Dr. Zucker is a writer with a keen interest in female identity development, mother-daughter attachment relationships, and issues surrounding the body. She is developing her first book inspired by her award-winning dissertation (Routledge forthcoming publication). Her background in international women's health combined with her reproductive mental health perspectives inform both her writing and her clinical practice.
Jessica Zucker has conducted research on women's reproductive and sexual health for over a decade. Dr. Zucker's writing on female sexuality began during her master's degree program in international public health and continued to evolve while pursuing a master's degree in developmental psychology at Harvard University. While there she conducted a small-scale qualitative study on female identity development and sexual health. Dr. Zucker's doctoral dissertation expanded on previous interests and expertise in women's health. Her dissertation is titled "The Relational Body: Vicissitudes of the Mother-Daughter Attachment and Sexual Subjectivity in Pornography". She interviewed 20 women who work as actors in pornography in the Los Angeles area. Her writing has garnered three awards.
Jessica presented her research on female embodiment, sexual development, and the daughtering experience in pornography at the American Psychological Association's Division of Psychoanalysis meeting as an invited panelist in 2008 in New York City. She collaborated with Drs. Muriel Dimen, Katie Gentile, and Virginia Goldner. The title of her paper is "Lights, Camera, Attachment: Female Embodiment as Seen Through the Lens of Pornography".
Dr. Zucker contributed a chapter to "Knowing and Not-Knowing and Sort-of-Knowing: Psychoanalysis and the Experience of Uncertainty", a psychoanalytic anthology published by Karnac Books (2010) based on her ethnographic research on women in pornography, female sexuality, and the complexity of mother-daughter attachment relationships. Edited by Dr. Jean Petrucelli, other contributing authors include, among others: Drs. Philip Bromberg, James Fosshage, Katie Gentile, and Allan Schore.
Dr. Zucker spoke at the American Psychological Association's Division of Psychoanalysis conference in Chicago as an invited panelist in Spring 2010 in association with her Karnac Books publication.
Based on her recent publication, Dr. Zucker has been asked to present her research in Fall 2010 at the William Alanson White Institute in New York City.
Dr. Zucker is currently developing her first book for Routledge.
Jessica is a PBS blogger for This Emotional Life. Her blog addresses issues pertaining to transitions in parenting, infant-caregiver attachment relationships, and postpartum mood disorders. She is a contributing blogger on The Huffington Post in association with this PBS project. Dr. Zucker is an advising consultant in the development of the PBS Early Attachment Toolkit Early Moments Matter. In conjunction with her involvement in PBS, Dr. Zucker was interviewed by Therese Borchard of Beyond Blue about attachment, motherhood, and establishing healthy relationships. This article can also be found on Psych Central. Her writing is featured in the PBS This Emotional LIfe newsletters A Mother's Day Campaign for Emotional Health and Rising Above Your Limitations.
Dr. Zucker is a contributing writer for Mindful Mama. Mindful Mama is a cutting-edge social media platform for holistic parenting. The aim is to integrate the depth and inspiration of a favorite magazine into a collaborative and nurturing online space, connecting parents with birth and healthcare practitioners who share the common goal of building healthy families.
Katherine Stone, of Postpartum Progress, invited Dr. Zucker, among other writers and experts in perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, to participate in the annual online Mother's Day Rally dedicated to maternal mental health. Jessica contributed "On Skipping Motherhood Perfection" to the rally. Additionally, Postpartum Progress will be interviewing Jessica in Spring 2010 about the implications of early childhood attachment and subsequent familial relationships.
"Connecting with Baby Before Birth" will be a featured article in the Fall 2010 issue of Pathways to Family Wellness Magazine.
Jessica is the featured psychological expert on My Best Birth, founded by Abby Epstein and Ricki Lake, the creators of the documentary The Business of Being Born. "Ask Dr. Jessica" is an online interactive column that explores issues related to pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and mothering.