Formidable Women of Wisdom and Inspiration

Formidable women? Who could I possibly write about? Heroines, whose stories I’d
grown up with like Florence Nightingale, Joan of Arc? Famous film stars — Greta Garbo,
Katharine Hepburn? Women in politics? Michelle Obama, Hilary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi?
Women in the pop culture? Beyonce, Taylor Swift — Dolly Parton?

Volumes had been written about these women. Had their lives touched me in any
significant way? It’s a formidable task. I’m stuck.

That’s when it comes to me, right in the moment: Miss Scott

Ms. Scott

My husband and I are engaged in our favorite Sunday evening ritual, engrossed in
“Grantchester” on Masterpiece Theater.

Watching police detective Geordie’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Esme, fight with her
mom, my past life — both as daughter and mother– flashes in front of me. Esme quits school,
runs away from home and gets a job at a family-owned business, after her angry mother yells out
to her, “I hate you.”

What Esme doesn’t realize is she’s landed a job in a hotbed of danger and corruption.
Several girls Esme’s age have died at this workplace. Shortly after, Esme finds her co-worker and
good friend, Mae, dead in the storeroom.

Unaware that the murder has taken place where his daughter works, Geordie is asked to
investigate. He and his team find evidence which leads them to suspect a history of foul play in
the company.

Enter detective Geordie’s assistant, Ms. Scott, who courageously offers to go undercover,
to better observe the company office. Ms. Scott is awesome. Geordie objects but she prevails,
managing the formidable task of faking her way and getting hired into this dangerous setting.

Projecting confidence and aplomb, she is totally convincing as the new hiree. And so
calm and sure of herself. My shoulders stiffen. I’m glued to the chair as Ms. Scott investigates,
searches the crime scene, digs through records and gets closer and closer to the truth.

Watching this young woman on the screen, I was filled with admiration, clouded by
dread, despite that we were comfortably ensconced in the comfort of home, with dark chocolate
snacks, for our evening viewing “treat.”

Shivers run down my spine when Ms. Scott enters the room where Mae was killed.
There, she’s attacked by the woman who hired her, the woman who Ms. Scott has discovered to
be responsible for the deaths. But she is able to fend off. The team rushes to her rescue. Ms. Scott
has been instrumental in cracking the case.

All I can think at that moment is to ask myself, “Could I do that?” Could I go calmly and
confidently undercover and “pull it off”? That was when it came to me. Ms. Scott was a perfect
poster child. She was indeed an inspiring and Formidable Woman of the 20th century.

The floodgates were open now. Images of other Formidable Women who’d inspired me,
even written about, competed for space in my mind.

Therapist Rachel Stern

Of course. Therapist Rachel Stern, a character based on a real-life person, from the short
fiction story Monitored. Rachel is a compassionate champion for her clients. She supports and
bonds with them. She nurtures their self-esteem and inspires their confidence.

In the story, Rachel helps her client, Erik, overcome his fears of “being monitored.”

Erik arrives at Rachel’s office believing he’s being monitored or spied upon at work. And,
he sees the letters of his name–E-R-I-K–on license plates when he’s driving. The idea that Erik is
responding to past or current traumatic events in his life immediately flashes across Rachel’s
radar screen.

After meeting with Erik and learning about his history, Rachel concludes that his
feelings of being monitored are protecting him and allow him to avoid confronting his
painful feelings, and his relationship problems. She plans to work with him in individual
therapy sessions.

A colleague reproaches Rachel, “You’ve gotta put him on meds! His delusions about
the license plates and feeling spied on are symptoms of paranoia.” Rachel blanches. She
avoids diagnostic terms like paranoid. They tend to become negative labels, written in stone.

After presenting Erik’s case to her clinic team, Rachel is shaken by their response.
Like her colleague, the team decides to recommend the diagnosis of Paranoia, medication
and possible hospitalization.

But for Rachel, these are not good solutions and only a very last resort for someone
like Erik. With the support of the clinical director, Rachel stands up to the team and goes
ahead with her own therapy plan. As the story unfolds, we see that Rachel’s approach turns
out to be exactly what Erik needs.

