introducing our 2015 presenters and presentations!
Presentations For The 9:30-11:00 Time Block:
The Memory Machine: Personal stories, healing, and Playback Theatre
Tim Reagan, RDT, APTT, PhD candidate
Kimberly Rattley, MSW,CP
Playback Theatre gives voice to people by honoring the human experience through storytelling and story listening. In Playback, actors solicit stories and narratives from person, group, or audience and replays them abstractly through performance. Performances are centered on the personal feelings and experiences shared by audience members, and typically begins with simple questions for a warm-up: Could you share one rose and one thorn about your week so far? Or, what can you tell me about the food at the hospital? Performers dramatize what they hear in brief “fluid sculptures,” accompanied by live music. Then the “conductor” invites someone to tell a longer story. An audience member comes up to the stage and is interviewed. The only rule is that the story told must be the personal experience of the storyteller. Actors and musicians listen carefully while the conductor shapes the story, and a reenactment follows without planning or discussion. At its best, the “playback” reaches into the story behind the story, serving the storyteller by adding insight and art to what has been shared. Playback makes life visible in clinical settings, classrooms, hospitals, and community gatherings by creating connections, strengthening empathic listening, and building compassion and affirmation.
The Memory Machine will provide an overview of the power of Playback and include practical takeaways for expressive therapists to adapt to work settings.
Participants will learn to:
1. Participants will be able to identify four Playback short forms: Pairs, Fluid Sculptures, Tableaus, and Enactments.
2. Be able to cite the basic tenets of Playback Theatre, including ritual, artistry, and social interaction and their relationship to healing through storytelling and story listening.
3. Develop an understanding of the role of empathic listening in replaying personal stories.
4.Participants will be provided with three examples of how to apply practical components of Playback Theatre to professional work.
Tim Reagan is a registered drama therapist (RDT) and accredited Playback Theatre trainer (APTT). He is a doctoral candidate in expressive therapies at Lesley University researching the impact of Playback on adolescents. Tim teaches drama at Sidwell Friends Middle School in Washington, DC, where he also directs Vertical Voices Playback and advises Friendly Rewinders Playback Theatre troupes.
Kimberly Rattley holds a BA from Georgetown University, a Masters of Social Work from Howard University and is certified in the areas of Life Management Facilitation and Organizational Development from Georgetown University. Kimberly directs Synergy Playback Theatre in Silver Spring.
"Eligible for NBCC Credits"
Trauma Theory and Cross-modal Expressive Therapy in Psychiatric Facilities
Deirdre Cogan ATR-BC, LPC, CCTP
Ryan Carroll, MT-BC
Katherine Stanley MT-BC
To promote recovery in individuals with serious mental illness, we must create innovative methods to help them to learn to value their lives, and their experiences, even if they have felt misunderstood and marginalized in the past. It is incumbent upon expressive arts therapists who work in facilities to not, unwittingly, re-create the invalidating environment that may be reminiscent of client’s past experiences.
Accessibility of support often plays a crucial role in determining whether one’s illness follows a debilitating course or one that can build resiliency and restore their sense of personal dignity. The expressive therapies can provide an avenue for expression and exploration in cases where traditional “talk” therapy may have been ineffective. Although common goals for interventions in psychiatric care include: increased reality orientation, self-expression, self-regulation, and socialization, participants in cross-modal groups can use both modalities in order to cope with intense feelings, perceptions, and intrusive memories - without having to shut them out or act impulsively in response to them.
This presentation will cover the use of Trauma Theory as it is applied to cross-modal interventions with severely psychotic populations. An examination of the neurological mechanisms at play in these populations, as well as the effect of music and art on the brain will be discussed, as well as interventions utilized to target these goal areas. Case studies on groups conducted in an inpatient forensic psychiatric facility will be discussed to illustrate the development and use of cross-modal interventions to target treatment goals.
Workshop participants will be encouraged to engage in an experiential using both art and music modalities to explore the therapeutic applications of cross-modal emotional regulation, containment and grounding. A discussion on therapeutic implications will also be included.
Attendees of this presentation will be able to:
1.Name at least two (2) cross-modal interventions that target emotional regulation.
2.Identify differences and similarities in three
(3) populations as it applies to the use of the presented techniques.
3.Create at least one (1) cross-modal intervention to target emotional regulation.
