is what you have to do.' 

She explains that women are made to accept sexual assault and casual abuse — they are told that men are allowed to do anything they want to do, and women have no choices.

Nobody helps you. It's not a big problem. (They say) it's normal — it's normal. No, it's not. It's just so bad, but nobody helps you. If you go to the police station, nothing. (No one says) 'It's very bad,' or 'they can't touch you.' 

Yeah, like that. In Mexico, in my country, it's very common. And you're so sad, because it's not good. It's not nice. 

Dr. Jean: It doesn't feel good. 

Rosa: Yeah, and also I hear the news in Mexico right now, the politicians lower the age to consent. 

Rosa: Yes. That is another problem that we are coming with. They are practically adopting, the abusers, to abuse —

Dr. Jean: — the younger children. Younger and younger. Do you know what the age is? 

Rosa: 17. 

The conversation here moves into confidential spaces and then returns more generally. 

Dr. Jean: ... (01:35:20) That's when it's about resources. Yeah. The family (puts) all that burden on a 17 year old. You mean when you marry me up at 17, I'm supposed to save the family. And then they lower the age — it's like the whole world is changing right before our eyes 

That's 17 years old. What kind of wife can a 17 year old be? 

Kate: That's part of what I was thinking earlier, about where does the healing start? How do we learn again to feel confident in our own bodies? How do we learn to feel safe? How do we learn to feel our bodies belong to us? 

Dr. Jean: Again, the healing comes from ... (reclaiming) what someone took from us. Being able to begin to speak about it. And that means to remember and be able to speak about it when you can, at your own rate. 

Because some people are not ready to tell their whole story. They want to say something or they want to build a relationship so they can feel safe and secure and trust you before they tell you their deepest, darkest secret. 

Kate: Being able to say something and feel like people are listening. Taking it in. 

Dr. Jean: Right. That they care, and they're listening. (So you feel that) It matters. I matter. And we encourage you not to make you feel any judgment, feel any shame. (01:37:00)

Because in the past comes this (kind of blame) — "Well, why did you wear that dress?" The difference isn't made. It's my dress, I can wear it. Nobody should sexually assault me because I'm wearing a dress. But in certain places, as we said earlier, in the culture, they encourage that sort of stuff. There's no punishment for it. 

You say somebody's a rapist, and he's married and he's a president and he's married and people running all around. He's a rapist, right? So in certain cultures it's encouraged. 


I mean in America we do have laws — in the state of Massachusetts, you will get in trouble for raping someone — but you have to prove it. And the proof has been on the person who was sexually assaulted, to prove that that person sexually assault them. 


Rosa: Yeah, and when they try to get a proof or test, the victim that has also, that experience can embarrass them, when they try to catch a sample. 


The rape kit, a lot of people leave, they don't finish it. They don't do it, they don't want to go through it, they find it humiliating to do the rape kit. And then what do they do with the rape kits?


Most of them are just sitting someplace, nobody's being prosecuted. That justice, you know, you don't get that justice because nothing happens.


And I think they don't realize (the authorities, the people who stay silent or refuse to act)  that sexual assault is like a soul stealer. It takes a part of you, because it takes your control. It takes away from you trusting other people. ...

Kate: So how do we help each other to regrow our own souls? 

Dr. Jean: So besides the healing — maybe it's a part of the healing, to get your power back, to get your sense of feeling strong.

What is it that you feel that you can do to help others? That's how I took my power back. I said okay, I'm going to do this work. I'm going to help others to be safe. I'm going to help other children too.

(You need to) make sure the children get therapy, make sure you're taking care of them, so they can incorporate this memory into their life, and not just keep it over there as something that makes them sick from thinking about it or prevent them from doing things because they don't want people to find out, oh, my dad abused my mom, or oh, you know, this something happened to me. 

(01:41:00) So how do we, what's another step to be able to take action. And what kind of action can you take? I'm going to come here, and I'm going to talk about it. 

I'm able to, in some way, say something, speak to a school, do something, speak to young children and encourage other mothers to make sure your child is safe, make sure you're listening to them, make sure you listen to what they say.

 A lot of sexual, especially young girls and family stuff, people were never believed, because I think unconsciously people don't want to break up their family. It's easy to report a stranger or somebody you don't know, but for people that you know, many people just live with it. 

You hear these stories until you're like, "Wow." 

Kate: (01:42:00) It's part of why finding ways to empower people feels so important. To give people space and time. 

Dr. Jean: Absolutely. No, no, no, it's not easy, but ... (To everyone who has made and shared a place of trust tonight) Thanks for trusting us. Thanks for sharing with us.
]]><![CDATA[Dr. Jean on women's health and reproductive rights (part 7)]]>Mon, 05 May 2025 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.multiculturalbridge.org/mosaic-stories/dr-jean-on-womens-health-and-reproductive-rights-part-7Through the lens of her lived experiences, identities, clinical practice and research, Dr. Jean reflects on the current political climate and the historical roots of the oppression of women, and women's struggles past and present for independence, freedom and autonomy over our own bodies.
Sarah: I just want to add on to what you were saying. I really liked your point about how it's not your fault how people perceive a woman's body, for example. And something I was talking about today in class is how a woman's body is so inherently political in a way. 

And so building off of that, I'm going into a more reproductive health standpoint. How do you think the political climate has impacted women in reproductive health in that sense? 

I saw somewhere, and it made me think of this question, that if men could get abortions, it'd be available at a local gas station. (01:08:30) But since it’s a woman’s body, it's a very different mindset and playing field. 

So yeah, I just want to know how you think the political climate has impacted that aspect. 

Dr. Jean: Yeah, I think the political climate has been challenging. Because right now there are many states where you can't get an abortion, right? We're trying to get through that place. But it starts earlier for us, for women, when you're told you couldn't have an abortion because it was against the church. 

Historically, we were told what to do with our bodies, because we weren't making the laws. We weren't making the rules. A husband — a wife was a husband's property, so to speak. So you would need your husband's permission up to, I think 1981, somewhere around there, to open a bank account. 

I think it was earlier for the abortion. But then you have society around morality, around — many people can't go to their family members and say I'm having an abortion. It's not supported. 

They'll say, "Oh, have the baby and give it to me or have the baby and give it — ” (a gesture and expression indicating the history of women giving a child up for adoption, or of family taking in a child so that the mother could work — not always by choice, on anyone’s side.

We know that many people in the English world and in the world that colonized us, they would do something with the babies. They wouldn't want to have those babies. They would go away and have those babies. 

A lot of women of color didn't have those choices. And then with what happened in slavery — women were raped, and they didn't have any choice, they had to have those babies, right? 

So we come to a time now where it's like ‘you want to make America great again’ (she is referencing the conservative political slogan, indicating in tone and expression a strong and ironic disagreement with any definition of ‘greatness’ that rests on violence) — and we're back in this place where like we're going to tell you what you can do with your body. 

So there's a lot of fear in this, you know, if people were (traumatized by) incest, or in some other way sexually assaulted in so many other ways. 

