The Art of Relationships in Trauma Informed Work

This week Dr. Bruce Perry was here in Cleveland again (!) and I was fortunate enough to be able to attend his all day training focusing on the Six Core Strengths for Healthy Childhood Development. Inspiring, as always! Much of what he spoke about reinforced the immense power relationships have in trauma informed care. I compiled the notes I took from Dr. Perry’s lecture into some art with a few of (the many!) takeaways I wanted to remember about this topic:

Notes inspired by Dr. Bruce Perry, Cleveland 5/15/2018

1. Relationships are more important than any adversity. Multiple adverse circumstances or experiences can be buffered by the healthy, positive relational connection in our lives.
2. We live a relational driven life- our relationships with others impact us the most.
3. The nature and number of healthy, positive relationships we have is key to our resilience, healing and recovery.
4. Human beings are relational creatures and our behaviors, actions, feelings, and experiences are contagious to others.
5. A trauma informed community and relational milieu is a healing community.
6. Relational health = the degree of our internetwork of connectedness (Relational Poverty vs. Relational Wealth)
7. Communication is all about rupture + repair, disconnection + connection — it is essential to explicitly acknowledge our differences, assumptions, implicit biases to build relationships.
8. Therapeutic dosing and therapeutic spacing is important to provide tiny, repetitive doses of engagement, distancing, then re-engagement to support change.

Check out this Child Trauma Academy Resource of many of the slides and content presented during this training.

As an art therapist, I also reflected on how art-making, the creative process, and trauma intervention through art therapy supports relational considerations presented by Dr. Perry.  Art therapy “effectively supports personal and relational treatment goals” (The American Art Therapy Association) through:

• Creating and/or re-establishing a safe space to explore feelings, responses, and experiences through active engagement in “bottom up” sensory-based intervention that supports lower parts of the brain where trauma resides;
• Making art together in groups, families, and communities can foster healthy interactions, connectedness, and a sense of belonging that transcends language;
• Art therapy creates opportunities to explore themes of deconstruction and reconstruction through the art making process and offer insight into internal and external communication, conflict, biases, and relational restoration;
• The nature of art making with an art therapist offers repetitive, patterned, and parallel action while safely regulating and managing traumatic stress and triggers that could activate ones response system
• An opportunity to build and strengthen resilience through meaningful art-based interactions and interventions that explore safety, change, vulnerability, and regulation.

Thank you Dr. Perry for returning to Cleveland and another great day of trauma informed learning!

 

Related Posts

Reflections on Art Therapy, Trauma, & Group Work

Top Ten Takeaways : PEP Symposium Dr. Bruce Perry in Cleveland (2013)

Top 10: Impact of Trauma and Neglect on the Developing Child with Dr. Bruce Perry (2012)

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The Role of Social Media in Creativity and Connection

This past week, I helped moderate an online Make-inar organized by Inner Canvas‘ Lisa Mitchell that brought together therapists, students, and professionals to learn more about how connecting with your creativity can be a great way to strengthen your experiences as a clinician and see your therapeutic relationships and work with clients from a new and fresh perspective. I love opportunities that bring people together through technology for a common interest and the way these experiences offer support, encouragement, and connection! I left feeling inspired by the energy of the group and had lots of fun connecting with everyone.

This Make-inar was a preview event for a larger offering happening next month. I am super excited to announce that registration is now open for CreateFest 2017: The Second Annual Online Creativity Festival for Mental Health Professionals being held May 19 & 20. I contributed last year as a speaker and it was a great! I am thrilled to return to CreateFest again this year- not only as a speaker, but as co-host too!  🙂

CreateFest is a 2-day celebration to empower therapists, awaken our creative spirit, and reignite passion for our work.  Lisa has invited 12 speakers, all of whom are passionately committed to helping revitalize and enhance our practice.  Topics will include how to manage creative anxiety, embody our intuition, use creativity to grow resources, integrating writing with painting, writing for healing, and more through speaker interviews and lively conversation.  Rick Hanson, Natalie Goldberg, and Kay Adams are only a few of the speakers in this year’s line up that I am looking forward to learning from. Attendees will also be invited to participate in interactive, hands on creative experiences from each speaker to further explore the content and concepts presented.  No worries if you can’t make CreateFest live—there will be recordings available to watch at your convenience after the festival! This is a great online CEU opportunity for therapists including LMFT’s, LCSW’s, LPC’s, LMHC’s, ATR-BC’s. For a complete list visit the FAQ section of the CreateFest website.