With Rachel’s support, their therapeutic bond grows and Erik’s self-acceptance
develops. Rachel then helps Erik discover that understanding and exploring his fears and
“demons” will help him heal. When she tells Erik that his feelings of being monitored are
positive and protect him from confronting his more painful feelings, he feels validated and
change becomes possible.

With her empathy and support, Erik begins to feel more confident.

In her case reports, she notes, “As his accounts of being watched and coincidences
receded, Erik continued to face what was really troubling him. I never asked him about the
other stuff, the missing files…Nor did he ever mention them again. I was elated by his many
insights. My prayers for Erik to be spared the system’s psychiatric assault were answered…”

Only once does the idea of “being monitored” come up again. At the end of her last
session with Erik, Rachel’s supervisor summons her over the intercom, to come to the office
immediately. As he listens, Erik falls back against his chair. He begins to laugh, a low throaty
laugh and tears fill his eyes, trickling down his cheeks. He says, “Dr. Stern, I’m thrilled to know
I’m not alone. Sorry for you, that you’re the one being monitored.”

That is when Rachel knows Erik is like a fledgling, ready to fly from its nest out into the
world.

Rachel is a formidable woman. Her ability to think out of the box gives her a degree of
flexibility, the ability to problem-solve and develop creative solutions.

Sister Elizabeth Kenny

Sister Elizabeth Kenny, an Australian bush nurse who lived during the time of the polio
epidemics also had those talents.

As a young woman, I heard nurse Kenny’s name many times and became curious.
Elizabeth Kenny’s stellar life spanned the 19 th and 20 th centuries. A couple of years ago, I came
across a 1946 movie on TCM: Sister Kenny. I was riveted as I watched and thus began my
fascination. (“Sister” is a title which applies to a more highly qualified nurse.)
It was Kenny’s story that inspired me to share my story of therapist Rachel. Like
Rachel, Sister Kenny challenged the prevailing approaches and rules and helped her clients by
thinking out of the box. She was of a like-minded persuasion.

Sister Kenny was an Australian bush nurse who, during the early 20 th century, developed
a new and controversial approach for treating Polio, previously known as Infantile Paralysis. She
was able to apply her approach while working in Australia, Europe and the United States. It
differed from the conventional medical practice.

The orthodox system was “rest in a well-protected position.” Most physicians placed
patients’ affected arms or legs in splints or plaster casts. Kenny believed such immobilization
ineffective and even harmful to the patient’s health. Muscles in spasm led to the paralysis found
in patients.

She believed immobilization prevented transmission of nerve impulses, and led to poor
muscle coordination. It also interfered with the nutrition of muscles as well as tissue.

According to Sister Kenny, patients’ muscles needed to be specifically treated and
exercised. She also applied hot compresses made from woolen blankets to their legs.

Elizabeth Kenny debated publicly with leading figures in the AMA & the Infantile
Paralysis foundation. She dressed in dramatic hats and corsages and was popular with the
American public. She was famous and respected in the West.

Sister Kenny also challenged the traditions of her time, when doctors rarely explained
what they were doing or why —leaving the patient to simply obey medical direction. In the days
of “masculine science,” the “weaker emotions” of caring and empathy which Kenny espoused
were not recognized.

She emphasized explaining what was happening and argued that the patient’s active
participation was crucial role in the healing process. She taught patients to learn the names of the
muscles and the reasons behind correct muscle movements. Many have noted her contribution to
present notions of physical therapy.

Later, Sister Kenny became established as a polio expert in Minneapolis. She had a clinic
there, which became her base.

Elizabeth Kenny and Rachel Stern and, to some extent Ms. Scott, were of a like-minded
persuasion. All were formidable women who bucked the tide of their times, stood up to the
establishment and thought out of the box. Their vision and innovative approaches were vital their
worlds, and ours.

As we move forward on our journeys, we may encounter roadblocks, or
pressures to conform to practices which do not serve us or others well. Let us
cherish the wisdom and inspiration of these Formidable