It's not as freely — you don't feel like you own your body in that way. You're not free to do what you need to do with it. And so it's creating a lot of fear among, especially young people, who don't want to start a family right now, who don't want to take care of children right now. 

And a lot of women are choosing not to have children, period. There's a whole set of — they're done with this (with voice and movement she rejects the painful past and present enforcement of the claim) woman who are brought here to have kids. They’re done with that. So there's a lot of uncertainty in this climate. Yeah. 

Sarah: Thank you. 

Dr. Jean: Yeah. 
]]><![CDATA[Dr. Jean on healing (part 6)]]>Sun, 04 May 2025 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.multiculturalbridge.org/mosaic-stories/dr-jean-on-healing-part-6Dr. Jean has sat with many people in the midst of hard and painful times, and people who have survived trauma and carry the weight years later.

As a social worker and psychotherapist, in her 30 years of clinical practice in trauma recovery, resilience and mental wellness, she has talked with people not only about finding immediate stability and persevering day to day, but finding paths to healing.
Kate: We've been talking a lot about ways to identify and understand the pain, which is vitally important, but then also how do you help someone? What is the healing? 

Dr. Jean: How does the healing begin? 

Kate: Yes. It seems to me that it is very common, from what I understand, for one thing, that somebody who has been in an abusive relationship will have ... They'll have been gaslit. They will have been convinced that their understanding of their own experiences is wrong, often. 

Or they will, for a lot of reasons, have very little confidence in themselves. Or even if they've done enough work to have gotten to the point where they've gotten out, there's a lot of fear, a lot of mistrust of other people and themselves. (53:00)

Dr. Jean: Yeah. (a thoughtful beat) I think one of the things about people being told, the psychological effect of people being told that this never happened to you — ‘you should be over it by now. Why are you making a big deal about this?’ 

Those sort of things are people who don't want to take accountability. So whether it's the parents who didn't look out for the child, or it's the abusive person who continues and wants to keep abusing that person so they say, "This never happened." 

So you know your feelings, and you know the emotions that you get from having memories of having had these things happen to you. 

So then you have to seek that support. You have to seek that help. You have to seek that counseling. you have to seek that safe space where you can begin to talk about … (An aside, recognizing that Rosi has quietly left the room and the conversation — Dr. Jean checks in, did she leave? Rosa and Gabriela and Laura say yes.)

You have to seek out that place where you can have that safe space, to begin to process and talk about some of the things that happen to you, with someone who understands and doesn't blame you, doesn't make you feel shame for staying or being in a relationship like that. 

So the journey begins with you seeking that help and then others helping and supporting you, for you to understand what happens to you. 

Kate: Even when someone is seeking that help, I know it can be a long journey. And somebody who is very actively trying to do the work of figuring out how to heal can still need help, in trying to figure out what they can do that will help them. 

Dr. Jean: Yes. And that brings me back to the long-term effects of trauma. It's not just domestic violence or sexual assault, but trauma in particular. And when the years go by and you still sometimes feel that you're depressed, that the sadness is always around you, or comes to you, or the fear. 

A lot people have anxiety because of post-traumatic stress disorder, I was listening to something at NPR about postpartum, is that anxiety is always around you're never feeling safe, you know, is this place safe enough for me, something going to happen. What's behind that? You know, you're always curious about that, looking to make sure you're safe. 

And that has to come with the work of processing through recognizing maybe in this moment, this is something to be concerned about, but in that next moment, it's not something, it's not real. Because a lot of times people who've been traumatized tend to see that danger everywhere. It's always present for them. 

So does it take you having a therapist or some form a support group or something, for five, 10, 15 years? There are people who still do that, and they need it. But it's not just about therapy. It’s about taking care of your body, it's about making friends, having a group of people to talk to. It’s about so many things, other than just having a space. 

Because you may meet with a therapist or a counselor once a week, and that's it. What do you do the rest of the time when you're feeling anxious, when you're feeling sad, when you're feeling, you know, what are the sort of things that you could do to bring in your life a sense of joy, a sense of having natural chemicals, you know, dopamine, serotonin, flowing through your body and lifting you up? 

What are some of the things that you could do? That's usually cooking, eating, visiting family, friends, watching a favorite movie, talking to (people), you know, having a life, having a job that you enjoy. All of those things are gonna help bring you back to a place where you feel more healed from what happened to you. 

Kate: (pausing to recognize that Rosi has left and check in with the group) Is Rosi ok?

Dr. Jean goes on to reflect on healing from a perspective of cultural humility.

Kate: (01:01:30) We were talking earlier about emotional languages and how there might be a cultural humility in trying to understand what someone thinks about consent, or about relationship, or about their own body. 

And I'm thinking that if you're talking with someone who comes from Pakistan or from Benin or from different parts of this country, they might have not just different language for their body, but very different ways of thinking about their own bodies, and of what would help someone to feel confident in their own body.  

And if somebody has survived some form of violence that makes them afraid, and one of the things that they're afraid of is that something happened that felt — (a gesture indicating that felt invasive, violating, frightening, internal.)

Dr. Jean: Yes. A lot of times when people have been violated, they don't feel like they have control over their bodies. So they have a mind-body separation. And that happened because they feel so violated, like my body was taken away from me. 

And the earlier in life that happens, that sets in. Because remember, it's experiences that help us to form our identity. And so when we're thinking, as a little child … 

She recalls conversations she has had with people who survived abuse as young children, sometimes for many years.

Dr. Jean: That person's perception of their body is not the person who did not experience something like that. It's going to be different. 

It's going to be like, it's not really my body. It's kind of like a third person thing that is happening with you, because you don't feel like you have that control because that autonomy was taken away from you. 

And so you can expect that people who've been traumatized don't feel they're in control. That's why safety is so important. You're in a space where you don't have to worry that this person will ever ill treat you or violate you in that way. And you can begin to trust them and tell them what happened to you. 

Kate: I wonder, can part of the healing be, not just safety but feeling like you can grow a healthier relationship with your body? Like Adrienne Marie Brown in Pleasure Activism, being able to to relax in your own body. 

Dr. Jean: The part of healing. That's what healing is, that will bring it back to that place where you're like — you don't forget, but it doesn't feel the same way. So you can put the mind and body back together. 

So it's okay to feel and say, "Oh, I have breasts. They're my breasts. They're beautiful breasts.” Or my legs, or whatever it is that I used to feel like, "I hate that. I can't stand that"  — because you have to reject it because of what happened to it.
 
It's not it, it's us. So that becomes integrated when the healing happens. We're one. 

Kate: (Looking to include Rosa and Gabriela and Laura) Other languages may do this better, but I’ve been part of some conversations about the way that in English, people talk about (our bodies), especially women's bodies — that English makes some of the words for intimate parts of women's bodies, some of the ugliest words in the language. And how people have tried to reclaim that. To change that. 

Dr. Jean: Because (parts of) the body — for females in particular, and it happens to males as well — have been objectified. (01:05:00) It's almost not like, it's a thing. 

You know, your legs, your breasts, your behind, whatever it is that the people who harm you — which is never your fault. Whichever way your body grows, or whatever it is they think, that's not your fault. That's their fault for thinking that way. And so you don't feel responsible. 