Katharine Stanley is a Board-Certified Music Therapist who works with both forensic male and female populations, as well as civilly committed adults. She is pursuing her Master’s Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at The George Washington University in Washington, DC. Her research interests include the effects of music on neuroplasticity and the development of pilot programs for chronically mental ill and forensic adults.
Deirdre Cogan is a Registered and Board Certified Art Therapist, Licensed Professional Counselor, and a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional with over twenty-five years of clinical experience in both community-based and institutional settings As the Supervisory Creative Arts Therapist and the Director of Creative Art Therapy Training at Saint Elizabeths Hospital, she designs and implements programs and specialty tracts for a wide range of populations. At SEH she is the Clinical Coordinator of the TAMAR (Trauma Recovery Mental Health and Recovery) Program. Ms. Cogan has been an integral part of the treatment team at The Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorders at the Psychiatric Institute of Washington where she has provided expressive therapy intervention and life skills education for fourteen years, She designs and coordinates the center's weekend therapeutic programming. Her core research interest is in the efficacy of pilot programs that acknowledge the unique recovery challenges facing mentally-ill women due to barriers of poverty, gender inequality, and cultural stigma.
Ryan Carroll, MT-BC, is a music therapist and the music therapy internship director at Saint Elizabeths Hospital, a long-term psychiatric care facility in Washington, D.C. He studied music therapy at Seton Hill University and is currently finishing his Master’s in Music Therapy and Music Technology at Indiana University- Purdue University Indianapolis. In addition to his clinical work, Ryan has served as a trainer for the Department of Behavioral Health and has presented at conference across multiple disciplines on the benefits of music therapy and its impacts in culturally diverse settings. In 2006, Ryan co-founded the Seton Art Service Corp, an organization designed to bring the arts to underserved youth in the Greater Pittsburgh Area.
"Eligible for NBCC Credits"
Presentations For The 11:15-12:45 Time Block:
Drama Therapy: Building a Therapeutic Community that Recognizes the Power of Story to Heal & Learning from Veterans
Lisa Peacock, MA, RDT
David Peacock, Drama Therapist, HCPC UK
This experiential workshop will start with exercises that will build a foundation of trust among participants while explaining the rationale for these techniques for building a therapeutic community. Drama therapy works at an arm's length distance to someone's story using myth, fables, fairytales, and metaphor. It uses the tools of the dramatist but often incorporates other avenues of expression using a cross-disciplinary approach where a story is first processed with a drawing before discussing, or a drawing is the foundation for collectively writing a play based on a theme it represents, or a feeling is expressed with a movement and then collectively expressed by a group sculpture or a starting point for a poem. Drama therapy is a whole-body therapeutic experience, connecting the head and the heart--the mind, body, and spirit. This experiential will provide an experience for participants that will meet them just where they're at and give everyone an opportunity to engage no matter their level of experience with drama therapy or physical comfort. Self-care tips will also be provided for practitioners.
1: Participants will learn more than 3 basic techniques for developing trust among a noncompliant group.
2: Exploring how expressive arts psychotherapies are a hook into recovering from homelessness for veterans and civilians
3: Gaining a basic understanding of the complexity of helping veterans recover from homelessness
4: Learning different forms of communication—and storytelling—essential to empower veterans
David Peacock, Drama Therapist HCPC, has worked with people who are homeless in the U.K., Brazil, and the U.S. for more than 20 years. He is a graduate with distinction of the drama therapy Master’s program at the University of Roehampton in London. David is the head of Therapeutic Programming at Family & Community Services Veterans Programming. He has brought to the U.S. an innovative therapeutic community model to help veterans recover from homelessness that incorporates a number of expressive arts therapies and provides opportunities for personal empowerment and growth. He is a veteran of Her Majesty’s Forces in the U.K. He maintains a private drama therapy practice in Akron, Ohio.
Lisa Peacock, MA, RDT, is a Registered Drama Therapist who works with veterans who are homeless and women veterans. She maintains a private drama therapy practice in Akron, Ohio. She is the founder and director of the Vet Art Project and the Women Warriors Project, started in Chicago in 2008, which creates opportunities for veterans and family members to work with creative media to foster storytelling about war and service to attain a greater level of personal understanding, awareness, and peace. She received the Illinois Humanities Council’s Townsend Award for Innovative Programming for the Vet Art Project. Peacock’s received numerous grants for her work. She’s mentored the development of other Vet Art Projects across the country. She is a playwright, book editor, and author.
