Workshop #8: It's All Relative(s)
May 19 at 7PM

An extended family with involved grandparents is good for all children, but especially so for children with LGBTQ parents as the grandparents normalize their family experience.

Parents want the relationship between their parents and their children to be loving, but what if the grandparents harbor homophobic feelings? Having grandchildren can have a profound effect on the grandparents' attitudes to their children's sexual orientation or even to their grandchildren, particularly if they disapprove of LGBTQ families.

Should then special efforts be made to gain the grandparents' approval of the family, and what approaches can be helpful? How can parents help their children understand their grandparent's negativity without making the children feel rejected? Often, previously skeptical grandparents have a positive change of heart when their children became parents. For all grandparents, gay affirmative or hostile, the arrival of a new generation can act as an affirmation of the rneaningfulness of life of the older generation. While working through grandparental distancing, parents can explore other means of broadening the family experience through building closer relationships with friends, other family members, LGBTQ families, and neighbors. This workshop examines possibilities for enriching family life through building an extended family, based partially on the leader's persona! and professional experience with these issues.

LEE CRESPI, CSW, is the author of a number of articles including  “And baby makes three: a dynamic look at development and conflict in lesbian families” “The baby boom meets the gayby boom: twenty-five years of psychoanalysis in the lesbian community.”  and “Some thoughts on the role of mourning in the development of a positive lesbian identity.” She is one of the founders of the Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Study Center where she currently supervises. She is in private practice in New York City.

To make a reservation for any workshop, contact:
ihi Family Q @ 212-243-2830 or ihicenter@juno.com