But in many cultures, you're made to feel responsible. (01:05:30) — that you did or your body did something wrong — because it's voluptuous, or it's whatever it may be that others see. 

So that's why a lot of times people want to reject their body, separated from the mind, because it's, my body gets me in trouble, or my body — that sort of stuff. 
So yeah, it's very acculturated in many ways, because how does a person from this country, like you say, from South Africa, from West Africa, from East Africa, from North Africa. They're all different, from the West Indies. Or from the South in this country. ...

And so we judge each other that way. We set each other up that way. It's all about the language, how we use the language. (01:06:30) And so it's very complex. But what I said about it — the healing, it has to be brought out. 

When you remember, you need to be in a safe space to be able to remember because a lot of times your triggers can create more problems for you. And it can overwhelm you, you become disregulated, if you're talking about something that creates that kind of memory for you. 

Just the same thing that our happy memories do for us, our sad memories can do bad for us. It could put us in a bad space, but we have to remember. 

So when we get to that space, we try to contain it and get it to that space where it's safe to remember, and then try to find other ways to figure out how we can take care of ourselves when we do remember. People call them triggers. You got triggered by something sad that happened to you.

]]><![CDATA[Dr. Jean on working with children in therapy (part 5)]]>Sat, 03 May 2025 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.multiculturalbridge.org/mosaic-stories/dr-jean-on-working-with-children-in-therapy-part-5As a social worker and psychotherapist, in her 30 years of clinical practice in trauma recovery, resilience building and holistic mental wellness, Dr. Jean has worked with and talked with people of many ages — including children. 

She has also talked with youth and older people who have survived trauma earlier in their lives.

She reflects with care and sadness on this very difficult subject — and she speaks with honesty and clarity. Please be aware, this conversation may contain difficult and triggering language for some people.
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Dr. Jean: Now we're teaching (41:00) children earlier the proper body parts, so that, in a way in prevention, when they're telling us, when we're talking to them, when we ask them, we're using the proper term for body parts and sexual activities. So it's an easier conversation. 

My age, growing up, when you talk to your mom about sex, nobody's telling you anything about it. Babies come from — wherever they used to tell us. 

... I think for us, it's your grandmother or something. Whatever they tell you, it wasn't the truth. It's not ‘mommy and daddy had sex.’ It wasn't that. … They had all kinds of words, and they talk baby words to babies.

And so no, we're not doing that anymore, because you need to teach (children the right words) early. Because so many people are sexually assaulted very early. A lot of pre-verbal sexual assault happens, where people … yeah, things happen early, and you don't even have words for it. 

So when children start to speak, you want them to have words. Because you know, people struggle with emotions from very early. If you're hurting me, it's going to be painful. 

And if I’m four months old, I don't have a word for pain, but you're hurting me. Where does that live? I can't tell my mommy someone did something to me to hurt me. Where does that information go? It's just locked in there, all preverbal. (42:30)

 The conversation comes to a brief pause and time for everyone to check in gently.
Kate: (To Dr. Jean, quietly, acknowledging the gravity and pain of the conversation): How do you have conversations with kids about … whether it's informational or whether it's trying to give them a positive sense of their own bodies and a sense of empowerment or whether it's trying to talk with them if they have experienced trauma? 

Dr. Jean: I was very lucky in my internship to spend a year at the Child Advocacy Center here, the Kids Place. And during one of my first internships, my first client was three years old. I thought, what am I supposed to do with him? (My mentor) said, don't you have three kids? I said, yeah, and she said, go to work. 

So I learned fast how you work with kids. So you come to their level, because they only have limited vocabulary, right? And in the past, we would do a lot of play therapy with them, sand therapy, and they would reenact many things in that way from the views that they've suffered. (46:00) What else? Again, just mostly through play. 

So if you're working with them, you may be playing with them, you may be asking them questions about like, "Well, there's anything that make you feel sad. Is there anything that makes you feel happy? You know, what are the things that make you afraid? You want to tell me about this?” 

Maybe no, maybe later. Sometimes I'll come back to it. Just in a way to be gentle and make them feel safe. Because one of the biggest things any person need is a sense of safety. You know, what am I going to be doing? 

Dr. Jean refers to a moment earlier in the evening when she and Kate were looking for the room on the second floor where JV was setting up for our recording time. We had tried two or three doors on the far side of the house and spoken with one or two people who gently pointed us another way, and then come around to this side. 

Kate went up and looked in, and knocked gently, and talked with JV to check that we had the right place this time, and then beckoned Dr. Jean to say come on up.

Dr. Jean: When we were coming up today and I said I'm just going to wait on the steps down there. And then you're like, okay, come on in, it's safe. By doing this, you're saying it's safe. 

So with children, we want to encourage them, we want to use soft voices, we want to put them in spaces where they're having a little bit of fun, where they feel like, oh, this is play, (47:00) and then they feel more secure. 

And you just be consistent with them. Children need consistency. So you're you're going to come, and you're going to work with Dr. Jean, or whomever the therapist may be. This is somebody who you feel safe with, and you could tell them, or you could tell me anything, and I will keep you safe. 

You just work with them in a way that's to their level, and in a gentle way, and very patient, because the work is slower. 

So yeah, we have a lot of children in the shelter, and the shelter has a child advocate, somebody who specifically works with them in that way. 

Kate: You were talking about doing some work with domestic violence in children and long-term effects throughout more of their life. 

Dr. Jean: Yeah — yeah, that's basically my dissertation. 

Kate: Ah, wow. 

Dr. Jean: So my work, (48:00) for my dissertation I specifically looked at adolescents. And I spoke to their mothers, because it's very hard to get the human subject review board to allow you to speak to children in that way. 

So what I was saying about that is that children witness a lot of the abuse. And because they witness the abuse — sometimes you don't realize they witnessed the abuse. And sometimes you start seeing the child behave certain way, and you’re thinking, what's wrong with this child? 

You think they're being … it's difficult to discipline them, and it's difficult for them to respond to discipline. It's difficult. They're having nightmares, or they may not want to be in school, or they may not be doing well in school. 

A lot of times, when they witness domestic violence, we have to make the assumption that if they do, there are long-term effects. And when we think of what could happen when a child witnessed their mom or their dad being hurt, or somebody else in the family being hurt — because a lot of abusers just don't abuse their partners. They abuse children, and they abuse the animals in their environment. 

So what are the things that children witness? Children witness the physical abuse, children witness the sexual abuse. Sometimes if they don't see it, they hear it. 
Children witness even the silence. Mom and dad used to laugh and talk. And now it's just silent. We eat our meal in silence. I don't see my parents talking. I don't see my parents laughing. 

And then you would say, "Why would that affect a child?" 

Kate: (softly) Oh, of course it would.

Dr. Jean: But it does affect them, because they're wondering sometimes — if the person is silent, (50:00) what’s going on in their mind? We don't know what's going on in their mind. 

So I think some of the immediate effects may be that the child becomes sad, or the child become anxious, if they've been traumatized by what they witness. And each child is different. You may have three children, and one of them feels overwhelmed by everything that is happening, because that's their temperament. 

