Women's Wellness: January 29, 2025

An evening with local author, Deborah Derrickson Kossmann. Deborah will discuss topics affecting many of us - aging, hoarding and caregiving, and read from her new book. Deborah will also talk about that process and then open to discussion and close with another brief reading from the book.

Deborah Derrickson Kossmann is the winner of Trio House Press's inaugural 2023 Aurora Polaris Creative Nonfiction Award; Lost Found Kept: A Memoir, published by Trio House Press in early 2025, is available for purchase now. She is currently working on a collection of essays, Complications of Captivity.

“Taking a Step Forward” and “Why We Needed a Prenup With Our Contractor” were published as “Modern Love” columns in The New York Times, and the "Tale of Two Primates" appeared as a "Menagerie" column in the New York Times Opinionator section. Deb won the Short Memoir Competition at the Philadelphia First Person Arts Festival. She has also received a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Poetry Fellowship and an Individual Creative Artist-Special Opportunity Stipend for Literature (Poetry) from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

Her poetry, essays and feature articles have appeared in a range of literary journals and other publications including the Nashville Review, The Woven Tale Press, Psychotherapy Networker, and Solstice Literary Magazine. She has been a fellow in residence at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and The Ragdale Foundation on a number of occasions for both poetry and nonfiction.

A licensed clinical psychologist who has been in full time private practice for more than thirty years, Deb has experience in oncology, community mental health, and leadership consulting. She participates in PSYPACT which allows her to see clients in more than 42 states via telehealth. She has taught graduate courses on ethics, family therapy, trauma and counseling skills. A member of the Pennsylvania Psychological Association, she sits on the Ethics Committee. She was formerly on the Board of Directors for the Pennsylvania Psychological Foundation and was an Alumni Trustee on the Board of Trustees of Arcadia University. She is a member of Arcadia's President's Advisory Council.

Prior to becoming a psychologist, Deb was the Public Relations Manager/Special Events Coordinator at the Philadelphia Zoo and also worked at KYW Newsradio as the Advertising and Promotions Manager.

Deb lives in Havertown, PA with her husband, Marc, and Sofia Carmela, a cat with a whole lot of “tortitude.”

2025 Women's Wellness Series

January 8th: Strengthening Self Through The Senses
Come join us for an exciting workshop exploring the many ways that we can use our senses to help regulate the nervous system, expand our internal and external resources, listen to what the body is communicating and learn how to attend to it, and to deeply strengthen our relationship with self. This workshop will include a guided sensory meditation, journaling, playfulness with textures, sounds, scents, and will conclude with a tea tasting and light snacks.
Stacey Vinci is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and an ANFT Certified Forest Therapy Guide. Stacey has been in practice for 14 years, supporting individuals, communities, and family systems in generational healing, growth, and change. Stacey facilitates embodied wellness through somatic, trauma-informed, and nature-based offerings.
transcendcsc.com  

January 15th: Reducing cortisol/stress levels with aromatherapy
Returning Women's Wellness speaker, Lauren Cattie, will share a presentation covering aromatherapy, herbs, and plants that reduce cortisol levels, as well as other things you can do to naturally reduce cortisol/stress levels day to day. (Breath work, mindfulness, accupressure points, self care, etc.).
Follow Lauren on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/laurencattie

January 22nd: Astrology Basics
What you’ll learn:
• Sun, Moon & Rising (your big 3)
• Mercury, Mars & Venus (persona planets)
• The House System (where life happens)
• Fire, Earth, Air & Water (zodiac elements)
www.shalamainline.com; Tricia Adelman, Yoga Shala Main Line, Yoga, Mindfulness & Astrology; Tricia@shalamainline.com, 267-274-4648

January 29th: Lost Found Kept: A Conversation with the Author
How does a psychologist fail to recognize that her intelligent, sensitive, and book-loving mother has created "the worst hoarder house ever seen?" After making the horrifying discovery that her mother had no water in her house for at least two years, Deborah Derrickson Kossmann begins the otherworldly excavation of a childhood home she hasn't been inside for three decades.
Moving back and forth in time, from this surreal nightmare of an archaeological dig to recollecting her past and long buried family secrets, Kossmann seeks to untangle a web of complicated familial relationships. In her lyrical and unflinching quest, she comes to understand what's been lost, what's been found and what's been kept in both her own and her mother's life.

February 5th: The Big 6 & Lymphatic Drainage

February 12: update coming soon!

IRISH DIASPORA CENTER

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