I will be speaking about the role of social media in creativity and connection; specifically how social networking can inspire us and activate our creative process.  I will be sharing examples of art’s ability to bridge the gap between digital and physical connection and offer an invitation for CreateFest attendees to participate in a fun art exchange.

 

A CreateFest early bird rate is available until April 28- and there is also a discount available for people who register together!  Check out more information here.

I hope you will consider joining us!

Social Media & Creative Motivation

This week I stumbled upon this 2012 Brainzooming post, 61 Online and Social Media Resources for Motivating People to Create.  Mike Brown’s content inspired me to take stock on my own relationship with social media, creative motivation, and to reflect more about leveraging online and social media resources for inspiration, connection, community, and more.

How does social media inspire/motivate my creativity and interests to create/make things/do creative stuff in my daily life, relationships, work, and play? 

Here are my Top Takeaways from Brown’s amazing list that I really resonate with and how each one has encouraged my own creative practice:

• #1, #2, #19, #22, #38- Finding Connection, Community, & Support– This probably is my top reason I enjoy social media… Social media has the power to bring artists (and art therapy of course!) together, create connection, decrease isolation, etc…..on so many levels.

• #35- Learning Artistic Skills– Whether it’s a how-to video tutorial on YouTube, a new art technique to try out from Pinterest, or engaging in an online art workshop, there are soooo many social media tools & resources to build your creative skills as a beginner or seasoned artist!

• #41, #43– Exploring Creative Environments and Adapting your Environment to Better Foster Creativity– Online projects such as The Altered Page’s Living with Art, Spaces & Places: Where We Create, and even this blog post I recently contributed for the National Institute for Loss in Children, all explore and provide new ideas and a peek into the creative intersection of our life/studio/work surroundings for inspiration, daily practice, or self-care.

• #6, #7- Engaging in Online Exchanges & Creative Adventures– One of the many things I enjoy about the online world is being able to engage in art exchanges and creative experiences that originate through social media.  It’s amazing fun whether it is a mail art endeavor or working virtually together on a common project.

• #9, #20 #21- Following Creative People– I find Twitter a dynamic place to easily follow people, trending topics, organizations, and news about all things creative that I enjoy, whether this be the visual arts, film, writing, crafting, technology, art therapy, and more. Twitter has connected and introduced me to some amazingly creative individuals and projects!

• #26, #60, #61- Learning New Tools to Express Creativity– Social media and technology online is constantly evolving with new apps and creative tools to use. Over the years (and now!) I’ve enjoyed experimenting with and using free programs such as Wordle, Tagxedo, Kooleido, Animoto, Polyvore, and so many more to create, share, and play with. Recently I enjoyed trying out the online program ArtPad, a virtual canvas painting program with a small group of art therapists I virtually meet up with to try out different computer based ideas. I enjoyed thinking about the creative possibilities inspired by the application’s features to not only make art, but invite others to participate too!

• #49- Discovering & Reading Blogs That Inspire My Imagination and Creative Self– If you need a good place to start, check out Seth Apter’s Art Blog Directory.  Daisy Yellow, Dirty Footprints Studio, 14 Secrets, Right Brain Planner, A Big Creative Yes, among many, many others are my go to Artist Blogs for tons o’ inspiration.

• #17- Sharing Creative Work Online– While Facebook is definitely an active social media site to share art and artsy happenings online with friends, family, & colleagues, I really enjoy how Instagram has become a wonderful online source to follow artist work, activity, and captures.  Whether it is a work in progress, final piece, snapshot of someone’s work space, studio, or tools of the trade- it is a visual delight to simply see (without all the Facebook distractions) when I tap into my newsfeed there.

• #7, #15- Enjoying Global Creative Experiences with Others– It’s awesome to bring people together from all over the world to work on or be a part of a common creative project or initiative through social media.  I love this and the creative friends I’ve made around the globe through our love of art, making stuff, and encouraging our artsy selves!

• #5- Allowing Yourself to be Pointed to Creative Places Online Based on Others’ Social Media Links– Yes! Take in and enjoy Artful Link Love!

There are also some ideas from Brown’s list that I would like to try or do more of:

• #29-Create a Creative Manifesto– One of my favorite art-based manifestos is this one from Rebelle Society, which urges us to view ourselves as Creativists. I believe there’s definitely opportunity for further exploration of this kind of “manifesting” in my Creative Covenants online workshop as part of this year’s Spectrum… wouldn’t that be fun?