And they may even feel more attached to the person who is being abused, with what they see. So they may respond differently. So that child may have nightmares, even though the other child may be like, ‘see you later, I'm going to school’ — they compartmentalize that, they put that somewhere away. 

And so one of the things that we're trying to say is — you’ve heard about the adverse childhood experiences? The ACE scores — so there are 10 items on the ACE scores, adverse childhood experiences, (51:00) and one of them is witness and domestic violence. 

There’s witnessing domestic violence, there's being abused physically, there's neglect, there is having a parent who's mentally ill, having a parent with substance abuse, having a divorce and a family, having a family member being incarcerated. I know I'm missing — I got to seven, but there are ten. 

And so if you have up to four of those, the research shows that it correlates with you, when you become an adult, you will have mental health or physical illnesses, diabetes, high blood pressure because of the stress within your body that it creates from having adverse childhood experiences. Again, there are ten items of experiences of children up to 18 years old.
]]><![CDATA[Dr. Jean speaks on cultural humility (part 4)]]>Fri, 02 May 2025 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.multiculturalbridge.org/mosaic-stories/dr-jean-speaks-on-cultural-humility-part-4Dr. Jean brings her lived experiences and identities to her work, as a therapist offering self-care, culturally responsive treatment approaches and innovative therapeutic techniques for complex trauma, and as a native Jamaican, a voice in the immigrant community, a woman of color.
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​Kate: I was looking through the Elizabeth Freeman Center's website and they were talking about having people who speak many different languages, having ways to tailor or think about the community and the person that they're talking to. 

Dr. Jean: So yes, they're fortunate enough to have had — it's mostly Spanish speaking, but we have access to interpreters, whether they're using the monitor, or they're calling. (32:30) So there's interpreters for every language … but mainly we have Russians, mainly Spanish. I don't know if some of the people from Ukraine have made their way here. 

And some of the other languages, you just dial up. It's a service you dial up. And so either that, they have a monitor … or it could be the phone call. So that you can always have access. It's mandated anyway that you have to have somebody who can interpret. 
Because if you don't know what's being said, how can you give your opinion or take the options that are offered to you? 

It's like being blind. You can’t, if you’re not speaking the language. So that's one of the first things after, making people comfortable addressing those. 

Kate: I was thinking of conversations that we've had with Bridge about cultural competency, that to understand where someone's coming from and what kind of help they may or may not be comfortable asking for, what relationship they may have with their own body, what their expectations might be for a relationship with someone else could (vary, depending on where they come from)? 

Dr. Jean: And there's the thing about trauma-informed care. It goes hand in hand with cultural competence — I don't say cultural competence, because here cultural humility is what's practiced. So trauma-informed care goes along with that. 

Communication has to be open, so that you feel comfortable to say, "Right now I am on my menses and I really need those supplies." 

Because there are some times when you don't feel comfortable. (34:30) Especially when you're dealing with somebody who does not even look like you, who doesn't speak your language, you're not going to talk about body stuff. It's very uncomfortable, and you need to be in that space where you can. 

So BRIDGE is further along with that than many other organizations, even the Elizabeth Freeman Center, because we were never really headed by a woman of color. Now they are. I keep saying ‘we.’ (She laughs)

Gwendolyn: You’ve spent your lifetime there. It’s your legacy.

Dr. Jean: Yeah. In the past. It's — (35:00) someone who hasn't lived the multicultural life, you can't bring that perspective, because you don't have it. That it's a lot about oral. It's not all written. It's a lot about body language and language, words that we use among ourselves. It's not in the dictionary. 

That says that when you're dealing with people that are similar, at least they say, oh, you speak Spanish and I speak English. 

But if I say in the French, we say, Kreyol, or in Jamaican we say patois, and whatever you say in your Spanish language. But you know something like that exists. In the other world, they don't know anything else. 

So it's kind of hard, it's kind of difficult. Even the way we use the language, some words before and after the other words, get them confused. And then they say, "Oh, you're illiterate." And I said, "No, I'm not illiterate." This is how we say, we put this word before that word. 

If you deal with somebody of difference, even though you're in a different language, they know they're idioms. You know, in Colombia, you may say a bus one way, in Nicaragua, you may say it one way, in Puerto Rico, you say it another way, but we all know it's a bus, right? 

But say in Puerto Rico, you say la guagua. In Mexico (looking to Rosa, Gabriela and Laura), what do you call a bus in Mexico? 

Gabriela and Laura: Autobus. 

Rosa (agreeing): Autobus. 

Dr. Jean: Well that's a proper word, but we have slams for everything. 

Gabriela and Laura: Oh. Passero.

Dr. Jean: (laughing) That's what I meant, right? It's just like, if you speak French and you're educated in French, but if somebody's speaking Creole, you might not be familiar with it, because you're not from Haiti. So that's what I mean. But we have more tolerance for that. 

Gwendolyn: Machine — el machine — I've learned. 

Dr. Jean: So we have a sense, we have a tolerance for that because we know it exists. In America, it's the bus. You're gonna catch the bus? And if somebody doesn't say you're gonna catch the bus, or we say la guagua, or whatever we're saying is coming, they're looking like, "What?" 

And then you have to explain, right? Instead of that openness. There is an openness when you're from difference. You know there's difference. Through that multicultural, multi-ethnic way of communicating. 

And this is — in my country, people just look. To say ‘you see that person,’ they won't say ‘that person,’ they'll go — (she gestures with her eyes and expression.) They'll just make a body thing. There's no language. 

I mean, so as I'm saying. There’s more tolerance for it because you know there's difference that exists. You may not know what it is, but you know. 

Kate: Is there an emotional language as well, that if you're talking with someone about a way that they've been hurt, or a challenge that they've experienced that has to do with a relationship or with what consent means. Or there's a lot of language even in the conversation we've been having… somebody’s understanding of what sexual assault is or what a healthy relationship could be? 

Dr. Jean: Yes. I think when we think about assault … I just never forget this. A woman, and I want to say she was from Brazil, I can't remember, but she told me, "We don't have a word for that. People just do whatever they want with you. 

And you don't go home to your mom or your sister and say, ‘That person brushed too close to me or do something that I felt like —” (in tone and gesture she indicates — that person did something that felt uncomfortable, invasive, frightening, wrong.)

(The woman who spoke to me was telling me, in her native culture, they have no language for) anything that's not rape. 

And even rape, rape within marriages, rape within relationships, are not considered that way, because you're boyfriend and girlfriend, or you’re husband and wife, or whomever you may be. Right? 

So the language is different. And the words that we use for sex or the words that we use for body parts, you know, and you're speaking with somebody and you're constantly saying —

She pauses gently as Sarah Haile joins the group on zoom from her public health masters program at UMass. (39:30) Sarah is working with BRIDGE on a Community Health Improvement Plan and also on these stories.

Dr. Jean: (saying hello to Sarah, who can see her on screen.) So yeah, we were speaking about language and the words that we use. I was at a conference, courtesy of BRIDGE, not too long ago, and we're speaking with people. 

