2021 Presidential Initiative: Creating Connection and Community through Courageous Conversations.
Daniel Ellenberg, Ph.D.
2022 Division 51 President
Division 51 has an enduring commitment to further social justice and promote emotional well-being. This includes ongoing efforts to challenge and change the causes and conditions that keep archaic, restrictive psycho-social patterns in place.
A core of the mission is to promote the healthy development of boys and men. This is accomplished through a variety of avenues, which can be summed up in the acronym REAP: research, education, advocacy, and practice.
Helping boys and men become more flexible/open and less reactive/defensive in their attitudes and actions is both an end in and of itself, and a means to helping create a more just, equitable world where all people are valued and respected.
My presidential initiative recognizes the foundations and history of D51 and intends to further this mission through an emphasis on the essential conversations we need to have moving forward: Creating Connection and Community through Courageous Conversations.
Since conversations are the artery through which most human interactions occur, the focus is to unearth the most important conversations we need to have—with psychologists, teachers, parents, children, policy makers, and more—along with an exploration of communication methods.
My intention is for these courageous conversations to also occur regularly within the division so that psychological shadow issues (unintegrated aspects of the unconscious) in our organization can be surfaced and addressed. By building our own house on stronger foundations, we have greater opportunities to co-create more positive outcomes in the world. The hope is that, as Gandhi reminds us, “we become the change we want to see in the world.”
Courage itself is not the intended outcome but rather a means or fuel to enact our most important prosocial values—like connection, compassion, love, collaboration, and respect. Oftentimes this includes an awareness that these values are being minimized, marginalized, or downright disregarded. In various committees, conferences, collaborations, and communications, we will explore how to make the greatest positive differences as we move forward together as an organization.
Upcoming Opportunities for Courageous Conversations
There is a D51-D35 panel taking place on February 12th at 1 PM EST. Intersectional Feminisms and Masculinisms: The Role of Intersectionality on the Gender Continuum. An official announcement will be coming out soon.
The D51 mid-winter conference and retreat (Creating Connection and Community through Courageous Conversations) is taking place March 12-14 (more information to follow)
There will be an ongoing group (every other week) at 11 AM on Thursdays where we will explore the courageous conversations that members are already engaged in or are considering
There is a D51 Zoom general meeting that meets every Monday at noon EST.
There will be a monthly Zoom interview series focusing on courageous conversations. The interviewees will be D51 members as well as other experts outside of our division that focus on courageous actions related to transforming/ending many of the isms we face as a society as well as building stronger relationships within our division.
Stay tuned for updates.
I look forward to a great year with you,
Daniel Ellenberg, Ph.D.
Courage
"Courage itself is not the intended outcome but rather a means or fuel to enact our most important prosocial values—like connection, compassion, love, collaboration, and respect...we will explore how to make the greatest positive differences as we move forward together as an organization."
-Daniel Ellenberg, 2021 Division 51 President