Linda Blachman, MPH, MA

With a long career in counseling and public health, I am a seasoned, compassionate guide in reviewing people’s life experiences, recording oral histories, and navigating individuals through life transitions.  For over a decade, I have helped people prepare spiritual autobiographies, legacy letters, and life plans. My work expresses the belief that each of us has a unique essence or spirit and a meaningful story through which that uniqueness is revealed. Telling and listening to the stories of our lives can be healing and enlightening to both narrator and listener. Responsibly planning our lives and legacies in accordance with our deepest values can help us to live more fully. Freeing the voice through speech, writing, and song can liberate the soul.

Awards - Education - Selected Publications -
Public Speaking/Workshops/Training

• Founder and Director, the Mothers’ Living Stories Project
• Author, Another Morning: Voices of Truth and Hope from Mothers with Cancer (Seal Press, 2006)
• Creator of the Mothers’ Living Stories Project Volunteer Listener Training Program, including a manual and educational video for training in deep listening and in recording life histories and legacies
• Member: Association of Personal Historians, Ethical Wills Facilitators' Network, Legacy Center

• Nominee, Peter E. Haas Public Service Award, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, 2005
• Recipient, “Mitzvah Project Award,” for The Mothers’ Living Stories Project, Jewish Community Federation Women’s Alliance, San Francisco, April 2000.
• Writing Residency Fellowship, Friends of the Lake Forest Library, Lake Forest, Illinois
• Invited Participant, Squaw Valley Community of Writers, Narrative Nonfiction
• Writers’ Residencies

The Anderson Center, Red Wing, MN
Hedgebrook, Whidby Island, WA
The Mesa Refuge, Point Reyes, CA
The Ragdale Foundation, Lake Forest, IL

• Invited Participant, Storytelling and Healthcare Summit, Storytelling Foundation International
• A&PS Achievement Award for Continuous Outstanding Performance, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California
• New York State Scholar Incentive Award, New York University
• Phi Beta Kappa, University of Wisconsin

M.P.H. Masters in Public Health, Social and Administrative Health Sciences, Community Mental Health/Maternal-Child Health. University of California - Berkeley
M.A. Counseling Psychology. New York University, New York City
B.A. Psychology. University of Wisconsin - Madison

Specialized Training: oral history methods; compassionate caregiving for the ill and dying

Blachman, L. Another Morning: Voices of Truth and Hope from Mothers with Cancer, Seal Press/Avalon, 2006.

Blachman, L. Giving Presence: The Mothers’ Living Stories Project Training Manual for Volunteer Listeners,
A MLS Project Publication, Berkeley, CA, 2005.

Blachman, L. Mothers Talk About the Mothers’ Living Stories Project. A MLS Project Publication, 2000, 2003.

Blachman, L., Editor, Springboard, Newsletter of the Spring Foundation for Research on Women in Contemporary Society. Volume 1, Fall/Winter 1994.

Blachman, L., and C. Brindis. “Finding Common Ground,” The Clearinghouse for Drug Exposed Children
Newsletter. Volume 4, #4, Winter 1994.

Blachman, L., Brindis, C., Bennett, R., Remington, J., Jenkins, G., & A. Siegel. Evaluation of a
Comprehensive Model of Care for Chemically Dependent Low-Income Women and their Children. Paper presented at the APHA Annual Meeting, Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Section, San Francisco, 1993.

Blachman, L. Hunger in Alameda County: A Study of Emergency Food Clients. Cooperative Extension, University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, December 1989.

Blachman, L. “Dancing in the Dark I: Romanticized Motherhood and the Breastfeeding Venture,” Birth and the Family Journal, 8:4, Winter 1981.

Blachman, L. “Dancing in the Dark 2: Helping and Not-So-Helping Hands,” Birth and the Family Journal,
8:4, Winter 1981.

LINDA BLACHMAN has presented her work extensively through public speaking, teaching and training. She has been selected for the 2007 National Cancer Survivors Day® Speakers Bureau.

