Live Online

Relational-Cultural Theory & Antioch University

In a world that feels increasingly fragmented, RCT@AU creates opportunities to explore how relationships can support meaningful change in our workplaces, classrooms, communities, and organizations. Rooted in the understanding that people grow through connection, Relational Cultural Theory (RCT) offers a relational lens for navigating complexity, strengthening communities, and creating conditions where people can learn, heal, and thrive.

Through interdisciplinary conversations, shared learning, and opportunities for connection, this event, Connection in the Complexity: The Power of Relationships in Transforming Our Work, brings together people working across leadership, social change, mental health, and education. Together, we will explore how relational practices such as curiosity, mutuality, empathy, and communities of practice can shape the way we lead, teach, support others, and participate in positive social change.

Panel Discussion
Amy Rutstein-Riley, PhD, MPH – Moderator
Katie Penn, PhD, Leadership and Change
Myriam Barenbaum, LCSW-R, MPH, Mental Wellness
Mindith R. Rahmat, Psy.D.

Myriam Barenbaum

LCSW-R, MPH

Myriam Barenbaum, LCSW-R, MPH, is deeply committed to helping to bring Jean Baker-Miller’s  and RCT’s work forward in the world. Myriam is a clinical social worker with a private practice in Nyack, NY and an active board member of the International Center for Growth in Connection. She has been a therapist at The Trager Lemp Center for Treating Trauma and Promoting Resilience in Yonkers, NY for the past decade.  She also runs a weekly support group for domestic violence survivors. Relational Cultural Theory is foundational to all of her relationships, both professionally and personally.

Mindith R. Rahmat

Psy.D., Interim Chair and Core Faculty in the Masters of Arts in Clinical Psychology

Mindith R. Rahmat, Psy.D., is an educator, scholar, and academic leader committed to creating learning environments where students and educators can experience connection, belonging, curiosity, compassion, and meaningful growth. She serves as Interim Chair and Core Faculty in the Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology program at Antioch University Santa Barbara and as Antioch University’s inaugural Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) Faculty Fellow, where she contributes to university-wide efforts to support faculty development, relational pedagogy, inclusive teaching, and student-centered learning.

At the heart of Dr. Rahmat’s work is the belief that teaching is fundamentally relational. Her scholarship explores how the quality of our relationships with learners, with one another, and with ourselves shapes engagement, belonging, resilience, well-being, and the possibilities for transformative learning. Her work brings relational teaching into conversation with compassion-focused pedagogy, mindfulness, trauma-sensitive education, therapeutic presence, and inclusive and accessible approaches to learning. Dr. Rahmat earned her Doctor of Psychology in Educational Psychology from Alliant University and a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Marshall University. She is currently completing a second doctorate, a Ph.D. in Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, with anticipated completion in spring 2027. Her interdisciplinary training includes trauma-sensitive mindfulness, mindful self-compassion, mindfulness-based approaches, yoga therapy, and compassion-based interventions and therapies. These perspectives inform her commitment to educational spaces that honor both academic rigor and our shared humanity. Dr. Rahmat’s work reflects a guiding conviction that relationships are not an addition to teaching; they are part of the conditions that make meaningful learning possible. Through compassion, authenticity, mutuality, dignity, and belonging, educators can cultivate classrooms where learning and well-being can flourish together.