"Eligible for NBCC Credits"
Collaborative Connections: Combining Creative Arts Therapy Modalities in Treatment
Dawn Morningstar, MA, BC-DMT, NCC, LPC
Scott Horowitz, MA, MT-BC, LPC
This presentation will explore collaboration in treatment using experiential, discussion and didactic material. We will look at benefits and considerations for collaboration and/or co-treating. The presenters will discuss their experience with the combined use of dance/movement therapy and music therapy with families in treatment. Participants will experiment with and discuss ways in which creative arts can be combined for enhanced and expanded treatment. In addition, the ways in which aspects of a differing modality can enhance a primary modality will be explored.
Participants will experiment and discuss ways in which creative arts can be combined for enhanced and expanded treatment. In addition, the ways in which aspects of a differing modality can enhance a primary modality will be explored
1. Participants will identify at least three aspects to consider when combining creative arts therapy groups.
2. Understand how one’s own modality can offer support for a different modality.
3. Participants will explore and discuss a potential combination with at least one other modality.
Scott Horowitz, MA, MT-BC, LPC, is the Director of Field Education for the Department of Creative Arts Therapies and also teaches in the Music Therapy program. Scott is a graduate of the Drexel Music Therapy program and has been practicing music therapy since 2007. He has practiced with a variety of populations and ages through his work with the Kardon Institute for Arts Therapy and other Creative Arts Therapy organizations. His areas of experience include children and adults with developmental disabilities, individuals with physical
disabilities, mental health, and intellectual disabilities. Scott has also worked for the past 7 years in a program in the Philadelphia Family Courts providing safe music experiences for families involved in court supervised visitations. Scott also has experience as a clinical training director and as a music therapy and LPC clinical supervisor.
Dawn Morningstar is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Creative Arts Therapy at Drexel University. She designed and implemented the Creative Arts Therapy Program at Philadelphia Family Court and has run groups in various residential treatment and hospital programs in the Philadelphia area. Her specialty is working with children and adolescents. Her goals are to infuse movement into all of her teaching to integrate theoretical material with practical application. Dawn is active as a choreographer for both professional and school organizations in the Philadelphia area. While on a cultural exchange in England, she taught an anti-bullying program using dance/movement therapy in a local primary school. She is an active member of the PA Chapter of the American Dance Therapy Association.
"Eligible for NBCC Credits"
Presentations For The 1:45-3:15 Time Block:
FOOTPRINTS IN TIME: A LIFE JOURNEY THROUGH ART AND DANCE
Nalini Prakash, MA, BC-DMT
Trevina R. Joseph
Footprints in Time is a series of cross modal therapy interventions that promotes wellness through self-expression in the visual arts and dance. The approach is client centered and has a foundation of narrative-based art, and dance/movement therapies. By enabling individuals to trace their life journeys, express feelings, share critical life events, and communicate with each other, this directive aims to build confidence, and create and strengthen alliances. To help attendees understand the process, the workshop features a case study about one individual in care who participated in such a visual art and dance/movement intervention at Saint Elizabeths Hospital over four weeks. Workshop attendees will be led through a similar process of creating footprints in time through visual art and dance/movement in order to experience the process first hand. As expressive arts therapists, reflecting on our own life journeys in artistic ways allows for self-restoration, resonance with our clients, and the ability to learn from each other.
Participants will learn:
-Five principles of Narrative Therapy
-Two principles of movement that assist in building a narrative of life experiences in a safe and non threatening way
-Four stages of foot print mandalas that center the individual and encourage a narrative unique to the individual
Trevina Joseph is completing a masters in counseling and art therapy at George Washington University in Washington DC. As part of her internship last year, Trevina was introduced to cross-modal therapy at St. Elizabeths Hospital. She also spent her summer interning in Barcelona, Spain where she enhanced her therapeutic skills in Spanish at Hospital Sant Joan de Déu and Associació per a la Rehabilitació de les Persones amb Malaltia Mental. This year, she continues to enhance her therapeutic skills by interning at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC. The Creative and Therapeutic Arts Services at CNMC helps children transcend the hospital experience by bringing the cultural arts, arts education and animal visitation to the patient’s bedside, and also in the Atrium. Art therapy activities encourage continued learning, promote wellness through self-expression, and speed the healing process. As co-president of the George Washington University Student Art Therapy Association, Trevina arranges self-care workshops for students and incorporates community events into the annual curriculum. She hopes to continue her education in clinical psychology and family therapy.