Subjects Linda speaks on include:

            The Healing Power of Story, Listening and Legacy
            Your Life as Story
            Parenting Through Challenging Times
            Recording Personal and Family Histories
            Life Planning and Life Transitions
            The Mothers’ Living Stories Project Model of Care
            Parenting with Cancer
            Illness Narratives
            Writing for Healing
            Preparing Ethical Wills and Legacies
            Ethical Wills and Legacies in Financial Planning
            Family Business Values, Histories and Legacies
            Loss, Grief, and Bereavement
            Therapeutic Aspects of Personal History
            Listening and Witnessing
            Spiritual Autobiography
            Revising Lives After Cancer under Parenting Through Cancer
            LifeLetters: Workshops on Living and Giving
           
A partial list of organizations, institutions and meetings where Linda has spoken or is scheduled to speak follows:

CancerCare, New York City
Columbia University Graduate School of Social Welfare, New York City
Sonoma State University, Women’s and Gender Studies Department, Rohnert Park, CA
San Francisco State University, Narrative Gerontology Department
The Dougy Center for Grieving Children and Families, Portland, Oregon
The National Association of Personal Historians Annual Conference
The International Association of Reminiscence and Life Review Annual Conference
International Association of Human Caring Conference, Boulder
The Professional Grief Caregivers Network, San Francisco
The Ragdale Foundation, Lake Forest, IL
Gilda’s Club/Jewish Family and Children’s Services, Milwaukee, WI
Alta Bates/Sutter Hospital Grand Rounds, Berkeley
UCSF Institute for Health and Aging Faculty Seminar, San Francisco
Women’s Cancer Resource Center, Oakland
Mission Hospice, San Mateo
Family Enterprise Center, San Francisco State University
Jewish Family and Children’s Services of the East Bay, Berkeley
Women’s Health Center, Mt. Diablo Medical Center, Walnut Creek
The Transition Network, San Francisco
Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley
Congregation Netivot Shalom, Berkeley
Temple Israel, Alameda
The Florence Melton Adult Min-School, Berkeley
SHARE: The Contra Costa Area Agency on Aging Network
Novacea, Inc., Burlingame

Selected Presentations 

“The Healing Power of Story, Listening, and Legacy.” SHARE Network, Walnut Creek, CA, March 13, 2007.

“The Mothers’ Living Stories Project Model of Care.” Grand Rounds. Alta Bates/Summit Hospital, Berkeley, November 13, 2006.

“Women’s Healing Stories.” Women’s and Gender Studies Department, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA, Oct. 10, 2006.

“The Healing Power of Story, Listening, and Legacy.” CancerCARE, New York, October 30, 2006.

“Story, Listening, and Legacy.” Columbia University School of Social Work Wednesday Lecture Series, Columbia University, New York, November 1, 2006.

“Ethical Wills and Legacy Letters.” General presentation, Association of Personal Historians National Conference, Portland, Oregon, October 7, 2006.

“Therapeutic Aspects of Personal History: Life Review, Ethical Wills, Spiritual Autobiography.” Workshop, Association of Personal Historians National Conference. Portland, Oregon, October 7, 2006.

“Loss, Grief, and the Healing Potential of Story.” Training, Dougy Center for Grieving Children and Families. Portland, Oregon, October 5, 2006.

“The Healing Power of Story, Listening, and Legacy.” Jewish Family Services, Gilda’s Club, and Jewish Community Center. Milwaukee, WI, June 6, 2006.

“Loss, Grief, and the Healing Potential of Story.” Professional Grief Caregivers Network, San Francisco, April 27, 2006

“Sacred Autobiography.” Personal Theology Seminar, Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, March 26, 2006.

“Family Business Values, Histories, and Legacies.” SF State University Family Enterprise Center, March 1, 2006.

“Healing through Listening and Legacy.” UCSF Institute for Health and Aging Faculty Seminar, November 29, 2005. 

“Applications for Life Review and Narratives: MLS Project, Ethical Wills, and Personal History,” Guest Lecturer, Narrative Gerontology Program, San Francisco State University, February 27, 2004.

“Healing Through Listening & Legacy: The Mothers’ Living Stories Project.” Workshop presenter, International Reminiscence & Life Review Conference, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, October 8-11, 2003.

“Care for the Caregiver: Giving Presence, The Mothers’ Living Stories Project.” Workshop presenter, 25th Annual International Association of Human Caring Conference, Boulder, CO, June 1-4, 2003.

“Telling Our Stories, Writing Our Legacies.” Presentation, Mission Hospice, San Mateo, CA, March 23, 2001.

“Life Stories and Legacies,” In-service presentation, oncology social work staff, Alta Bates Comprehensive Cancer Center, Berkeley, CA, March 2, 2001.

“Parenting and Family Issues in Breast Cancer.” Workshop Presenter, Up Close and Personal Conference, Northern California Cancer Center, San Francisco, March 21, 1998.

“Impact of Breast Cancer on Children, Mothers and Family.” Presentation, Bay Area Breast Cancer Forum, UCSF/ Mount Zion Cancer Center, San Francisco, December 4, 1996.

“An Introduction to the Field of Program Evaluation.” Guest Lecturer, University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, Health Policy Graduate Seminar, November 1993.

CONTACT LINDA HERE!