For questions about registration contact Jade De Saussure at desaussure@fordham.edu. 212-636-6657
For questions about the program contact Henry Goldschmidt at hgoldschmidt@interfaithcenter.org.


Sponsored by

The Interfaith Center of New York, the Fordham University Graduate School of
Social Service, and our partners, invite all mental heath professionals to attend a symposium

Interfaith Perspectives on Communal Trauma and Healing:
Religious Leaders and Mental Health Professionals
Explore the Emotional Life of the City at the 10th Anniversary of 9/11


As we approach the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, many New Yorkers are confronted, in varying ways, with both memories of trauma and possibilities for healing.  And as they support their fellow New Yorkers during this difficult time, social workers, psychologists, and other mental health professionals can learn a great deal from the city’s diverse religious traditions.

In their own distinctive religious vocabularies, these traditions offer invaluable resources for understanding communal trauma and healing – whether in Jewish commemorations of the destruction of the Jerusalem temple, Afro-Caribbean evocations of the horrors of the Middle Passage, Shi’a Muslim rites of mourning for the martyrdom of Hussein, or countless other religious narratives and rituals.


Mental health professionals and students are invited to learn from these and other religious traditions in a half-day symposium exploring interfaith perspectives on communal trauma and healing.

The half-day symposium will include:


A panel discussion with leading mental health practitioners who bring both spiritual and psychological perspectives to bear on experiences of communal trauma.  Panelists will include:

• Ali Gheith, MS,
Director of the MPA program in Emergency and Disaster Management at Metropolitan College.

• Mary Ragan, PhD, LCSW,
Director the Trinity Counseling Center at the Psychotherapy and Spirituality Institute.
 
• Rabbi Simkha Y. Weintraub, LCSW,
Rabbinic Director of the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services (JBFCS).

Click here for panelist bios.


Small group workshops offering hands-on introductions to the therapeutic resources found in diverse religious traditions – including ritual, meditation, text, story, dance, and song.

Workshops will be led by local religious leaders and chaplains from a range of traditions. Each workshop will be capped at no more than 10 participants, to allow for a hands-on engagement with the tradition.

• All participants will need to register, in advance, for a specific workshop.  We will do our best to place each participant in the workshop of their choice


Click here for details about workshop topics and leaders.


Lunch for participants, and a performance by the Peace of Heart Choir.

A vegetarian langar meal will be provided by United Sikhs

• Pending the availability of its all-volunteer singers, we will be graced by a performance from the Peace of Heart Choir, a singing collective that came together in response to the WTC tragedy to promote healing, diversity, community bonding, and mutual understanding through music





Please Join Us!

Friday, September 9,

from 9 am to 1:30 pm,

at Fordham University’s

 Lincoln Center Campus,
in the South Lounge.


Enter at 60th Street
and Columbus Avenue.


$10 advance registration for professionals, or
$12 at the door

$5 for students, or
$7 at the door


Click here to register

Seating is limited.
Register soon to ensure
your space.
        Sponsors:
All registration fees support honoraria for workshop leaders.

Any remaining proceeds will be donated to September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows.














Photo by Judith Weisenfeld. Click here for more of her photos of spontaneous shrines and memorials from September 2001.