Mirror and a Flashlight

In this bonus episode, we bring listeners a recording of the panel discussion and Q & A from our virtual event, Reflecting on Mirror and a Flashlight. To celebrate the conclusion of the show’s first season, community members and the Mirror and a Flashlight podcast team gathered to reflect on the surprises, inspirations, and challenges of sharing the stories of Chicago Women’s Health Center.

In this final episode of the season, Mirror and a Flashlight brings listeners a story that exemplifies CWHC’s integrative approach to health care and shows what is possible when the entire individual is considered and engaged along the winding road of healing. Chiara Francesca generously shares how, since 2009, she has collaborated with her providers across programs, and what this approach has meant for her health and her ability to show up for herself and others.

What does integrative health mean, and how is it part of feminist care? In this episode of Mirror and a Flashlight, we talk about CWHC’s Integrative Health Program (IHP) with Clinical Services Director, Leslie Fiedler. Listen for a conversation on how CWHC is increasing access to a wider range of frameworks for health and wellness.

CWHC’s Alternative Insemination (AI) Program was the first in the midwest specifically designed to provide a path to pregnancy for folx who didn’t have access to sperm. In this episode, we talk to early members of the program as well as the current Program Coordinator about how CWHC shifted the landscape of parenthood for queer people seeking pregnancies.

“If you look at any women's organization that started in the 70s, and still is around today, each one of them has their story of how they - if they - made the transition to be trans inclusive.” Today’s episode traces the steps and missteps of CWHC’s journey to offer trans health services and become a leader in providing trans health care in the midwest.

CWHC’s Outreach and Education (OE) Program has been around for over 30 years and now provides comprehensive sexual health education to over 3,500 young people across Chicago every year. Listen to hear how our health educators bring CWHC’s collaborative, education-focused model beyond its clinic into classrooms, and how they use students’ anonymous questions to challenge traditional power dynamics of who decides what young people get to know or question.

What is a feminist relational approach to therapy? And what does it look like to work towards de-medicalizing mental health? Join us for a conversation between Tina Lee, Lee Jacobs Riggs, and Sunny Swift as they reflect on what it’s like to be a Counselor - and be a human - practicing CWHC’s approach to care.

Our premiere episode begins with Chicago Women’s Health Center’s roots in the feminist health movement of the 1960s. Terri Kapsalis, author and long-time CWHC Collective Member, describes the clinic’s model of care, its historic context, and how it remains at the heart of our work 45-years later.

Welcome to the trailer for Mirror and a Flashlight, a podcast that explores the history, stories, and practices of Chicago Women’s Health Center, a feminist collective that has been evolving and transforming for decades.