HELLO
Dr. Madeline Stenersen
She/Her
Meet the Leader
Dr. Madeline Stenersen is a licensed counseling psychologist and Assistant Professor of Psychology at Saint Louis University. Her work uses community-engaged methods focused on the intersection between the sex industry, the criminal legal system, and LGBTQ+ communities. She also works closely with organizations in the U.S. and abroad to use mixed methods data and evaluation to understand, fund, and grow the impact of their programs. Dr. Stenersen is continually grateful for the role she is invited to play in supporting the work of amazing organizations serving their communities.
Restorative Leadership Interview Questions:
Question 1: What helps you stay creatively courageous when the world feels threatened/like it’s on fire?
The thing that helps me most in staying creatively courageous with everything that's always going on is the people around me. Even when it seems that humans are the primary problem, I am constantly reminded of the beauty of humanity in the actions of others, in the values that they put forth into the world and and how they care for each other. My students encourage me every day with the wonderful ideas they have based on their own life experiences and their outlook, which can be significantly different from my own. I'm inspired by the practices of my clients who continue to push themselves to think in new ways and try things that are never easy, and may not work, but are part of their journey and exploration for their own wellness. I also work with many organizations that keep my faith in humanity. My work with sex workers and sex worker advocacy organizations show me the power that people have to save their own lives in an increasingly oppressive system. My work with organizations helping victims of exploitation and violence really reminds me of what I'm working towards in all that I do.
Creativity for me often comes in pushing the bounds of what is historically been given authority for being "rigorous", and "academic". It is only through my friendships and partnerships with people who live, and have been systemically pushed, outside of these bubbles that I see how these structures were built on gatekeeping and human hierarchy. It is through those connections that the most wonderful and creative solutions emerge to both work around our current system to continue the work, while also pushing back to change the structures that make those struggles in the first place.
Question 2: Describe a time when your imagination helped you move from fear into action.
The recent attacks on LGBTQ+ people in the United States, their rights, and their humanity has caused me great fear. Though this fear doesn’t always turn into productivity or action I’ve found motivation in both creating efforts of our own using skills in research and community and also motivation through assisting others who are doing the legislative work at the state level here in Missouri. Firstly, myself and my students are working to track some of the laws and policies being passed in the United States – making a record of what each state believes is “family” and how that may impact the lives of families across the country. We’re working to use our skills in research and data to highlight inequity in healthcare, criminal justice, and violence in relation to these laws. Secondly, I work as part of the mental health care team for an organization, PROMO, that fights legislatively for the rights of LGBTQ+ Missourians here in the state. There is so much to do on these fronts here, and PROMO works tirelessly on these efforts. One of the things they have put in place that I have been grateful to be a part of is in recognition of the mental strain and trauma it can be for LGBTQ+ people to go and testify in front of a confrontational congress in the state about their experience and needs. As part of the mental healthcare team I stand by ready to assist testifiers in this space and provide them the support they need. Collectively these people and these movements keep me going, I am forever grateful that I have found creative ways to use my skills as a psychologist, researcher, and community member to help others and support the great work that others do in service to humanity.
Question 3: What does growth and holding space look like for you after a loss or rupture?
I believe both growth and holding space look firstly like time. Time to be, whatever that means after a loss. Though it sometimes feels impossible with the demands of the world and society, I strive to always give myself time to grieve, and my own space for doing so. I try to honor my initial and immediate reactions to things, they are real and a reflection of me, my true beliefs, and the learnings (good and bad) I've had throughout my life. Once I've given that space, I work to reflect on how those immediate reactions are consistent with who I believe myself to be, and how they are inconsistent. I believe only after this true conversation with myself can I really begin to understand what growth will look like after a loss or rupture. I then consider my own energy and capacity, wanting to always do more, but knowing that you can't pour from an empty cup. I tend to be a planner in this time, planning for what I can do now and in the future to learn, grow, and change when necessary and act when required.
Question 4: How do you protect space for imagination in your team or community?
I believe that creativity and imagination can be helped through a combination of space, knowledge, and direction. When someone gives me an idea, even if that idea immediately hits me as not feasible, the goal in that moment is to discover what about that idea drives them. Without that initial excitement the world around us can become so boxed in, and we can begin to lose creative ideas that are big and powerful. So instead of mentioning the limitations or downsides I try to remember to be excited, engage with the idea and it’s purpose, and encourage exploration of it. I know with time the idea and plan will come into place in a way that’s consistent with current resources and capacity – but that doesn’t have to be done right now.
I also (sometimes to the stress of my students) share my own big ideas that come to mind. I do make sure students know that they don’t have to take these ideas or do any or all of them! But I believe that showing how I think outside the box, ideally, and aspirationally, can help students have these big ideas of their own.
Finally I try to remind those I work with that everything we do is a challenge, a privilege, and an opportunity to learn and grow. Even when something is so hard, and seems like we’re stuck in a hard place – we will keep going and in time learn what we can from the experience to take to the next one.
Question 5: What rituals or practices help you (and/or your team/community) name what hurts while still holding on to what’s possible?
As a psychologist and therapist I learned to do this many ways formally through school and informally in working with clients going through impossible times, and coming out the other side stronger with a greater sense of self. Much of these transformations center around the people around and in community with one another. It's a combination of hearing other people's unique stories and lives, and also appreciating the commonalities we all share in how we cope with what our lives have been and will be. In practice for myself, these practices include being around those I love and care about, crying when needed and sometimes just because, and finding joys in the small things that make meaning out of my life (knitting, my cat, the outdoors) so I can eventually take a breath to see the bigger picture of hope and possibility.