Lancaster School of Psychodrama and Experiential Psychotherapies
  • Home
  • Events
  • Online training
  • About
    • About Karen
    • Staff
  • Methods
    • Psychodrama
    • Family Constellations
    • Sand tray
    • Tarot
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Links
  • Sand tray figures for sale
  • Home
  • Events
  • Online training
  • About
    • About Karen
    • Staff
  • Methods
    • Psychodrama
    • Family Constellations
    • Sand tray
    • Tarot
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Links
  • Sand tray figures for sale
Search by typing & pressing enter

YOUR CART

9/6/2020 1 Comment

Who would have thought that it could happen in Kenosha?

Picture
By Karen Carnabucci, LCSW, TEP

One of our dearest illusions in the workings of the brain is the belief that, “It can’t happen here.”

Too frequently, and in too many ways, we come to learn – actually experience – that it can indeed happen here. The latest place of this lesson is the medium-sized Midwestern city of Kenosha, Wis., which has been everywhere in the news because of what happened two weeks ago today. 

Sadly, the community is the place where Jacob Blake, an apparently unarmed Black man was shot seven times in the back at extremely close range by a police officer while Jacob's three children watched from the back seat of the car that their father was trying to enter.
This shooting led to several peaceful protests about this abuse of power during the daytime, and destruction of several buildings, cars and businesses when night fell.

Then a teen-age boy, whose social media postings spoke of police idolization, white supremacist leanings and Donald Trump fandom, arrived from Antioch, Illinois, emboldened with an AK-style weapon in hand. In the dark of the night, the teen shot and killed two protesters and seriously wounded a third.

Wait, wait, wait. How did this happen in this lakefront town – which locals call K-Town – that only a day before was a quiet community with a low profile?

Lots of people are asking that question, and so they should.

A League of Their Own

Alert movie watchers will remember hearing the name during the movie “A League of Their Own,” which chronicled the story of the all-women’s baseball teams that flourished during the 1940s while the men were off fighting World War II. The women’s team, the Kenosha Comets, made a mention, along with the Racine Belles, the women’s team from the next county. And if you listen carefully during “The ’70s Show,” a television show about lives of a group of six teenage friends living in a fictional Wisconsin town, it sounds suspiciously like Kenosha.

For 16 years, I lived and worked in Racine, Wis., an easy 20-minute drive north of Kenosha. Once a thriving factory town, Kenosha still offers many charming pleasures, mostly known to the folks who live there or nearby.

Here, you will find triple museums – the Kenosha Public Museum, which boasts the reconstructed giant ice age woolly mammoth excavated in Kenosha County and other natural treasures; the top-notch Civil War Museum which might be second largest such museum in the country and hosts Civil War enactments; and just further south, the historic Kemper Center, which exhibits local, regional and national artists and the occasional outdoor jazz festival.  

"Much water"

What makes these gems all the more wonderful is the fact that the museums are located on the shore of beautiful and sparkling Lake Michigan and look out to an expansive body of water that the native Indigenous called “Michi Gami,” which means “Much water.” Much water indeed.

The lake shore is a special attraction, where you could stroll or bike to a few charming little cafes for coffee and a sweet biscuit, or perhaps fly a kite or check out a drumming circle organized by my friend Heather.

There’s Tenuta’s, the legendary Italian delicatessen where you can breathe in the heady aromas of imported prosciutto and mortadella and what seems like hundreds of cheeses, including the huge waxed log of provolone cheese, neatly tied with twine and hanging from the ceiling. Before leaving, you could purchase a box of cannoli or another pretty pastry treat or a fried pepper and meatball sandwich.

Frank’s Diner, a classic diner fitted into a vintage trolley car, serves the best breakfasts by sassy servers and was deservedly featured on the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” a few years ago. Through the decades, this little restaurant has hosted many celebrities, including the actors who played The Three Stooges, plus Lawrence Welk, Bela Lugosi, Duke Ellington and Liberace. Recent superstar sightings included actor and activist Mark Ruffalo – from Kensoha! – and various Green Bay Packers, which is a required religion if you live in Wisconsin.

You may also visit the outdoor farmers’ market, peruse the fresh gourmet garlic grown by Curzio, the authentic African baskets sold by Gretchen and a multitude of crafters and farmers who sell home-made soap, jewelry, honey, candy, vegetables and cheese.

Many people, me included, remember Father Dom’s Duck Doo, a poplar project started by  civic-minded priest who turned ordinary duck manure into organic fertilizer made from recycled duck poop, cranberries, rice hulls, wood shavings, pickles and vanilla beans. 

