Ilyene Barksy passed away in January 2011. We have left her biography here in memory and appreciation of our dear friend and colleague. Ilyene, may you rest in peace and take care of the mommies in heaven.
Ilyene Barsky, MSW, LCSW
I would be remiss in not expressing how very honored I am to be a part of Postpartum Support International’s latest project, “The Coordinators’ Corner.”
Similarly, I am so proud to have been a part of PSI’s evolution, including the formation of a nationwide network of coordinators and representing the State of Florida.
By virtue of a series of happenstance events, Jane Honikman (whose name is synonymous with Postpartum Support International) and I found each other some twenty years ago. I joined the organization after our first contact. At that time, communication amongst PSI’s members was by telephone (land lines with cords!), snail mail, and hard copy newsletters. I never could have imagined our current, world-wide presence via the Internet and our ever-growing voice in the legislative arena.
Like most members of the organization, I am a PPD survivor. My son was born in 1980. A premie. The colic was unbelievable. Unbeknownst to me, I had so many of the “risk factors” both prior to and following his birth that I could have been the poster child for “postpartum depression just waiting to happen.” Soon after his birth, I knew something was wrong. I told no one. Though my symptoms were severe, I “suffered in silence,” a phrase we still so often hear from afflicted women today. I went through my textbooks. I looked up “motherhood,” “childbirth,” “parenthood.” I knew there had to be a connection but found nothing. Eight months later, when I finally admitted to myself that “it” was not going away by itself, a visit to a psychiatrist and a prescription for anti-depressant medication afforded me the sleep and quieting of the mind I desperately needed. I still never knew what hit me.
Three years later, following the birth of my daughter, and a second, though milder bout of PPD, I came across an article in a magazine which described this unrecognized and often undiagnosed illness that many women experience following the birth of a child called… drum-roll please…postpartum depression.
And then I knew. “It” had a name. I wasn’t alone.
By way of networking, this article ultimately led me to Jane and PSI.
Social work is my vocation. Working with women at risk or in the grips of PPD has become my avocation.
Throughout the years, PSI has been my “home base,” my “touch stone” - an organization with which I could identify and which also supported my credibility when separating fact from fiction while discussing this illness with health care providers and organizational groups.
Now that my kids are grown, I can attend PSI’s annual conference. I look forward to this event, not just for the excellent curriculum, but for the opportunity to meet others who have their own stories of survival and subsequent roles as advocates within their own communities. They inspire me.
They say everything happens for a reason. I know my personal struggle as a new mother with postpartum depression, and my affiliation with PSI and its worldwide network of members has led us to a place where we can empower others to empower others to empower others…
Bio
Ilyene opened the Center for Postpartum Adjustment in Coral Springs, Florida. It is the first and only such center in Florida.
1997 She wrote a chapter for Arlene Huysman’s book, The Postpartum Effect.
2005 At PSI’s 19th Annual Conference in San Jose, California, she was honored to receive the Jane Honikman award for outstanding contributions in increasing awareness of emotional health related to childbearing.
2002-2004 Ilyene served on the Broward County Healthy Start Maternal Task Force, the first task force in Florida to address maternal depression. This culminated in a conference which is now held annually.
2003-2005 She served as a member of PSI’s Board of Directors
2007 - She is currently on the Board of Directors of the Broward County Healthy Start Coalition.
Ilyene is often called upon by the media for information and interviews. She is regularly asked to speak at hospitals, social service agencies, and conferences. Her very first “speaking engagement” was in 1984 in a living room for a group of childbirth educators.
The National Association of Social Workers has published Ilyene’s articles and put her on their consumer website as an expert on PPD, www.helpstartshere.org.
Ilyene is very pleased to see the increased public awareness of perinatal mood disorders and the growing recognition by the medical community that this is a real illness. She is seeing more routine screening as a standard of care. There is also a greater willingness for women to come forward when symptoms become apparent. She believes that this will be the trend of the future. Approximately half of her perinatal patients are pregnant and the other half are postpartum. Increasingly, the first contact comes from the new father.