Somebody from the Congo was at my table, someone from New Mexico, someone from Nigeria but working here right now, and the person from Congo was just here a few months, and then somebody from South Carolina, someone from Wisconsin, me from Massachusetts … 

Regardless, we were talking about, in our cultures, in our communities of color — this (conference) is all about people of color — and we’re talking about, what are the words? 

And I heard some words, I wrote most of them down (to remember), that's what they call that part? Or that's what they call it? That's what they're referring to when they're talking about sex? 

As a counselor or somebody who's trying to help someone verify, you’re often trying to say to them, can you tell me a little bit more about that? Because I'm not sure of that word. ...

Dr. Jean goes on to talk about her therapy work with children, and then she returns to cultural humility, as Sarah Haile asks a question.

Sarah: (looking at Dr. Jean, the person she can see best on zoom, and talking to her directly) Yeah, honestly, I was just listening to how we're talking about trauma and the healing process, especially for children. 

And I was wondering, do you see any or notice any large differences in how those healing processes play out for people of different backgrounds and from different upbringings, and how do you see patterns in the cultural competency aspect of healing? 

Dr. Jean: Well, if an agency is bringing a lot of cultural humility to it, I mean for the longest time we were working with cultural competency. The difference between cultural competency and cultural humility is, humility we live. We're practicing every day. 

This is like a way of life, versus cultural competency is me taking three years of statistics so I can get my PhD and I learn it and I pass the test, but don't ask me anything about it this week. 

(Well I think the mean, the medium and the mode, I think I know what those are. The average — and oh, outliers, I remember that. But don't ask me anything else about statistics, right?) But I took the class and I passed it. 

So that's the difference, in that as a therapist I practice every day. That's cultural humility. This is how we live. We're practicing that. And so we're trying to get there with trauma-informed care. So we see that, when we think of differences. 

So if you're getting therapy in an agency where people welcome you, where you feel like you're making a connection with the therapist because the therapist is understanding you, whether it's a child or an adult, the effect of that is going to be more positive. (01:00:00) You’re not going to be skipping around. 

Sometimes we skip around a therapist — (we say) oh, that therapist doesn't work, this treatment doesn't work, that sort of stuff. When we're intentional in building a relationship first, whether it's with a child, when we create that alliance of safety, and effectiveness, being effective with how we do stuff with the client, regardless of who they may be. 

Because it's coming from a perspective that brings in cultural humility, multiculturalism, all that — so it’s like me being in this place and looking around at all these paintings, everything I see appeals to my eyes. 

(She looks around the second floor room at BRIDGE, at bright paintings books, bright color and representation of many voices.) 

And If I was somewhere else, it wouldn't feel this way. All the books on the shelves make me feel like, "Oh, brown people everywhere." 

That's the difference, and that may be more effective. Because again, when it comes to trauma, you want to say, I don't want to have to explain everything, but I want somebody to understand how I feel. (01:01:00)

So if you start with me as a person, understanding me, when you bring that cultural humility to it, we're going to be effective, regardless. Even the relationship is going to work. Don't even worry about the treatment. Just the relationship we have is going to work, because it feels different.

Sarah: Thank you. 

Dr. Jean: You’re welcome.
]]><![CDATA[Dr. Jean on the work of the Elizabeth Freeman Center]]>Wed, 30 Apr 2025 21:17:17 GMThttps://www.multiculturalbridge.org/mosaic-stories/dr-jean-on-the-work-of-the-elizabeth-freeman-centerAlong with her extensive clinical practice and advocacy in the DSV (Domestic Sexual Violence) movement, Dr. Jean Clarke-Mitchell draws on her lived experiences in her work. 

She broke new ground, she says, as a woman who came to the Elizabeth Freeman Center in a hard time in her own life — and founded a commitment to help people who have survived abuse, and pursued her education and work with the Elizabeth Freeman Center, until she became director of clinical services, finally ending her services there to become a university professor. 

She reflects on the challenges of the work, and on her own path.
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Kate: (Looking toward Dr. Jean.) So what kinds of things did that work involve? when you were having conversations, when you were running the center? (Indicating the hotline and the work of helping people who come in or call.)

Dr. Jean: When I was at Elizabeth Freeman Center, like I said, I started as a hotline volunteer. We had beepers then (and you’ll be thinking, oh please don't let the phone ring at two o'clock in the morning, but it would). 

And you would be trained to answer it. So you would do that work. So I was on the hotline. And then — that's 1994, and I did my training in October. I'm class of 1994. And then I got the position at the shelter to do the two hours. And then I got 12 hours, working at the shelter Saturdays into Sunday as well. 

I did that for quite a few years. And then I was able to become an advocate. So I would be what they call on call, so I would be there, and anybody comes in who needed help with anything, we would be there. 

And then I become an advocate where you would have a special space where you work with people like a counselor and that sort of stuff. 

She pauses and goes on with a sense of irony.

And so I remember a funny story about becoming an advocate … because I was a battered woman, right? Everyone at the agency knows me as a battered woman. Then I become a volunteer, and now I'm actually working with them. 

And so when I’m working with them, I asked the bookkeeper at the time, she was the one who ordered the cards. And I said to her, I'd like to have a card. And she goes like, I can't make you a card. She says, you're not a counselor, you're just an advocate. You don't have any letters behind your name. So. 

Kate: Oh God.

Dr. Jean: Yeah. How many letters behind my name now? They can't even count all of them. I leave some of them off. I didn't even put the letters behind my name. 

But the point was, that sort of thing motivated you. And I was just highly motivated in helping women and children to safety. 

As the years went on, we were able to also work with men at the shelter too. So I went from that to being an advocate, to working at the shelter. And even when I went back to school, I was still working at the shelter, doing weekends and that sort of stuff. 

And eventually I became the shelter director. I did that only for about a year. I did that, and then I, because I was finishing up school, my masters, I passed my license, so I was able to become a supervisor, a clinical supervisor. 

I had spent some time, I was at Bard, here in Simon's Rock, consulting though, and then this job came up where I could go back to the Elizabeth Freeman Center.

And I had one woman ask me one day, she said, — I met her in 1994, and we were in the same class in 1994 — and she said, ‘I want the old Jean back.’ This is after I completed Smith, after — I'm like, the old Jean is gone. That person left. 

And intertwined here, a lot of stuff you're going to hear, it's about racism. (22:00) It's about ‘who do you think you are,’ or ‘you're not good enough,’ and all those things. 
Now all advocates have cards. They don't need letters behind your name. You need lived experience of how to be and treat each other. 

Degrees are nice, they're wonderful, don't get me wrong. But you need — it's better to be equipped with how to treat each other, I think, and have that lived experience so you can really get someone. (22:30) They don't have to tell you every little, rigid detail for you to be able to help them. You have that understanding. 

Because when you don't have that lived experience — there are a lot of people coming to the field who just really want to help, and they don't have that lived experience. 

So some of the other things I've done — I was a clinical supervisor, and then I became the director of clinical services, and I did that until I left to become a professor. 

