The WLP had the privilege of hearing from Dr. Charlotte McCloskey,
Local Recovery Coordinator and Staff Psychologist at the Kansas City VA Medical Center this past week. Dr. McCloskey shared stories about her work as a psychologist and her ancestry: Sicangu Lakota/Yankton Dakota & Immigrants into Appalachia.
Her talk titled, “Seven Generations Before and Seven Generations After” guided the students to think of the women you have been influenced by and honor the past by living your life for those who are many generations ahead. She also shared her philosophy that “The threads that weave your life story are the sources of your strength.” These powerful perspectives offer us much to consider in our life choices today.
Two student leaders, Anna Shah & Alexxa Aponte (pictured), introduced our speaker and managed the Zoom talk, fielding questions from the students.
Below are some student responses to the talk, hopefully this gives you a sense of the deep connection the WLP students felt with our speaker and her much needed guided visualization.
From Lydia
During Dr. McCloskey’s guided reflection, I had a very surprising and interesting experience. Growing up, my family had a small cabin just outside of Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine. This cabin was both magical and miserable. There was no wifi, cable, or any technology really for that matter. I spent most of my time running around the property using my imagination to entertain myself. The entrance to the property sat at the top of a hill overlooking the cabin and small glimpses of the lake. I remember the top of the hill had these boulders that were covered in moss and shaded by trees. However, sunlight would occasionally breach the trees and come shining down in a beautiful haze. During Dr. McCloskey’s reflection time, I was transported to those boulders. A place I haven’t been in nearly 10 years and rarely think about. It was shocking to me to see so vividly what I saw years ago looking out from those rocks. The reflection brought me to a moment of tranquility in my life when perhaps life was at its simplest.
From Kayla:
Dr. McCloskey stated, “The threads that weave your story are the sources of your strength. Your voice and story have power. Kindness is a gift; share it.” These phrases have helped me on my journey to discover about who I am as a young African American woman, and why God has brought me onto this earth. Life has given me so many opportunities to succeed and I should not take them for granted.
From Melissa
One thing that I learned from this symposium was that our individual voice and story have power. The visualization practice reassured me that I can take charge of my actions and thoughts and define how my future unfolds.
From Sophia
For this week’s symposium event, Dr. Charlotte McCloskey led us in meditation. During this symposium, I felt present. I began to be so relaxed that I had no thoughts other than focusing on my breathing. In the wake of COVID, I think that more people should be implementing meditation into their daily lives. Personally, I was really interested in this week’s event because as a psychology major and an advocate for mental health awareness, learning how to meditate is really important to me. Recently in my developmental psychology class, we had a discussion about how kids are growing up in the wake of COVID, and the emotional effects of a very isolated indoor environment. I think that now more than ever, people should be prioritizing their mental state by connecting (safely and socially distant) with other people, the outdoors, or even their own body through meditation.
From Eliana
I have really enjoyed all of our symposia so far but this one was especially fun for me to attend because I haven’t been able to hear from a psychologist yet until last Thursday! I was really excited to hear her speak on her work and why she is so interested in it. What really struck me was when she said that she could do her job for free and be just as happy. I think it is really admirable when people who work in the mental health field love their job that much. It is better for everyone who is giving and seeking treatment.
I thought it was really cool that she did a meditation/visualization exercise with us. it was a very relaxing moment for me, which I appreciated. I think I connected meaningfully with it because I was taking time for myself, which I don’t do enough. Self-care is very hard, especially in the virtual world we live in because you’re already inside most of the day and feel like you haven’t done enough, when in reality, I am very busy.