Meet the Authors
SuEllen Hamkins
SuEllen
Hamkins, M.D., after twelve years as the psychiatrist for Smith College,
now has a private practice in Northampton, Massachusetts, specializing
in women's mental health. SuEllen is the mother of two daughters, ages
12 and 17, and raising them has been the most thrilling and rewarding
work of her life.
Aware that the world offers both opportunities and challenges for mothers and girls, SuEllen reached out to other mothers and daughters beginning in her girls' infancies, ultimately becoming one of the founding mothers of the Mother-Daughter Project. Bringing the empowering, nurturing and joyful message of the Project to other mothers and daughters is her calling.
SuEllen lives with her husband, Jay Indik, and daughters in western Massachusetts, where they love to swim outdoors, cross country ski, shoe snow, dance, cook and lounge around in the living room, reading.
Dr. Hamkins has given numerous presentations on girls' and women's mental health for professional and lay audiences around the world, recently focusing on her ground-breaking discoveries about mothers, daughters, their relationships and the kinds of communities that nurture them.
As the psychiatrist for the Smith College Counseling Service from 1992-2004, SuEllen offered consultation to over a thousand women ages 16 to 23 to help them resist and overcome problems such as anorexia, bulimia, depression, anxiety, trauma, assault, and self-injury. Simultaneously, she worked with women and men from all walks of life at the Carson Center, a community mental health clinic where she still consults today one day a week. She offers psychotherapy and supervision in narrative therapy in her private practice, delighting in helping people cultivate their values and strengths in the face of difficulties through discovering and re-telling stories about what gives their lives meaning.
Second oldest of six children, SuEllen parlayed her experiences as an adolescent into her life's work of discovering what pulls mothers and daughters apart and finding ways to bring them together. After undergraduate studies at Cornell University, she managed to graduate with honors from the University of Wisconsin Medical School even though she was arrested in her second year for participating in an anti-nuclear war demonstration during halftime at a televised Big 10 football game, an early demonstration of her penchant for bringing progressive ideas to wider audiences. After her psychiatry residency, SuEllen completed a three-year program in family therapy at The Multi-cultural Family Institute of New Jersey under the supervision of Monica McGoldrick, and was a faculty member from 1990-1992. In 1999, SuEllen participated in advanced training in narrative therapy at the Family Institute of Cambridge, where she is now a guest faculty member.
Dr. Hamkins is available for speaking engagements through the Penguin Speakers' Bureau.
Renée Schultz
Renée
Schultz is the mother of two children, now both young adults. When
her son was born with profound medical needs (including Down Syndrome),
she quickly became aware that the challenges of motherhood were best met
by having an equally involved husband and a community of supportive friends,
particularly other mothers. The awareness of the importance of having
an involved community crystallized when her daughter was seven and Renée
began talking with other mothers about girls, adolescence and their own
personal journey into womanhood. Those early talks lead to the formation
of The Mother-Daughter Project.
Renée has spent the past twenty-plus years juggling work, mothering, nurturing her marriage and friendships, and squeezing in occasional moments of play. Her love of the outdoors and writing have provided sustenance through it all. She lives in Western Massachusetts with her husband and daughter. She’s currently working on several writing projects, including a memoir.
Renée has been quietly working in the field of mental health for the past thirty years, beginning with her first job out of college as a counselor for Family Planning, followed by work in a community mental health center and eventually private practice. Influenced by the women’s movement, early in her career she joined with other women in developing workshops and groups for women. She is currently working in private practice as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. The primary focus of her work has been and continues to be working with women and couples. In addition Renée has presented internationally on the Mother-Daughter Project.
Ms. Schultz is available for speaking engagements through the Penguin Speakers' Bureau.