So many rich experiences, so many women and children helped, my children included. 
Even today. My 41 year old said something to me, we were talking about LGBTQ, and I said, ‘You know, I've always wanted to know why at Deerfield you joined the GLAAD group, because you've never revealed to me that you're anything other than cis.’

And she said ‘no, but I saw how people were treated at Deerville that were different. And I know them as nice people. I have nothing — why do people treat people so badly?’ 

Her daughter recalled people who helped their family 30 years ago. She spoke warmly of a woman who married one of the women who had come to shelter. "And they were married forever," Dr. Jean says. "And she said, 'that kindness that she showed us — I never forgot it.’" 

Dr. Jean: That's what I'm saying, it's not about the degrees — it's about how you treat each other, in positive ways. There's lots of experiences there with the children. 

We were trying to put children's programs and programs for adults, trying to make the shelter a place where, when you're different and you get there, you can still feel like, ‘okay, I'm in a place that I don't know anyone, I feel insecure about where I am, but I'm among people who treat me as a human being.’ 

That was very big for me. So (I’d ask) where can we get something (that will feel familiar, that will help someone to feel at home), if somebody's African, if somebody's Indian … Do we need to go Albany, or do we need to go to Springfield? 

Where can we go? (24:30) Just, maybe it's one item, one item that we could bring them, to say, oh, they're thinking about me. And that was always important. 

Kate: I would think that if somebody's calling you on the phone because they're in trouble and they need someone to talk to, then being able to talk to someone who's been there, and has that kind of intuitive understanding of what they might need, what might help them — (indicating in gesture how powerful that connection could be?)

Dr. Jean: It’s very important. It's just like when we talk about differences, if we can connect with somebody who we feel we don't have to explain everything to, whether sex, gender, whether it's experiences, whether it's … whatever it may be. 

But again, when you don't even speak the language, when you're kind to somebody, that's an energy. So you're going to feel that anyway. You know, we don't have to be the same color, we don't have to be the same income. We don't have to be anything in common other than human beings. And I'm treating you and recognizing you. 

That's when we talk about trauma-informed care, that when we bring that person in, we're very, very conscious of how they're treated. We give them time, slow things down. Not just rushing them. You know, the normal way, the old way I should say, the normal way. 

I’m saying, okay, what has happened to this person? What happened to you? Not ‘what's wrong with you, and I don't know you, and you're different from me, and I can't understand you ‘ — no. How am I going lean in and make you understand, I see you, and I care. I'm going to fix it. 

Even though your past experience is not to trust anybody who looks like me, that energy is going to say, I think this person is real. This person cares. That's a value that I have in life, is to bring my humanity to whenever I can. 

Even though — a lot of people see me, they say I'm serious, and they wouldn't expect me to behave a certain way. (26:30) But I just always come with purity. I always come with love. I always come with, that's how I go to life. And then if you show me differently, I just run away. I don't even try to change you. I just leave. I'm just out of there, you know. (26:30) (She comes to a gentle pause.)

Kate turns to Rosa to check in on whether she and Rosi and Gabriela
would like time for translation. (27:00) Gwendolyn asks them in Spanish.

Kate: Should we pause every so often? 

Gwendolyn: They said they’re all right.

Kate: Okay. I just wanted to make sure. 

Gwendolyn: Thank you.

Dr. Jean: That’s what we mean, trauma-informed care — we’re always checking in to see, what are your options, these are your options, what are your preferences, right? Instead of just ‘euh’ (a sound and gesture of uncertainty and withdrawal) … We don't want to do that anymore. 

Kate: And what kinds of things — there are probably many answers to this, but what kinds of things would someone need? (27:30) Someone who comes to the shelter, and they've just left home. They may not know where they're going to be able to find another place to live. They may or may not have a job or a way to support themselves. They may have children. 

Dr. Jean: Basic needs. A lot of times we get people coming all the way from Boston, or sometimes another state. They kept saying, "We left Springfield, and we just kept driving and driving and driving." So they're like, "Oh my gosh, what's gonna happen?" (28:00)

Especially if you don't speak the language, or if you don't have financial — economics is an issue — if you don't have that financial support, you don't know where you're going. You come to this place and you have nothing. Because I've been on shifts where people come in with garbage bags. That’s all they have. Or a suitcase, or very few things. 

Some of them are fortunate enough to come with a car. They brought their TV, they have kids, they brought their games and stuff like that. 

But most people come … the idea of being in the house is that you're homeless. It's not said that you're homeless, because it's not a homeless shelter, it's a batterd women’s shelter, but technically you're homeless. So you come there. 

And most people, their case manager's there, so they begin to work with you immediately to assess what your needs are, what your preferences are. Immediate needs are shelter — and you can stay in the shelter — at the time I went to the shelter is 12 weeks I've known people there for three years. (29:00).

You know it's evolved. You can’t just push people out and make them more homeless. That used to happen in the past. You’ve got to make space, (and people would say) well you're not in so much danger anymore, so we're going to bring somebody else in who's in more danger. 

So those needs are assessed, and that plan begins to consider, what are the needs? Is it medication? You know, is it school for the children? Where are they gonna be picked up? Where schools can take them? You yourself, do you need a job? 

Or are you’(in a place where you’re saying) I just wanto rest right now. I'm going to apply for TNF, or I'm gonna apply for food stamps, or I'm just gonna be quiet right now. Or I want to go back to school. But those are not immediate needs — food, shelter.
 
So there's always food there, but then you can begin to apply for your food stamps, if you don't have those already, and stuff like that. So all the needs are taken care of. They're assessed and then addressed. 

Kate: There’s the immediate set of needs, that's just that somebody needs some stability and somewhere to be. (30:00) And then there’s (the point where) … now that I'm in a place where I'm not in immediate danger, and I'm not running on adrenaline all the time — but now all of the reasons that they're here, all of the trauma, all of the pain — how then do you step in and help them? 

Dr. Jean: There’s counseling. So the counseling doesn't happen in the shelter. The counseling is, we have an offsite office for that. 

So as soon as you come in, you're assigned a counselor. But the staff begins to work with you. There are certain things that — we have a domestic violence wheel, and a lot of times when people come, they want to talk to the person who's there about everything that's happened to them, so that person is already hotline trained. Every person that works there is rape crisis trained. 

So you begin to maybe answer those questions or defer some of those questions. But it's all done in a gentle way that is targeted to whatever the person may be experiencing. Because the staff, the one thing about the Elizabeth Freeman Center, the staff's been there forever. There are a lot of people who immediately know, because they've been there for so long. 

So if you come on a Sunday or a Saturday, then you’ll hear them say, ‘don't worry. Monday you'll go over to the office and all this will be explained to you. We’ll just go over the rules of the house, that sort of stuff, show you where everything is, the supplies that you may need and everything like that.’ It's taken care of then. 