• #45- Organize a “Creativity Orientated” Music List to Listen To— I often listen to a variety of Pandora stations or Spotify when creating, but it would be neat to organize a playlist dedicated to “creating time”.

• #46, #52- Share Examples of Overlooked Creativity in Your World (and being more open to wonder, play)–  There’s always room to play and wonder more– on and off line!   I also think taking a mindful look at how creativity surfaces around you in different ways would be an interesting adventure and discovery to embark on!

What about you….How do you use or would like to use social media to motivate your creativity?

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Related Posts:

Social Media’s Role in Cultivating Art Therapy Connection, Community, & Creativity

Social Media: Art Therapists and the Internet

Art Therapy and Social Media’s Top 3

Social Media’s Role in Cultivating Art Therapy Connection, Community, & Creativity

Earlier this month at the national art therapy conference in San Antonio, I was able to spend time dialoguing in a focus group I led about one of my favorite topics: the role of social media in creating connection, community, and sustaining creativity.

This group time was a very nice opportunity to talk with art therapists and art therapy students about how they use social media, what interests & challenges them, as well as the different ways social media can be used within the art therapy community for networking, collaborating, art-making, and inspire one another.

In comparison to a focus group I led on this same topic at the national conference 5 years ago (2009), the awareness and use of social media seemed to be a lot more integrated into our regular professional interactions and activity.  This included, but was not limited to: connecting with other art therapists, inspiring & supporting our own creative process with art-making, taking to the social media air waves to promote what we are passionate about in art therapy (through blogging, creating Facebook pages, using hashtags, QR codes) and keeping updated on worldwide happenings and news in the art therapy community.  The increasing use of smartphones, tablets, and apps (vs. 2009) to access social media in mobile form definitely has contributed to this day to day practice.

Challenges voiced included understanding how to leverage the most out of different social media sites, having a mindful awareness of ones personal vs. professional life online, and keeping up with the constant changes, new developments, and activity in the world of social media.

Check out this SlideShare inspired by this focus group’s topic:

This was a great time to gather together about this topic off the grid!  Thank you to everyone who attended! It is inspiring to learn more about how we as art therapists continue to use social media to strengthen our professional connections, enhance the relationship with our creativity, & create online opportunities for supporting our work, interests, & practice.

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Related Posts:

San Antonio Art Therapy Fun

Art Therapy and Social Media’s Top 3

Social Media: Art Therapists and the Internet

Drawn Together Community Journal Project

[Added to] December 2002 Page from Kat & Roar’s Journal

When I received my beautiful copy of Drawn Together by Katarina Thorsen and her father Roar earlier this month, the mailing also included some of their original journal pages. What a wonderful addition! Much of Drawn Together’s content is told through the narrative of Kat and Roar’s journaling and art-making.

In Chapter Three of their book, Kat describes that she and her father often worked in many, many journals back and forth with one another from 2002-2005.  The intention of this shared experience was to help strengthen their connection, as well as manage and try to make sense of difficult events happening in their lives during that time.

The journal pages sent to readers is an opportunity for these expressions to be shared and have others in the community also become part of their process through the invitation to add to them.  To hold some of Kat and Roar’s pages in one hand and their touching story in the other, I felt such gratitude and privilege to be included in their art-making connection.

[Added to detail] Another December 2002 Journal Page

Pages that have been added to and returned back to Kat for the Community Journal Project will then be exhibited at a Drawn Together event!  What a great idea to celebrate the power of art, community, and connection!

If you’re interested in also contributing you can learn more through this link.

Legacy Making: Drawn Together

I’ve been sooo anticipating the arrival of Drawn Together: Maintaining Connections and Navigating Life’s Challenges with Art, a book co-written by Roar & Katarina (Kat) Thorsen…and my copy arrived yesterday!

Drawn Together: Maintaining Connection and Navigating Life’s Challenges through Art

Drawn Together is Kat and Roar’s touching story about their relationship as daughter and father and how the power of art and the creative process can provide meaning, affirmation, and connection in the face of life changing illness and loss.

