POSTPONED – Rethinking Absent Fathers

FULL PROGRAMME

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED

08:30 EST
Introductions

08:35
Dr Aileen Alleyne
The Absent Father Syndrome in black families: Myth or intergenerational trauma?
In this talk, Aileen Alleyne will explore how the absent black father phenomenon appears to hold an aspect of historical trauma that continues to plague black life. While Generation Z seem determined to change old narratives and fixed perceptions of black fatherhood, for example through proactive education and men’s self-help groups, the intergenerational cycle of this phenomenon still remains disturbing. It highlights the very complex nature of ‘absence’ in its many manifestations of black family life and bears the indelible scars of a past where traumatic re-enactments are still being played out in the building, formation, and maintenance of strong affectional family bonds. The intergenerational impact of black masculinity, fatherhood and women’s roles in family life make for complex and highly contentious discourses. The talk will situate the historical context for the recurring absent-father syndrome and address the clinical work needed for supporting clients in developing a strong identity in when facing father-parental alienation.

09.15
Q&A

09.30
Break

09.50
Eugene Ellis
The Cry of the Ancestors: a personal perspective on black fatherhood
This talk is about Eugene Ellis’ journey of reconciliation with his father, his inner healing and becoming more of the father he wanted to be. Trauma shaped his own father’s inner life. Eugene’s father was Jamaican born and raised, and intergenerational trauma was in the background of their relationship. Eugene’s father was physically present but emotionally struggled in the context of bringing up Eugene as a black boy in the UK. These forces had a significant impact on Eugene. When Eugene’s son was born, he did not want to perpetuate the intergenerational trauma that had been passed onto him. This personal reflective approach to the topic aims to widen and challenge the all-too-common one-sided notions and fixed perceptions of what is the nature of the black father’s absence. Eugene’s intergenerational perspective will offer a real and lived context for a deeper understanding and compassion for the many factors that contribute to black parental struggles, limitations, failures, and fortitude.

10.30
Q&A

10.45
Break

11.05
Susan Schwartz
The effect of Absent Fathers on Daughters: Father Desire, Father Wounds
The presence of a father’s emotional deadness and absence may have a significant impact on both daughter, and father, in body, mind, and soul. In Susan Schwartz’s experience of clinical practice, without a father, a daughter retains an absence in her heart replaced with a longing and a preoccupation with how he thinks about her or holds her in mind. Susan will bring Jungian and other depth analytical approaches, dreams, and case examples to offer a context for understanding the daughter’s experience and ensuing dynamics. Susan’s theoretical model will offer connection to the archetypal and collective symbols to demonstrate how clinicians might work with their clients in order that healing can begin. The talk will also consider intergenerational experiences, as well as the context of war in which many fathers are forced to be absent and may die.

11.45
Q&A

12.00
Break

12.20
Mark Linington
He is Always With Me: working with Bowlby’s concepts of relational presence and absence
In this talk, Mark Linington will reflect on John Bowlby’s concepts of relational presence and absence: “By presence is meant ‘ready accessibility’, by absence ‘inaccessibility’” (Bowlby, 1973). Mark will describe a case from his work as an attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapist, exploring the nature and impact of the father’s presence and absence on his son, who fled at a young age with his mother, to escape a violently abusive relationship. In the case, Mark will consider how the previously physically abusive and then absent father, continued as an internal presence in the son, with serious consequences for his sense of self, his feelings of constant threat, and for his way of being in relationships with others.  Mark will then explore how the presence of a good father in the young man’s world became understood as something that was painfully longed for, becoming an important part of the mourning process. Mark will consider how this young man’s presentation was understood and responded to by the professionals working with him, with particular emphasis on the counter-transferential re-enactments that emerged. How these issues were worked through will be addressed to allow a different internally present and accessible father to develop for this person through an attachment-based and trauma-informed psychotherapeutic relationship.

13.00
Q&A

13.15
Discussion and Q&A with all speakers

13.45
End