Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein is an award winning Selfie Filmmaker, Zoom Drama Creator, Positive Psychologist and podcaster who helps us overcome anxiety and alienation through multiple media channels.
In a recent article on the New York Times website, it was stated that the Times asked 5,500 teenagers about their experience of the pandemic. Their responses were sobering.
As stated in the article, "In words and images, audio and video, they reported that it was, in many ways, a generation-defining disaster. Being trapped inside — and missing the milestones that ordinarily mark coming of age in America — was lonely, disorienting, depressing and even suffocating.
"But many also surprised themselves. They bonded with siblings, discovered nature, found small comforts in Zoom-school, played games, worked out, cooked, wrote, sang, danced, painted and made videos. And, perhaps most important at a time of life focused on figuring out who you are, they reinvented themselves."
Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein, award winning author and Selfie Film Maker, see both sides. On one hand, the pandemic could be seen to be a catastrophic tragedy, due to the loss of connection with nearly all the things that make up the common teenage experience. On the other hand, there is an opportunity to transform that dreadful experience into something constructive.
"While the world weeps there are still sparks of invention, creativity, and hope," Holstein stated. "Vaccines made in amazing haste, a new process developed for vaccines that may ultimately make humans close to virus free! Art, music, new and old connections with each other and new forms of communication. Perhaps the most startling has been Zoom and Zoom type platforms. Invented for the business world particularly, Zoom has helped the rest of us stay sane at times and joyful at other times and just able to feel we are connected to those we care about.
"Yet Zoom has served another purpose. Zoom has allowed actors, writers, musicians to keep up their skills and share their material. For me as a Positive Psychologist and a filmmaker, Zoom has been amazing. It has given me a platform to do dramatic readings of my three scripts that look at love in couplehood in all its complicated dimensions.
"The first of three scripts, 'Life is Complicated' gets right to the heart of early marriage. Any of us that have been there know how hard it really is to get comfortable with another on an intimate basis. Once the joy and lust fade a bit, we are just humans trying to figure things out. The second and third Zoom dramas in the ‘Trilogy of Love’ series also focus on couples. However, these couples have been married more years and are now dealing the other issues of connection that come up, particularly the ways we stay romantically involved, which can include the use of fantasy. ‘I Had an Affair or Did I?’ and ‘I Had an Affair with my Husband’ and ‘Life is Complicated’ have already been selected and won over 20 awards at film festivals and competitions as film scripts. I am just beginning to send these Zoom productions out to film festivals as experimental filming developed during the Pandemic. You can see one of my three zoom dramas, 'Life is Complicated' on Vimeo at: https://vimeo.com/445270427."
Month after month for the last few years Dr. Holstein has been winning award after award for her "selfies as drama" conceptual films - over 100 to date. These are not just selfie films. They have at their core positive psychology principles that only Dr. Holstein can bring to the table.
Dr. Holstein's cutting-edge presentations, most recently based on the Covid-19 pandemic issues, can be found on both YouTube, Vimeo and on the Roku channel and Amazon Fire TV, titled as 'The Enchanted Self Presents'.
Dr. Holstein recently created The Selfie Showcase, a new project emerging from The Selfie Project, that allows young people to voice their opinions on subjects that matter to young people. She is now accepting submissions from the public for the "Selfie Showcase" and is actively seeking change-makers and mental health professionals to appear on her monthly video podcasts.
The Selfie Showcase allows kids, teens, and young adults ages 13 to 18 to candidly express their concerns, worries, observations and possible solutions by creating selfie videos or films around important subjects, using a smartphone. Dr. Holstein's mission is to help rectify, in several ways, some of the issues young people face by giving them a chance to engage with others in meaningful ways about the anxiety and stress they must grapple with constantly.
Selected participants may appear on the Selfie Project Channel, available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3uaOTcYF70z5CpBh11VoUQ. They will also appear in the Selfie Showcase on SelfieFilmmakers.com. They will receive a certificate of merit and may be invited to be on Holstein's monthly podcast or perhaps be a part of her next film. Full details, rules for submission and helpful hints can be accessed at the Selfie Filmmakers site at http://www.selfiefilmmakers.com/instructions.
Dr. Holstein's unique Selfie Films have taken many awards and have been shown in many film festivals and competitions. A full list can be found at SelfieFilmmakers.com.
Holstein's podcast series is actively seeking change-makers and visionaries to appear on her monthly podcasts. Dr. Holstein hopes to feature members of traditional media, mental health professionals and educators who can make a real difference in the lives of young people. Many of the podcasts feature young people - to give them a voice regarding their concerns and their solutions. Guests, if accepted, can arrange to appear by contacting Dr. Holstein directly.
Dr. Holstein is available for media interviews and can be reached using the information below or by email at barbara.holstein@gmail.com. More information about the Selfie Showcase is available at http://www.selfiefilmmakers.com. Selfie videos and selfie films can be uploaded at http://www.selfiefilmmakers.com. Potential podcast guests can contact Dr. Holstein by email. More information is available at her primary website at http://www.enchantedself.com.
Profile:
Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein, internationally known Positive Psychologist is the creator of The Enchanted Self ®, a positive psychology method for happiness and a pioneer in Selfies as Film. Dr. Holstein's Enchanted Self website was included as one of the best websites in positive psychology. She is in private practice in Long Branch, New Jersey with her husband, Dr. Russell M. Holstein.
Dr. Barbara can be found on the web, interviewed, writing articles and posting video 'TED' style talks on Happiness, Positive Psychology, Relationships and Parenting. Her Roku channel is: The Enchanted Self Presents.
She has been a contributor to Your Tango, Heart and Soul, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Honey Good, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Redbook, Real Simple, Women’s World, The Wall Street Journal, Psychcentral.com, Time on line, the Today Show and Family Circle Magazine.
Contact:
Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein
170 Morris Ave.,
Long Branch, New Jersey 07740
barbara.holstein@gmail.com
732-571-1200
http://www.enchantedself.com
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