Nalini is a board certified dance/movement therapist at Saint Elizabeths Hospital in Washington DC. She provides direct clinical treatment services in dance/movement therapy to general and forensic psychiatry inpatients as a component of the hospital’s overall program of mental health care and treatment. Using creativity, spontaneity and sensitivity, Nalini facilitates recovery-based dance therapy groups that value and reflect cultural and ethnic diversity, empowering individuals in care towards positive change. A classical Indian dancer, choreographer and teacher, Nalini integrates elements of classical Indian dance and creative movement in her work as a dance therapist, and uses these tools as a vehicle to help individuals in care re-experience emotions in a safe and non threatening way. Nalini has a masters in performing arts and a masters in dance/movement therapy. She is currently enrolled in the Certified Movement Analyst (CMA) program from the Laban Institute of Movement Studies (LIMS), New York, and will graduate from the program in May 2015.
"Eligible for NBCC Credits"
DIP YOUR TOE IN: AN INTERACTIVE ETHICS PANEL ON BLENDING MODALITIES
Roselynn Vanderpool, ATR-BC, LPC, LCPAT
Krista Verrastro, MA, RDT
Ashley Duguette, BC-DMT
This is an interactive ethics presentation lead by 2 panelists to present basic information about their respective fields, the ethical considerations to be aware of when incorporating across modalities, and includes an interactive section to encourage cross-modality interaction, consultation, and networking.
Participants will be able to understand and list at least 3 educational/credentialing requirements of an expressive art therapy discipline other than their own.
Participants will receive information on major ethical considerations to maintain of an expressive arts therapy discipline other than their own, such as confidentiality issues, supply management, when to make appropriate referrals.
Participants will be guided into a themed directive approach from each of the fields presented to incorporate into their clinical skills.
Krista Verrastro is a Registered Drama Therapist who currently works with survivors of domestic violence, sexual abuse/assault, and human trafficking. She discovered drama therapy while in high school and has been extremely passionate about it, and other creative arts therapies, ever since. She received her B.A. and M.A. from New York University, and is currently on the North American Drama Therapy Association’s government affairs committee.
Roselynn Vanderpool is a licensed Counselor and board certified and licensed Art Therapist working in the Washington/ Baltimore area. She earned her Masters in Art Therapy from the George Washington University and has over 5 years of experience with chronically ill adults.She has always been interested in incorporating different expressive modalities in her practice. In her spare time, she makes art, sings in a band, is learning to play ukulele, and goes swing dancing.
Ashley Duquette is a Board Certified Dance/ Movement in Fredericksburg, VA who works with adults, adolescents, and children with mood disorders, specializing in the use of body-based interventions to heal emotions held from trauma and attachment-related issues. She earned her Masters in DMT from Columbia College in Chicago, and has four years of experience working with mental health clients and leads various community-based workshops to spread the therapeutic use of movement and dance for holistic living. She is also a dance teacher, currently instructing jazz and tap for children.
"Eligible for NBCC Credits"
Presentations For The 3:30-5:00 Time Block:
ART AND MUSIC THERAPIES IN LONG-TERM CARE: The Long and windy road
Rachel Hannah Oresky, ATR-BC, LPC
Seamus O'Connor, MA, MS, MT-BC
The purpose of this workshop is to highlight the therapeutic aims of a cross-modal therapy approach for persons with chronic mental illness residing in long-term care. A clinical case vignette exploring the separate music therapy and art therapy work with one individual residing in a long-term care facility will be discussed with emphasis on how both saw co-occurring, concurrent themes emerge in sessions. This presentation will explore the emergent themes and symbolism that surfaced in the music and artwork of this individual. Suggestions for the implementation of a collaborative music and art therapy treatment model for persons residing in long term care will be discussed. This workshop will also address the topic of multi-modal peer supervision for burnout prevention and the unique considerations of working with individuals in long-term mental health care. Presenters will additionally discuss their own personal experience of working in a long-term mental health facility. This will be supported by relevant literature. Recovery model theory will be used to guide this workshop and presentation.
