A Psychoanalytic COVID Workbook for Children in South Africa with Jennifer Davids, M.Sc.

Psychoanalysis On and Off the Couch

"The workbook contextualizes the child in his or her network. The idea being that the more the child has a supportive network and that they can use this network, the more they will be able to

face the aspects of COVID-19. So it’s not only the illness and having people in the family who are ill or might have died, but also the other impacts of COVID-19 which is to livelihood."

Episode Description:

We begin by describing the challenges to making mental health resources available to children in a materially impoverished community in South Africa. Ms. Davids organized a team and built upon the work done by Dr. Gilbert Kliman who had created a workbook for American children to aid in processing the difficult emotional circumstances of living under COVID. She and her South African colleagues modified this workbook to meet the cultural characteristics of the local community. We discuss the format and content of the workbook and its success in aiding the children in representing their individual voices as well as their place in the collective chorus. We close with her sharing her family history of community outreach in South Africa.

Our Guest:

Jennifer Davids M.Sc. Clinical Psychology (U.C.T) is a child, adolescent and adult psychoanalyst, a member of the teaching staff at BPAS, a supervising analyst for child and adolescent psychoanalysis at the British Psychoanalytical Society in London as well as the Director, Africa Projects, at the Children's Psychological Health Center in San Francisco, California.

Workbook: http://www.sdu.uct.ac.za/sdu/publications/books

Email: [e-mail]

Recommended Readings:

Eagle, G. and Kaminer, D. 2013 Continuous traumatic stress: Expanding the Lexicon of Traumatic Stress.Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology 19,2,85-99.

Marans, S., Smaller, M., Twemlow, S. and Oppenheim, L. 2014 Round Table: Being A socially Active Psychoanalyst in the 21st Century. Journal of Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy 13,4, 283 -297.

Straker, G. & the Sanctuaries Counselling Team. 1987 The Continuous Traumatic Stress Syndrome: The single therapeutic interview Psychology in Society, 8, 48-78.

Holinger, P.C., Spira, N., Barrett, D. and Barrett, T.F. 2020 Psychoanalysis and public health: Potential for integration? International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies 17:39-48.