I’ve  followed Kat’s journey with her father’s stroke, cancer reoccurance, caregiving, and his art making moments through her blog, Instagram photos, and status updates on social media with much admiration.   Before her father’s death,  it was very moving to see Kat be so open and expressive about managing her father’s declining health and to embed the creative process throughout their journey to help Roar continue connection, create a legacy, and celebrate life & their relationship as father and daughter.  Drawing, filmmaking, journaling, photo documentation, and the collaboration for creating their book were all creative ways memories, experiences, and emotions were embraced and continue to live on in the here and now.

Yesterday as I opened the pages of Drawn Together and held their journal pages, I could feel Roar and Katarina’s love in my hands, as well as the essential role and life line art served in their relationship and journey.  A very beautiful legacy…. on so many levels.

As quoted by Kat, “Drawn Together is a call to action to collect stories and to create a legacy.  Don’t wait for the ultimate moment, for that moment is here NOW and it is fleeting“.  Agreed.  Thanks to Roar & Kat for sharing their story with us.

You can learn more about Drawn Together, here.

Postcard Exchange Re-visited: One Year Later

This week-end I spent time putting together my presentation about Art Therapy Without Borders’ International Postcard Exchange for the Canadian Art Therapy Association and Ontario Art Therapy Association joint conference coming up during the first week of November.   I am really looking forward to presenting this paper focusing on the project, its impact, and the role of art and social networking to connect the art therapy community worldwide.

As I began to organize presentation content to highlight and include, I started to go through half of the postcards received over 6 months on behalf of ATWB from art therapists and art therapy students from all around the world.  I re-visited each one in my careful piles: where the postcard arrived from, the art created, media used, as well as the experiences/stories shared on the back about the individual’s work, studies, or interests related to art therapy.

I also remembered it was this time last year when the exchange started, mailing lists I organized from those who signed up were just sent out to over 300 participants, and the first postcards for the exchange were already starting to come in.  Last October, I could have never imagined the overall impact, enthusiasm, and outreach that launching this exchange of mail art would have on facilitating connection, building community, and empowering the international art therapy community.

Collectively re-visiting the postcards in one sitting and no longer in “organizing” mode gave me a new and simplified appreciation for the project and to reflect on what inspired me to organize the exchange in the first place.  Introduce a fun, creative way for art therapists and art therapy students to learn more about each other and use the power of social media and art-making to network, connect, and create/receive art.

I was inspired to do a different kind of and much-needed type of “organizing” that included finally finding a good solution to display and store the postcards I’ve had since the exchange closed April. Many times, I have attempted different options, with no success and struggled with frustration on how to bring everything together in a way that made sense.  Finally the idea to use 12×12 plastic sleeves (so both sides of the postcard could be viewed), some clear adhesive dots, and a scrapbooking album, came to mind as something that might actually work (duh).  After a trip to the craft aisle and a few hours later, an entire album was filled edge to edge with 26 pages of beautiful postcard art.

To view the postcards I received together in this way was amazing and creating this album helped me honor as well as process my own experience with the project as a participant, recipient, and organizer.   Thank you again to everyone who participated and contributed to this exchange.

To view all the postcard art from the exchange, you can check them all out here via Art Therapy Without Border’s Web Album on Google.

Celebrating Creative Goodness with Artist Trading Card Fun @ 6 Degrees of Creativity

My Artist Trading Card (ATC) Workshop for 6 Degrees of Creativity is all ready to go!  I can’t wait!   I am super excited to create more community and connection with lots of ATC making throughout the next six months and everything culminating with a global exchange of our art from this workshop in February 2012.  I hope you’ll consider joining me:

What are your 6 Degrees of Creative Goodness?

And… don’t forget, 6 Degrees of Creativity also includes five other workshops– chock full of offerings that will inspire and empower your art making and creative practice with themes of positive psychology, gratitude, transformation, social contemplation, and more!  Registration is open now until December 1.  The 6 Degrees of Creativity fun starts October 10!

Welcome to Creativity in Motion

Changes / Gretchen Miller, 2002

Welcome to Creativity in Motion: Reflections on Creativity, Connection, & Collaboration.  What you will be able to discover here are my thoughts, writing, and art on how creativity, connection, and collaboration foster inspiration, energy, and empowerment in my relationships, life, work, and play.  I find great value in these concepts and hope that through sharing my experiences, exchanging ideas and interests in this topic, that myself and visitors to this blog will continue to learn and grow as innovators, connectors, and collaborators. 

About the collage: Even in moments of despair and the unknown, there are opportunities for change and discovering new paths through creative thinking, taking risks, and mobilizing action.