What does it mean to be a “good” mother —or analyst— in a world shaped by screens, surveillance, and constant connection? Renowned scholar and cultural historian Hannah Zeavin, PhD, author of Mother Media: Hot and Cold Parenting in the 20th Century, joins psychoanalyst and child psychologist Elizabeth Bradshaw, PsyD, for a conversation about how technology and culture have shaped our construction of motherhood and ultimately, how we parent. Drawing on media theory and cultural studies, the dialogue will reflect on care, labor, intimacy, and identity, and explore the fantasies, anxieties, and double binds that define and confine the modern parent. Together, they’ll consider how to accompany children, parents, and patients toward a more human future in the digital age.
Hannah Zeavin, PhD., is a scholar, writer, and editor, co-founder of the Psychosocial Foundation and Founding Editor of Parapraxis magazine, and an Associate Professor of History in the Department of History and The Berkeley Center for New Media at UC Berkeley. Her work centers on the history of human sciences (psychoanalysis, psychology, and psychiatry), the history of technology and media, feminist science and technology studies, and media theory. Zeavin is the author of the award winning books, Mother Media: Hot and Cool Parenting in the 20th Century (MIT Press, April 2025) and The Distance Cure: A History of Teletherapy (2021, MIT Press). She is at work on her third book, All Freud’s Children: A Story of Inheritance (US: Penguin Press; UK: Fern Press).
Elizabeth Bradshaw, PsyD is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst who works with children, adolescents, and adults, and specializes in the treatment of very young children and their families. She has taught and written on topics including infant and toddler development, early childhood trauma, play, mutuality in the clinical encounter, and psychoanalytic writing. She is on the faculty of the Wright Institute, Access Institute, and The San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis, and consults to preschools throughout the Bay Area. She maintains a private practice in Oakland.
Accreditation Statement for CME/CE Sponsorship and Disclosure Statement
Educational Objectives:
Upon completion of this activity, the learners will be able to:
- analyze how “good” and “bad” notions of motherhood have been constructed from historical, technological and psychoanalytic perspectives.
- analyze how myriad maternal fears can be fueled by media, expert discourse, and idealized racialized mothering, and be unconsciously communicated through caregiving.
- evaluate how technologies (e.g., virtual nannies, sleep apps, iPads, robotic toys etc) contribute to fantasies of omnipresent maternal care or abandonment, and can play into “double binds” for mothers.
ACCME Accreditation Statement
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of American Psychoanalytic Association and San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis. The American Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
AMA Credit Designation Statement
The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this live activity for a maximum of 2 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Disclosure Statement
The APsA CE Committee has reviewed the materials for accredited continuing education and has determined that this activity is not related to the product line of ineligible companies and therefore, the activity meets the exception outlined in Standard 3: ACCME’s identification, mitigation and disclosure of relevant financial relationship. This activity does not have any known commercial support.
PSYCHOLOGISTS: The San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
Psychologists attending SFCP events approved for CE credits may report AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ toward their CE requirements. Psychologists self-certify the number of hours they have completed on their renewal form (whether online or paper).
LCSWs/MFTs: The San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis is a continuing education provider that has been approved by the American Psychological Association, a California Board of Behavioral Sciences recognized approval agency
Psychologists, Social Workers, and Marriage and Family Therapists will be awarded AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ on an hour for hour basis; see the program description for the maximum of credits awarded for each program.
Commercial Support: None