And then the other things, if doctor's appointment needs to be set up for the children, a counseling appointment, anything that needs to be done outside of referrals, they’re taken care of in the main office, that's the term. (32:00)
]]><![CDATA[Dr. Jean on her own journey to the Elizabeth Freeman Center (part 2)]]>Wed, 30 Apr 2025 21:05:31 GMThttps://www.multiculturalbridge.org/mosaic-stories/dr-jean-on-her-own-journey-to-the-elizabeth-freeman-center-part-2Along with her extensive clinical practice and advocacy in the DSV (Domestic Sexual Violence) movement, Dr. Jean Clarke-Mitchell draw on her lived experience, in her work. 

She earned her Ph.D. and M.S.W. from the Smith College School for Social Work, with training in trauma-informed therapy and multicultural counseling, and she became director of clinical services for the Elizabeth Freeman Center and clinician for the Brien Center. Today she has her own private practice and mentors a new generation of therapists.

At BRIDGE, she reflected on the places where her journey began. Some of them, she says, are unprecedented at the center, and she was breaking new ground.
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​Kate: Would you be comfortable sharing some of your own story? 

Dr. Jean: My own story? Yeah. My story... Well I'll start with what brought me to Berkshire County, because I have, you know, from my own upbringing with domestic violence and all the other stuff, but What brought me to Berkshire County was that I fled my husband with two children. 

At the time I was 38, I think. One was 10 and one was 6 at the time. (15:00) We came in August, on August 12, 1994, a day that will live in infamy. Anyway, we came here, and I was accepted into the Elizabeth Freeman Center. At the time it was women's services.

And so when I arrived here, I had two degrees in business, and I was also one year away from an MBA. My ex-husband's an electrical engineer, and we'd gone to college, got married and stuff like that, came back, bought a house, have a new baby coming and things just kind of fell apart. 

And so I heard about the Elizabeth Freeman Center as someplace I could escape. Because I was experiencing a lot of domestic violence, and within the domestic violence there's always sexual abuse as well. It's very rare that it doesn't happen. 

Even if it's not a physical abuse, it's not a physical sexual abuse, there is sexual abuse. Because anytime you say, "I don't want to do that. I don't want to watch that. I don't want you to look at me this way, when I'm taking my shower or whatever is happening.” it's not your consent. So it's not okay. 

So all of that was happening. The physical abuse certainly was. And so I came here, and when I arrived, I arrived at the women's services offices — all women — and then they had to take me to the shelter, all women. And they were all helping women and children. 

And at that moment I'm like, I don't belong in business. Like, I want to help people. I want to do this. Whatever you guys are doing, I want to do that. I want to help kids and moms. 

And that was a journey for me. While I was in the shelter, I took the hotline training. It had never been done before. There was no precedent for that. 

And some of the staff saying, "No, no, she's a bad woman. She can." And I remember the coordinator looking at them and said, "Does that woman look traumatized to you?" Because although I'd gone through a lot, I've always had my mom and my family. We're a strong Jamaican family, very close knit, and I've always known that I could go home. I have a place. I just didn't want to burden my mom in that way. 

So I wasn't the type of person who was so emotionally dysregulated that I couldn't function. I got up every day, I got my kids into Berkshire Country Day (School), I drove them to school every day.

So we lived in the shelter, and then I took the hotline training, and that started it for me. From the hotline training, I was able to secure a two-hour position, which was to cover the monthly meeting so the staff could go to the monthly all agency meetings. (17:30) I would be there covering the shelter when they were all away.. 

You know, I ended up one day, I ran that shelter. But when I started, it was two hours. And then I moved on to more hours. But I decided, this is what I want to do. 
So I went back to BCC and I started on a whole new associate degree, and then I went to MCLA and just kept going after that. 

And I stayed with the organization for 26 years. (18:00) I was just looking on social media, and they had sexual assault awareness day on April 1, but I wasn't available, or else I would have been standing out there in Park Square with a sign. I did that for so many years. 

So yeah, that's my story for coming here. It's a long, laborious — you imagine 30 years in what I've achieved, and what my children have achieved. (18:30) They're older now. They're 41 and 37 now. (One has a child, Ezra, now about 10 months old, Dr. Jean’s grandson.) So that's the baby that I take care of on Wednesdays. That's my love.
]]><![CDATA[Dr. Jean on her trauma-informed care work with BRIDGE (part 1)]]>Wed, 30 Apr 2025 20:54:28 GMThttps://www.multiculturalbridge.org/mosaic-stories/dr-jean-on-her-trauma-informed-care-work-with-bridge-part-1Dr. Jean Clarke-Mitchell, Ph.D. MSW, LICSW, spoke with Multicultural BRIDGE about trauma-informed care. As a Clinical Consultant and Psychotherapist, she speaks with 25 years of clinical experience as a therapist specializing in trauma recovery, resilience building, healing, and holistic mental wellness. 

She has served as director of clinical services at the Elizabeth Freeman Center, and clinician for the Brien Center for mental health and university professor at Lesley, Smith, Simmonds and more. Today she has her own private practice and mentors a new generation of therapists.

She came to BRIDGE Solidarity House on April 16, 2025, to offer mentorship and guidance, as she comes monthly as a part of  BRIDGE's health and wellness programming, and she took the time on a spring night to reflect on her work.
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She sat down with BRIDGE director Gwendolyn VanSant, Gabriela Cruz, Laura, Rosa, Rosi, Sarah Haile, masters in public health at UMass, and Kate Abbott, editor and oral historian from By the Way Berkshires, to record an oral history with technical direction from JV Hampton-VanSant
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Kate: Dr. Jean and I have been talking some about the fact that this is sexual assault awareness month.

First of all, we are talking together with full respect for confidentiality, and also understanding that this may be a conversation that sometimes touches on some difficult places or some personal ones.

So we can always stop. We can always turn off the recordings. People can get up and move around. We can take this conversation anywhere we want it to go, and we can also at any point move it away from somewhere. 

Rosa translates into Spanish.

Kate: Looking to Dr. Jean. (8:40) You were talking about trauma-informed care and the work you've done with BRIDGE. Would that be a place to start to talk about some of the work that you do with BRIDGE? 

Dr. Jean: Look, BRIDGE and I go way back — I'm trying to think of how many years — and I know, long before I became involved I wanted to be a part of what BRIDGE is doing, because of the multicultural aspects of it — how we want to be together, and live together in unity, and support each other as community. 

Gwendolyn VanSant explains:

In October 2014, BRIDGE held the Berkshire County Civil Rights Conference, with U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz to give the keynote address, and that night they honored Dr. Jean with a Cultural Competence Award. 

Gwendolyn VanSant: (Turning to talk to Gabriela Cruz) you all were dancing because Carmen Ortiz came, the U.S. Attorney at the time, and you danced for her in Lenox. 

Clarke-Mitchell was then director of clinical services for the Elizabeth Freeman Center and clinician for the Brien Center. She was advocating for state policy to support survivors of domestic abuse, and Gwendolyn Van Sant heard and saw Clarke-Mitchell's work with then State Rep. William 'Smitty' Pignatelli.

Gwendolyn VanSant: The experience that was so powerful with me and Dr. Jean before that was that there was a policy being passed, and we needed Smitty Pignatelli's help to support it. Dr. Jean was very firm in advocating with Elizabeth Freeman Center, and I was in the room. 

She turns to Dr. Jean.

