Half of all mental health problems start by the age of 15 and the teenage and young adult years are particularly difficult for girls with high and increasing rates of anxiety, depression and self-harm. Many different factors contribute, including social media, peer pressures, focus on appearance, friends, relationships, schoolwork and, as Everyone’s Invited has recently highlighted, personal safety. There is tremendous pressure to conform with the expectations of others. Attitudes to women and girls seem to have gone into reverse during the author’s lifetime. It is too simplistic to view the problems of young women as a simply a ‘lack of self-esteem’. The difficulties they face in society are consistently underestimated and not taken seriously. Fast access to therapy is crucial. Bullying must be addressed effectively. Sexist and mysogynistic attitudes in school must be challenged and, given the easy access now to pornography, the issues of consent should addressed head on by both parents and schools. Using the example of Everyone’s Invited, women and girls need to reach out and support each other. The personal is still political.

Women ‘hold the world together’ through their emotional labour in relationships and families, unpaid housework, mothering and caring work regardless of their jobs outside the home too. They have borne the heaviest burden of the Covid−19 epidemic on society worldwide. Yet the emotional and physical impact of their work remains undervalued. They still experience sexism in the workplace, and the intersectional factors of race, class and deprivation magnify their suffering. Feminism identified the ‘problem with no name’ which became a diagnosis of anxiety then depression and women are twice likely as men to be diagnosed with these common mental health problems, anxiety and depression, and this excess of depression is real, it is not simply unhappiness, but is neverthlesless related to particular stresses of the lives we lead. Historically, we were precribed benzodiazepines and now antidepressants, which do help many. However, health care systems largely ignore the massive part that gender plays in why more women than men get depressed. There is inadequate access for many women to the kind of therapy and support they need. Women need to come together to create these therapeutic spaces.

Chapter 1 details the major events in Goethe’s long and varied life, from its beginning to its end, and explains their significance for his development. The scope of the account ranges from intimate details of Goethe’s life to the impact of major political events on him and his work. It follows Goethe from location to location, examines the many strands of his career and considers particularly important relationships, professional, literary, intellectual and personal. The chapter also explains the circumstances of the composition of all his most significant works.

Community organizing within local faith-based institutions (churches, synagogues, mosques, etc.) is now widespread in the US and has seen adoption in several other countries. As congregation-based organizing has grown and matured as a field over four decades, leaders have drawn strong connections between the social and political goals of community organizing and the religious traditions and values of the participating congregations. This blending of organizing practices and religious traditions has been crucial to the success of this approach. This chapter describes some of the practices that congregation-based community organizing initiatives employ to build power among residents who are actively participating in defining and deciding how to alter the systems that affect their lives. A statewide organizing federation (PICO California) and the reflections of influential organizer Jose Carrasco serve as a case example of the intertwining of interfaith values with a power-based organizing approach.

This chapter focuses on how to explore opportunities to partner with families in articulating support systems for child health and wellbeing. In particular, it explores how student educators and educators can reach out to families and develop the necessary partnerships to successfully support parents in their parenting and caring roles, with the aim of positively influencing children’s family lives, health and wellbeing.

Roger Smith and his bankers from Wells Fargo’s Special Industries Group brought their experience in tech lending to Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). According to Smith, Bank of America (BOA) was the first bank to take warrants for the right to purchase shares as part of the loan cost that they charged tech companies who were backed by Venture Capitalists (VCs) in Silicon Valley’s early days. After both Bank of America and Wells Fargo exited tech lending, SVB became the sought-after bank for lending to tech companies. SVB perfected its tech lending practice to startups that were VC-funded entities. This practice would later be called venture lending, venture loans, or venture debts in the United States and overseas.1

Some neo-Aristotelians see a strong link between virtues and eudaimonia or flourishing, but others do not. After acknowledging this difference, the chapter explores some of the possible implications of this link. The view explored in this chapter is that virtues contribute to success in goal and good pursuit, which, in turn, contributes to a flourishing life. The neo-Aristotelian view examined holds that there are things that are good for humans qua humans (e.g., close personal relationships, group belonging). Success in pursuing these goods is hypothesized to be correlated with eudaimonia. It explores several challenges in studying eudaimonia, but concludes that eudaimonia research should continue and be updated as conceptualization and measurement improves. The chapter concludes with a discussion of three well-documented human goods (close personal relationships, group belonging, and meaning) and their hypothesized relationships with specific virtues (e.g., loyalty, forgiveness, honesty).