Objectives:
1. Participants will be able to identify 3 ways that creative arts therapists can collaborate with each other in long-term care facilities.
2. Participants will name 2 practice methods for music and art therapists to inform each other.
3. Participants will learn 2 innovative techniques to engage individuals for whom motivation in long term care is a primary factor.
Seamus O'Connor, MA, MS, MT-BC is a board-certified music therapist working in long-term mental health. Seamus graduated with a Master of Science in Music Therapy ( Nordoff-Robbins) from Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, Scotland. Seamus has experience working with a wide variety of clinical populations, and uses creative music making as his primary therapeutic tool. Seamus also has more than 10 year's experience in music education, and continues to work part-time in music education. In his current position, Seamus uses music therapy to facilitate recovery-based goals for clients with chronic mental illness. This work is conducted in a milieu setting with an interdisciplinary staff consisting of several therapists of different modalities. Seamus has previously presented at the Mid-Atlantic Region's 'Passages' conference on the challenges experienced by new therapists who chose to relocate internationally.
Rachel Oresky, MA, ATR-BC, LPC, is a board-certified art therapist and Licensed professional counselor in the state of Pennsylvania. Rachel graduated with a Master of Arts in Art therapy from Drexel University. Rachel has experience working with a variety of different populations and utilizes both traditional psychotherapy as well as art therapy in her practice. In her current position, Rachel utilizes art therapy in her groups and individual sessions as a way to give people experiencing chronic mental illnesses other channels of self-expression and communication. This work is done in a long-term structured residence, which has several therapists providing different treatment approaches. Rachel also works part time in a group practice where she provides individual, group and couple's art therapy and psychotherapy counseling sessions. Rachel served on the Delaware Valley Art Therapy Association's board for 2 years as Public-relations chair.
"Eligible for NBCC Credits"
DANCE/MOVEMENT THERAPY TECHNIQUES FOR SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN
Joyce Wolpert, LCPC, R-DMT
Robyne Stone Davis, LPC, BC-DMT
We will offer skills for expressive therapists working with children in schools and other more informal settings. Specifically, we will share movement techniques that can promote increased attention span for children with ADHD, develop collaboration skills for children with Autism and foster rapport for children with ODD. When students develop self-regulation skills, emotional intelligence and awareness of personal space through dance/movement therapy, they are better able to cooperate, learn and have a positive group experience.
Participants will:
1. Two dance therapy skills for each disorder will be demonstrated by presenters for a total of six skills.
2. Participants will get to practice all six skills.
3. Strategies to integrate these skills into all creative arts disciplines will be outlined and discussed.
Joyce Wolpert was a psychiatric therapist for Johns Hopkins Hospital for 10 years when she worked in the Baltimore City Schools. She worked with children of all ages and their families conducting individual and group verbal and movement therapy sessions. She has also worked at a residential treatment center, a private school for learning disabled students, summer camps, after school programs and adolescent group homes and special needs movement and drama programs. She has a MS in Counseling Psychology from the University of Oregon and a MA in Dance/Movement Therapy from Goucher College and a Certificate in Trauma Therapy. She has been on the board of the MD/DC/VA Chapter of ADTA for 10 years and has served as assistant editor of the chapter newsletter.
Robyne Stone Davis has been working as a Licensed Professional Counselor, clinical supervisor and dance/movement therapist for the past 20 years in clinical and school settings. She has also taught at Columbia College in Chicago, IL, and at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. She is a guest lecturer at American University and the University of Mary Washington. Recently, she provided counseling services at a K-8 school in Washington, DC, and taught Pre-K in McLean, VA. Based on these experiences, she now provides educational consulting for students, parents and schools as part of her private practice, Blue Egg Counseling and Consulting Services, LLC, which integrates traditional counseling with the creative arts and mind-body therapies. She earned her undergrad degree from University of North Carolina and her grad degree from Goucher College. She completed a graduate certificate in Special Education and Arts Integration from American University. Currently, she is pursuing a master's degree at George Washington University in Special Education with a focus on Traumatic Brain Injury. She is past president of the MD/DC/VA Chapter of the ADTA and served as Government Affairs Chair on the ADTA National Board.
"Eligible for NBCC Credits"