Just north of  Kenosha is Carthage College with a well-respected social work department; to the west is a University of Wisconsin campus with some really smart people -- I know a few -- and nearby is a community college. I could have taken a ride on the vintage streetcar that constantly rolls through its two-mile route in town, but that didn’t happen and I moved back to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 2016.

A community in pain

Now we see a community in pain. The store where I bought used furniture when I opened my psychotherapy practice  in Racine is burned to the ground. A lot of parked cars are burned shells dusted with ash, and residents are feeling stress, agitation and fear.  The local churches are holding vigils.  Friends tell me they are moving from shock to rebuilding, and the plywood that covers the boarded-up windows of so many businesses has been painted with bright murals and messages of hope, love and equality.  It is true art therapy, coming spontaneously from the hearts of people in the community.

We also see a clear juxtaposition of excessive force and white privilege. Is there any doubt that if a Black teen openly carried a gun on a city street, shot and killed two people and injured another person, he would be shot immediately by the police?

So, we see racism and white privilege on public display, and Kenosha is paying a high cost. Let us make sure that cost is not for loss, but for the gain of a place where people can learn to live with respect and connection.
​
Kenosha, I love you.

Karen Carnabucci, LCSW, TEP,  had a private practice in Racine, Wis., for 16 years  as a psychotherapist, coach and trainer. She was an adjunct instructor at Gateway Technical College,  a community college with branches in Racine and Kenosha, and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside,  just outside of Kenosha.  She now lives and practices in Lancaster, Pa.
1 Comment
Marilyn Ebel
9/9/2020 11:40:39 pm

Karen,
You have such good writing skills and I hope Lanc.Newspaper will print this article. It brought to me so quickly how any place, like Lancaster, could easily
have the same uprising. Your living there in the area certainly brought the news right to my heart again. Appreciated the signs and artwork of hope !!!

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Karen Carnabucci, LCSW, TEP, is an author, trainer and psychotherapist who promotes, practices and teaches experiential methods including psychodrama, Family and Systemic Constellations, mindfulness and Tarot imagery.

    Archives

    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    August 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    April 2015
    January 2015

    Categories

    All 2016 2017 2020 2021 Conference Abuse Adam Blatner African Americans Alan Swanson Alison Mezey American Society Of Group Psychotherapy And Psychodrama Ancestor Healing Anger Anti-racism Anxiety Art Of Play ASGPP Authenticity Azizi Marshall Bert Hellinger Brain Science Breathe CE Credits Chicago Christmas Conference #constellatepeace Constellation Work Coronavirus COVID Dear Abby Decolonizing Mental Health Decolonizing Therapy Documentary Series Donald Trump Dr. J.L Moreno Eating Disorders Edward Tick Election Day 2016 Empathy Essential Oils Experiential Psychotherapies Experiential Psychotherapy Ex[periential Therapies Family Constellations Food Gratitude Group Psychotherapy Groups Group Skills Health Hidden Messsages Of Water Hoarding Illness Intergenerational Trauma Interview Japan Joseph Moreno Juneteenth Karen Carnabucci Kate Hudgins Kenosha Lancaster Lancaster School Of Psychodrama & Experiential Psychotherapies LIberty Place Light Linda Ciotola LNP Love Marcia Karp Mark Wolynn Masaru Emoto Meditation Memoirs Mental Illness Mice Study Nancy Alexander Neurobiology New Year Office Office Protocol Online Conference Online Training Pandemic Play Playback Theatre Play Therapy Politics Practice Space Psychodrama Psychodrama Books Psychotherapy Puppets Racism Regina Moreno Reiki Resources Rice Experiment Ritual River Crossing Playback Theatre San Bernardino Sand Tray Schaumburg Seed Point Selena Fox Self Care Self Love Sleep Social Change Social Justice Sociodrama Sociometry Solstice Spirituality Spiritualty Spring Equinox Stephan Hausner Stress Studies Stuffed Animals Systemic Constellations Systemic View Thanksgiving Theatre Of The Oppressed The New York Times Therapeutic Spiral Model Training Transformation Trauma U.S. Election Vacation Vaccine Veterans Video Training Visualization Warm Up William Moreno Winter Solistice Wisconsin Women's March Yoga YouTube Zerka T. Moreno

    RSS Feed

Located in beautiful Lancaster, Pennsylvania


What People Say

  • “A wonderful mix of relaxed professionalism, humor and up-to-date information.”

  •  “…awakened my creative spirit and pushed me to stretch myself professionally and personally beyond what I could have done with any other type of training programs.”

  • "She inspired the rest of our team with her ready smile and easy-going presence."

Subscribe to Karen's e-letter!

Join our mailing list today!
Subscribe!
Photos used under Creative Commons from anieto2k, CrimsonDarko