Chapter 10 explores how young children’s science identity can be enhanced when thoughtful pedagogy is provided by the EC professional. The first part of this chapter presents the definitions of science identity and pedagogy, followed by an exploration of the relationship between EC professional beliefs and what they teach. The second half of the chapter presents two case studies to illustrate pedagogical practices associated with the learning and teaching of science with young children, using play as a medium, in order to enhance their science identity.

Although there have been attempts to make relationship science more diverse and inclusive, as it stands, the external sociocultural forces that impact relationships have not been at the forefront of research. We argue that romantic relationships cannot be divorced from the sociocultural context in which they exist. This chapter reviews the literature to explain the “context problem” faced by relationship science, highlighting the importance of including intersectional, context-driven research in the field. We then provide an overview of each chapter in the volume.

Infertility is a reproductive health condition that is often not openly discussed. By not discussing this condition, many stigmas and stereotypes may be ascribed. For example, many think that infertility pertains only to women, although men may also receive an infertility diagnosis. Race and ethnicity can impact how male factor infertility is understood, communicated, and managed. The aim of this chapter is to synthesize available research regarding biopsychosocial variables of male factor infertility with African American men while offering support considerations.

Intimacy, sex, and desire are important elements to personal and relational well-being and are some of the top reasons couples seek therapy. For Black couples, there is a unique challenge that can hamper the development of these elements given the historical backdrop of oppression that contributes to significant stressors on these couples. Helping Black couples to understand how they make meaning of sex, intimacy, and interactions with their partner, while maintaining a clear sense of self in the context of their physical and emotional closeness, has been positively associated with sexual desire, intimacy, and couple satisfaction. This chapter looks at the role of differentiation, the impact it has on a Black couple’s intimate life, and how clinicians can help facilitate the process of increasing the couple’s levels of differentiation, thus breathing life into the relationship.

This chapter explores the trauma and challenges Black couples have faced along with the impact of Dr. Joy DeGruy’s theory of Post-Traumatic Slavery Syndrome (PTSS). The central theory of the Gottman Method for couples therapy is reviewed along with special considerations that should be given and ways it can be enhanced in work with Black couples. Specific Gottman interventions aree explored along with how they can be aligned with trauma informed/culturally responsive care. Case conceptualizations of three African American couples who have been impacted by PTSS and treated using Gottman Method interventions are also presented.

This chapter explores infidelity in Black committed relationships. Research indicates that the instability of Black relationships is directly related to the effects of racial trauma that Black men and women continue to endure. Due to the emotional and psychological wounds caused by systemic oppression, internalized stereotypes, and other factors, Black men and women often wear a mask, ultimately suppressing their authentic selves. A sociological phenomenon called covering is discussed to frame, expand, and make meaning of the ways Black men and women in relationship have learned to survive and protect themselves from further emotional bruising. A case study using Narrative Therapy addresses covering while attending to the language used to shape a couple’s reality. Discovering an alternative solution to other possibilities expands the couple’s sense of self and other to ultimately redefine their story.

Black women’s romantic and intimate relationships are explored in both heterosexual and queer unions. We discuss the strengths of Black women’s romantic unions and examine conditions that create stress and distress for Black women in marriage, cohabitation, and sexual and dating relationships. We discuss cultural, structural, and historical dynamics that drive Black women’s relationship stereotypes and challenges. We also address conditions that create unusual relational risks for Black women, including sexually transmitted infections and intimate partner violence.

In Chapter 9, we turn to consider the interviews we conducted with some of the parents of the couples. Some of these parents were already grandparents many times over, and some were looking forward to becoming grandparents for the first time. In focusing on these interviews, we explore three different aspects. The first relates to whether or not the arrival of a grandchild might change the relationship with an adult child. The second explores the role that grandparents or intending grandparents expected to play in the lives of their adult children and grandchildren. And third, we look at whether or not the arrival of a grandchild changed how the participants viewed themselves. What we see is a marked difference between new parenthood and new grandparenthood. The former is marked by normative assumptions and social restrictions, while the latter appears to accord greater agency in terms of making decisions about what it means to be a grandparent.

In this chapter, we begin by examining the importance of trust in partnership work. We will then discuss the final premise of the TWINE Model of Partnership - to adapt. Through this premise, we will explore concepts such as participatory action, mapping out timelines, funding and resourcing a partnership. We will also examine some of the common challenges that might be faced in partnership work and discuss the ways these challenges might be overcome in practice.