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SENSITIVITY TO RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY
Dr. Packer has a special interest in the ways that religion and spirituality impact individual identity and offer support (or sometimes add stress) in times of distress. Dr. Packer has published extensively on religion and psychiatry, having written three chapters on Stress and Religion for the Encyclopedia of Stress, plus chapters on Stress and Religion after 9/11 and Stress and Religion and Superheros. Her chapters appear in academic books about Asian spirituality & psychiatry and Christianity & Psychiatry. Her commentary on the role of religious observance in geriatric psychiatric symptoms was published in Geriatrics. Her research on "Epidemic Ergotism and Jewish Mystical Movements" won the Mesorah Society award for the best research on Judaism and psychiatry was published by the Israel Journal of Psychiatry and is referenced by researchers from many backgrounds. For some years, she edited and wrote for the Mesorah Society's Bulletin of Psychiatry & Judaism and also wrote dozens of book reviews for Jewish Book News and published shorter articles on specific topics in religion as they related to psychiatry, such as Lent and Ramadan. Although much of her research on religion & psychiatry reflects her own formal education and certification in Orthodox Jewish Education, Dr. Packer is intrigued by comparative religion, and by religion's influence on attitudes toward medical care and on overall worldviews and lifestyle and sexual preferences. She co-authored academic articles on St. Anthony's Fire and Ergotism, which discuss medical and psychiatric concerns of the Desert Saints, healing monasteries and shrines, and depictions of symptoms in Matthias Grunewald's Altarpiece for the Isenheim Chapel. Her photojournalism on Tamil (South Indian) Hindu festivals in Malaysia and Singapore were displayed at a Soho art gallery. For 20 years, she has done extensive volunteer work for Physicians for Human Rights on behalf of Tibetan monks who were persecuted for religious reasons. She is also familiar with non-Western family traditions, such as ancestor worship. Having worked and studied at Catholic Hospitals, she became familiar with the unique nuances of Irish, Italian, and Latin-American Catholic traditions. Dr. Packer has a personal interest in the psychological salvo available in African-American Gospel music and spirituals. Dr. Packer also understands that some people feel "overdosed" on religion and respects requests for referrals to secular 12-step or other support programs. As a physician who practiced in Greenwich Village when the AIDS epidemic erupted, Dr. Packer witnessed conflicts between lifestyles and some religious mandates, and so she advocates for inclusiveness. Persons who felt the impact of (any) religion on their psyches will feel at home here.
SENSITIVITY TO LIFE CYCLE ISSUES
PMS and PMDD (pre-menstral dysphoric disorder)
Postpartum Depression
Menopause Depression
Menopause Insomnia
Manopause/Andropause
T Supplement Side Effects
Low T Psychiatric Effects
Vulvodynia Pain Syndromes
Sexual Side Effects of Psychiatric Meds
SENSITIVITY TO CULTURAL DIVERSITY
Dr. Packer is especially interested in cross-cultural issues and racial diversity. She took graduate courses in medical anthropology in conjunction with her psychiatric training. Her extensive travels in Asia, North Africa, the Mideast (as well as Europe) familiarized her with cultural nuances, living conditions, religious concerns, government policies and family dynamics that are unique to each locale and that can affect psychiatric treatment. She is especially attuned to first and second-generation immigration issues and to intergenerational conflicts that arise in response to "Americanization". Her photojournalism show about Malaysian and Singaporean Tamil (South Indian) rituals was hosted at a Soho art gallery. Since she lived in NYC's Chinatown for several years, she knows the significance of "Number One Son" and "Number One Daughter" and other family traditions and honors the special role that relatives play in East Asian and South Asian cultures. Her research project on Racial Revelation in the Colorblind Cyberclass, which addresses nuances of accepted versus assigned race, racial blending, racial "passing" and racial discrimination, was published by Rutgers University Press. As someone who earned Certification in Orthodox Jewish Education early on, Dr. Packer is well versed in the wide religious, cultural, and language variations among Jewish communities. She is sensitive to Holocaust survivors and Second Generation issues, and is intimately familiar with "racial cleansing" and other genocides that occurred around the globe. As a volunteer for Physicians for Human Rights for 20 years, she has performed psychiatric exams and forensic testimony for political asylum applicants who experienced torture, sexual violence, mutilation or discrimination in their home countries in Africa or South America, as well as Tibet, Nepal, Iran, and Russia. Through Physicians for Human Rights, she also volunteered services for non-English speaking Chinese immigrants who were exploited in the American labor market. She is always eager to learn more about other cultures. She views small town and rural life in the U.S. as its own culture, and welcomes the different values and memories brought by people from all over the U.S.
SENSITIVITY TO SEXUAL DIVERSITY
In addition to treating basic psychiatric disorders, Dr. Packer addresses current concerns sexual diversity & dysfunction.
Sexual Dysfunction & Low Libido
Gay & Lesbian Issues (LGBTQ)
Transgender & Transsexual Issues
Transvestite & Cross-dressing Issues
Sex or Porn Addiction
Atypical Sex Preferences
Rape & Sexual Violence Victims
Kink-Aware Care
SMBD and Alternative Lifestyles
HIV & AIDS and other STD Issues
AIDS Phobia
SHARON PACKER, M.D. Psychiatry PsychopharmacologyTELEPSYCHIATRY APPTSif you are in FLORIDA or NY STATE or FLORIDA during appt.
Phone: 917-855-8475drpacker@hotmail.com
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