Speaking
Jessica participates in speaking engagements across the country addressing maternal mental health issues, specifically perinatal and postpartum mood disorders as well as parent-child attachment research.
UPCOMING SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
In honor of Mother’s Day, Jessica will be presenting at The Motherhood Consortium in Los Angeles in May 2013. She will be addressing mother-daughter relationship dynamics and intergenerational body image issues.
Expecting the Unexpected When You’re Expecting workshop series continues in 2103. We will explore personal and cultural expectations surrounding pregnancy, birth, and motherhood. Perinatal and postpartum mood concerns will be discussed.
PREVIOUS ENGAGEMENTS
Bini Birth invited Dr. Zucker to lead a workshop in Los Angeles December 2012 exploring strategies women can employ with the hope of preventing postpartum depression and anxiety. Expecting the Unexpected When You’re Expecting aims to help pregnant and parenting women delve into conscious and unconscious expectations about pregnancy, birth, and motherhood with the hope of arming them with tools to gracefully navigate this milestone transition. Jessica spoke at a parenting event organized by Bini Birth that explored the art and science of early childhood attachment research and its implications for parenting (2011).
Jessica conducted a workshop addressing maternal mental health issues and attachment at the Institute for Girls’ Development in October 2012.
The Museum of Motherhood in New York City invited Dr. Zucker to take part in a conference dedicated to mindful motherhood and conscious parenting (Fall 2011). Jessica offered perspectives on the art and science of attachment theory as well as one-on-one parenting consultation sessions. Dr. Zucker participated alongside cutting-edge authors, psychologists, parenting experts, and perinatal researchers.
Carrie Contey, nationally recognized parenting consultant, author, and Ted Talks speaker, created a dynamic weekend workshop that plunged into essential elements of what it means to parent mindfully. Carrie offered invaluable tools and insights for pregnant and parenting families. Subsequently, Dr. Contey invited Jessica to be a featured guest in her Evolve program. In the interview, Jessica discussed the art and science of attachment as well as specific ways families can foster healthy relationships across the lifespan.
Jessica participated in a roundtable media briefing and screening of This Emotional Life at the Paley Center for Media in New York City for New York area writers and reporters. Panelists explored the importance of establishing healthy social connec- tions in infancy and the latest science in understanding the bond between parents and children. Hosted by Dr. Daniel Gilbert, a Harvard psychologist and author, the television documentary series premiered January 2010 on PBS. The series addresses issues organized around improving social relationships, understanding complex emotional struggles, and searching for greater happiness. Project partners include: Paul Allen’s Vulcan Productions, Method, WGBH Boston Nova Science, Cause and Affect, Kunhardt McGee Productions, Vox Global Mandate, and Fleishman-Hillard.
PSYCHOANALYTIC ENGAGEMENTS
Dr. Zucker spoke at the American Psychological Association’s Division of Psychoanalysis conference in Chicago as an invited panelist in Spring 2010 in association with her Karnac Books publication.
Based on her Karnac publication, Dr. Zucker was invited to present her research in Fall 2010 at the William Alanson White Institute in New York City. She has been asked to return to the institute to discuss her book after its publication.
Jessica presented her research on female embodiment, sexual development, and the daughtering experience in pornography at the American Psychological Association’s Division of Psychoanalysis meeting as an invited panelist in 2008 in New York City. She collaborated with Drs. Muriel Dimen, Katie Gentile, and Virginia Goldner. The title of her paper is “Lights, Camera, Attachment: Female Embodiment as Seen Through the Lens of Pornography”.
DOCUMENTARIES
Jessica will be interviewed for a documentary created by Elena Rossini discussing the intergenerational transmission of mother-daughter body image issues. The Illusionists is a feature-length documentary about the body as the “finest consumer object,” focusing on how mass media, advertising, and several industries manipulate and exploit women’s insecurities about their bodies for profit. Dr. Zucker’s writing is featured on The Illusionists blog in support of the film project. Cinematographer Elena Rossini was involved in the Endangered Species International Summit in London, among myriad other cutting-edge projects worldwide.
Early Moments Matter, an award-winning documentary that delves into the central- ity of early parent-child attachment, interviewed Dr. Zucker as an attachment expert. Early Moments Matter is being distributed to hospitals, birth centers, and pediatrician’s offices nationwide as an educational tool for developing families. The Attachment Toolkit features a series of educational materials with the aim of increasing awareness and skills for parents. Dr. Zucker is an ongoing consultant on the project.
Riddim Trax. A documentary film about the emotional intricacies of reuniting with family members after years of separation interviewed Dr. Zucker as a therapeutic consultant.