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Ilyene Barksy passed away in January 2011. We have left her biography here in memory and appreciation of our dear friend and colleague. Ilyene, may you rest in peace and take care of the mommies in heaven.
Ilyene Barsky, MSW, LCSW
I would be remiss in not expressing how very honored I am to be a part of Postpartum Support International’s latest project, “The Coordinators’ Corner.”
Similarly, I am so proud to have been a part of PSI’s evolution, including the formation of a nationwide network of coordinators and representing the State of Florida.
By virtue of a series of happenstance events, Jane Honikman (whose name is synonymous with Postpartum Support International) and I found each other some twenty years ago. I joined the organization after our first contact. At that time, communication amongst PSI’s members was by telephone (land lines with cords!), snail mail, and hard copy newsletters. I never could have imagined our current, world-wide presence via the Internet and our ever-growing voice in the legislative arena.
Like most members of the organization, I am a PPD survivor. My son was born in 1980. A premie. The colic was unbelievable. Unbeknownst to me, I had so many of the “risk factors” both prior to and following his birth that I could have been the poster child for “postpartum depression just waiting to happen.” Soon after his birth, I knew something was wrong. I told no one. Though my symptoms were severe, I “suffered in silence,” a phrase we still so often hear from afflicted women today. I went through my textbooks. I looked up “motherhood,” “childbirth,” “parenthood.” I knew there had to be a connection but found nothing. Eight months later, when I finally admitted to myself that “it” was not going away by itself, a visit to a psychiatrist and a prescription for anti-depressant medication afforded me the sleep and quieting of the mind I desperately needed. I still never knew what hit me.
Three years later, following the birth of my daughter, and a second, though milder bout of PPD, I came across an article in a magazine which described this unrecognized and often undiagnosed illness that many women experience following the birth of a child called… drum-roll please…postpartum depression.
And then I knew. “It” had a name. I wasn’t alone.
By way of networking, this article ultimately led me to Jane and PSI.
Social work is my vocation. Working with women at risk or in the grips of PPD has become my avocation.
Throughout the years, PSI has been my “home base,” my “touch stone” - an organization with which I could identify and which also supported my credibility when separating fact from fiction while discussing this illness with health care providers and organizational groups.
Now that my kids are grown, I can attend PSI’s annual conference. I look forward to this event, not just for the excellent curriculum, but for the opportunity to meet others who have their own stories of survival and subsequent roles as advocates within their own communities. They inspire me.
They say everything happens for a reason. I know my personal struggle as a new mother with postpartum depression, and my affiliation with PSI and its worldwide network of members has led us to a place where we can empower others to empower others to empower others…
Bio
Ilyene opened the Center for Postpartum Adjustment in Coral Springs, Florida. It is the first and only such center in Florida.
1997 She wrote a chapter for Arlene Huysman’s book, The Postpartum Effect.
2005 At PSI’s 19th Annual Conference in San Jose, California, she was honored to receive the Jane Honikman award for outstanding contributions in increasing awareness of emotional health related to childbearing.
2002-2004 Ilyene served on the Broward County Healthy Start Maternal Task Force, the first task force in Florida to address maternal depression. This culminated in a conference which is now held annually.
2003-2005 She served as a member of PSI’s Board of Directors
2007 - She is currently on the Board of Directors of the Broward County Healthy Start Coalition.
Ilyene is often called upon by the media for information and interviews. She is regularly asked to speak at hospitals, social service agencies, and conferences. Her very first “speaking engagement” was in 1984 in a living room for a group of childbirth educators.
The National Association of Social Workers has published Ilyene’s articles and put her on their consumer website as an expert on PPD, www.helpstartshere.org.
Ilyene is very pleased to see the increased public awareness of perinatal mood disorders and the growing recognition by the medical community that this is a real illness. She is seeing more routine screening as a standard of care. There is also a greater willingness for women to come forward when symptoms become apparent. She believes that this will be the trend of the future. Approximately half of her perinatal patients are pregnant and the other half are postpartum. Increasingly, the first contact comes from the new father.
Return to Coordinator’s Corner Menu