"And I just loved how you incorporated your personal story, your expertise. You were starting your studies, and you just were really powerful, and I just was really inspired. So when I was thinking of the awards, yours was the first one I thought of." 

At the Civil Rights Conference, Dr. Jean received her award along with Jeanet Ingalls, founder of Shout Out Loud Productions, who was creating work to support women who have survived human trarricking, and Mary Grant, outgoing president of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez, founding director of the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers. 

BRIDGE also recognized the Berkshire County Commission on the Status of Women.

Gwendolyn VanSant: We were focused on women, and I honored you.

And then I found out later on that there was family connections. And so I feel — the answer’s always like our stars were crossed before we met. 

Dr. Jean reflects on the kind of work that drew her to Gwendolyn's attention, and the kind of work she does with BRIDGE today, as part of their wellness days.

Dr. Jean: When we think of trauma-informed care, it's about it's a new term that hasn't been around that long. But what it is it's trying to live in a way, or treat Constituents and individuals, the people that we help in a way, that's very focused in and has a lot of awareness of the traumas they might have experienced. 

And because of the traumas they've experienced, a lot of times there isn't a lot of trust. So how do we build trust? 

So when you come to BRIDGE, you feel like you're in a place that you belong. You feel that you're in a place that you will be taken care of. You will be believed. You won't be controlled. You won't be feeling othered, like ‘I don't get any respect here’ — you won't feel that way. 

If we're doing trauma-informed care, then we're always trying to be mindful that you are a person, you're a very different person from any other person in your family. 

And what you say about yourself, you know more about yourself than anybody else, even though your sister may say or your mom may say or your husband may say — (10:30) We have to listen to what you have to say. 

That's trauma informed care, because your trauma, the experiences that you've had in your life are different from anyone else's, even when you're siblings, even when you're from the same family. 

So I think that's a big part of what Gwendolyn has been very aware of, and tried to work from that perspective, and just keep doing better at it because we can always improve, right? You walk in you feel like oh, this is the place that people respect me. They will help me. I am wanted. I belong.

Kate: When did you first get to know Gwendolyn and BRIDGE? 

Dr. Jean: Gwendolyn, when did it first start it? … I knew of Gwendolyn because Gwendolyn had gone to Bard College at Simon's Rock. (11:30) And I've been in the community and then Gwendolyn formed this organization awhile back.

I just remember I really got into BRIDGE formally when Gwendolyn decided to give me an award. I thought, "What?" So I came to accept that award, and a part of it was about multiculturalism, and it was one of the first awards I've ever received. 

And then I was able to accept that, yeah, you make a difference in the community (12:00) at that time. So I bring some support and help to others. 

(13:30) It’s a validation of who you are — like, you're here, and in ten years from now who might you be? You know, there's something inside of each one of us that can give back to our community. Even in the small ways. 

Someone said to me the other day, they wanted me to present in a training for leaders, and I said ‘I’m not a leader,’ and she said Dr. Jean, oh yes you are and with your presence and story — you need to be in that room. 

Sometimes we don't see ourselves and see our stories as something special — you know, we just somewhat take it for granted. And when someone like Gwendolyn (sees us and our stories), or any other award I’ve received since then, it says there's something special there. 

And that's what I want every woman to experience, and every child, even more than their moms, every child to have the experience of (feeling) ‘I'm special in the world. because I am this. There's something about me.’ So just encourage that in each other and in ourselves because we keep evolving as well.
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]]><![CDATA[Mary Blackmountain on daily life at home on the Navajo reservation | By Naima Clark]]>Thu, 06 Mar 2025 05:00:00 GMThttps://www.multiculturalbridge.org/mosaic-stories/mary-blackmountain-on-daily-life-at-home-on-the-navajo-reservation-by-naima-clarkJames and Mary's experience on the Navajo reservation paints a vivid picture of the hardships many people face in rural or underserved areas. Living without running water or electricity until recently must have been incredibly challenging. 

James says “Water wasn't easy. It was about a mile away. We had to carry water back and forth.” 

It is frustrating to hear how the agencies on the reservation that were supposed to offer support and services did not follow through. Especially when it comes to critical things like plumbing and electricity, as well as snow plowing in the winter.
James says,” Sometimes I have to do things on my own, you know. Plumbing work, electricity work. If something goes wrong, I work on that." 

It is hard to find help in these remote areas, which seems like an enormous challenge. The rise in cost for groceries, gas, and basic supplies further demonstrates the financial strains and difficulties for communities in remote areas which can put a strain on families. 

To me, it seems like James and Mary have experienced firsthand what it is like to be overlooked or neglected by the systems that are meant to provide for their community and their home.

Their experience living on the Navajo Reservation has opened my eyes to how blessed I am. It's easy to take for granted having running water or electricity when they’re readily available. But for many people, these are luxuries that aren’t always guaranteed. 

James and Mary have persevered through so much and despite all the challenges they faced, they still love their home and community. 

Gratitude, especially when you compare your situation to that of others, can be such a powerful lens through which you view the world. It has helped me to appreciate all that I have. 

It has also allowed me to empathize with others and want to bring awareness to other people's struggles. Hearing their story, has made me want to actively support those who are underserved in their communities.
]]><![CDATA[James Etcitty and Mary Blackmountain talk about working with BRIDGE | By Naima Clark]]>Wed, 05 Mar 2025 05:00:00 GMThttps://www.multiculturalbridge.org/mosaic-stories/james-etcitty-and-mary-blackmountain-talk-about-working-with-bridge-by-naima-clarkJames and Mary have made an incredible impact through their work with BRIDGE and the various programs they have been involved with. 

James was drawn to the Solidary Farm that began a couple of years ago at BRIDGE. His connection to the farm and the way he's helped bless the earth, the plants, and the community through prayer and ceremony is beautiful.
 He has also led healing circles on several local farms. It is amazing how he weaves together the concepts of nature, spirituality, and community, creating a space where people can heal and grow.

His leadership in healing has also reached BRIDGE’s summer education program, Happiness Toolbox. Last year, he led circles with the kids at Solidarity Farm and showed them how to bless the earth. 

James shared his wisdom with them, which seemed to have resonated deeply with many of the children. 

Youth Leader Westley Hampton Van Sant said, “Having James at camp was very meaningful to me and the kids because of his knowledge. He gave tips and advice to the children to never give up, keep calm, and take care of those who are having a hard time.”  

This demonstrates the ability James has to teach life lessons and how to support those going through difficult times. These vital skills go beyond the camp; they are lifelong tools for emotional well-being and resilience.

James' story is a powerful reminder of how much the world has changed over generations. He says, “Things were hard back then. I tell them ... We were talking about how we were raised. I think it was like that. No running water, there's no electricity.”  

His reflection on growing up without modern conveniences like running water, electricity, and cars stands in sharp contrast to the lives many kids live today. 

I hope that his experiences made a true impression on the younger generation, offering them a sense of perspective. Hearing firsthand about how life was for James, with the limited resources he had and the struggles he had to overcome, may help inspire the children to find strength within themselves when faced with similar challenges. ​
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