I’ve slowly been working on the altered book I started for exploring the theme of covenant based care giving. Here are some work in progress photos:
I’ve been using a lot of acrylic paint on the raw surface of the chipboard page that I’ve stripped of its glossy coating and its former life of a children’s board book. Over the dried acrylic paint I’ve also been using some white colored pencil. It’s been a super liberating process.
Each of these beginning pages are forming a visual pledge connected to my professional and creative work… to instill, engage with, and honor.
“….autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together…” ~ Edwin Way Teale, Autumn Across America
Fall is quickly approaching, which means lots of art therapy and related offerings & activity happening– Yay!
The kick off for me starts this week with attending Ohio’s 33rd Annual BATA Symposium in Columbus, Implications of Research in Art Therapy Practice. I am looking forward to these couple of days to be inspired, meet up with art therapy colleagues & friends, as well as make some art! Throughout the next couple of months I am also excited to be guest lecturing for undergraduate and graduate art therapy courses, facilitating a local art gathering dedicated to self care & emotional resiliency, and teaching again for the Expressive Therapies Summit in New York City, and at Ursuline College:
Tokens of Strength & Affirmation: Artist Challenge Coins (ACCs)
September 19-20: 2014 Buckeye Art Therapy Association (BATA) Symposium, Columbus, Ohio- Laurel Larson, MPS, ATR and me will be offering the workshop “Tokens of Strength & Affirmation: Artist Challenge Coins (ACCs)” as part of this year’s BATA Symposium program on Friday afternoon. Used in the military, a Challenge Coin is a medallion symbolizing achievement, membership, or recognition, as well as given to increase morale and community among belonging members. In the spirit of Challenge Coins, participants will learn how to use Artist Challenge Coins (ACCs) as tokens of affirmation, strength, and recovery. Participants will engage in making their own ACC with mixed media, as well as create an ACC to exchange with other participants.
September 24: Guest lecturing at Ursuline College’s Master of Arts in Art Therapy & Counseling Program about the inspiration of Dr. Bruce Perry in relationship to art therapy & trauma as part of Dr. Amy Jacob’s Psychopathology course.
October 3: Guest lecturing at Ursuline College’s Master of Arts in Art Therapy & Counseling Program as part of Sr. Kathleen Burke, PhD’s Arts and Social Justice intensive course.
Self Care through Creative Practice & Intention: An Evening of Art Making for Helping Professionals
October 15:Self Care through Creative Practice & Intention: An Evening of Art Making for Helping Professionals, Cleveland, Ohio- Explore & strengthen emotional resilience through art-making and creative practice within this small and artful gathering of helping professionals. This evening of art-making will focus on creating a mini, mobile accordion matchbox art journal that can serve as a tangible reminder of support, strength, & the importance of self-care for the work we do in service & care of others. For more information and to register, visit this link.
October 20 & 21: Remote lecture for undergraduate psychology students at the University of Cincinnati, Clermont College focusing on the topic of using art in trauma intervention.
November 6-9: 5th Annual Expressive Therapies Summit, New York City- On November 6, Mindy Jacobson-Levy, MCAT, ATR-BC, LPC, DVATA HLM and me will be teaching the Master Class Destruction & Transformation in Art & Therapy: Re-Framing, Re-Forming, Re-Claiming at this year’s ET Summit. Participants in this all day offering will explore key concepts surrounding the therapeutic role of creative destruction and the reparation of images that fosters the fertile ground for self-repair and personal growth. A self-directed journey will commence as we discover how art making affects each of us; this enhanced by group discussion. Case material will be presented as a bridge to our work with various client populations.
Throughout this semester I am also teaching Art Therapy Studio I again, a core course for Ursuline College’s Art Therapy & Counseling Program to explore creativity, self expression, and lots of studio, art-making time. In addition to personal art making and creating a portfolio of work throughout the semester, students will also learn how to create digistories and use the medium of digital storytelling to share narratives about their artist identity.
As always during this busy and inspiring time of year, I hope that there might be a place or opportunity above or between for us to connect and meet up off the grid! ❤
This week was our annual staff retreat and this year the day was completely dedicated to the impact of trauma exposure, self-care strategies, and resiliency. The retreat’s main speaker was Cynthia Vrabel, MD, who is the Medical Director of FrontLine Service here in Cleveland. Dr. Vrabel’s work includes an interest in research and program development to address the issue of secondary traumatic stress in clinicians and first responders.
I found the content presented throughout the day really spoke to the realities, challenges, & struggles of trauma work and exposure related to compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and burnout, as well as provided nurturing and encouraging staff self-care strategies and takeaways to implement and build upon as individuals, within programming, and agency wide. It was re-energizing to spend the day receiving Dr. Vrabel’s teachings and reminders rooted in the work of Dr. Bruce Perry, Laura van Dernoot Lipsky, Brene Brown, and many others who offer support & inspiration related to trauma focused work.
There were countless takeaways from the day, but my top 3 were these:
Create a Transition Zone: A space, ritual or practice that supports us to create a healthier boundary and balance between our personal life and work. In the same spirit, this idea reminded me to re-visit the article, 10 Easy Steps to Creating a Peaceful Home Retreat published by the Joyful Heart Foundation‘s Reunion Magazine (Issue 2). This resource provides many sensory based suggestions that can help cultivate routines and areas within the space we live to shift into a place of calmness, peace, and relaxation. Using symbolic objects, scents, music, journaling, creative expression, & more are all offered as options to integrate this into self care practice.
Covenant Based Caregiving: A covenant can be defined as “a written agreement or promise…especially for the performance of some action.” What are your covenants, values, or intentions related to bringing your “best self” to your life, work and service….to not only others, but to yourself as well? We were given a worksheet created by Dr. Vrabel to explore discovering our own covenants that I thought could easily be explored in visual form as well (I thought about making a collage or book!). What are your own values and promises to yourself that you can make about living, working, loving, being, becoming, believing, promoting, striving, and seeking that support covenant caregiving vs. “on demand” caregiving?
Compassion Satisfaction: Compassion satisfaction is the enjoyment created from being able to help other people. It is the opposite of Compassion Fatigue (the emotional and physical exhaustion of caring for others) or Vicarious Trauma (becoming traumatized ourselves as a result of being exposed to stories and images of suffering). I am always interested in learning more about concepts connected to Post Traumatic Growth and how very stressful or traumatic situations can transform into positive and life affirming experiences. Compassion Satisfaction supports this experience for the helper or caregiver, which I love! Check out this resource: Transforming Compassion Fatigue into Compassion Satisfaction – 12 Top Self Care Tips for more ideas and suggestions.
In addition to the cognitive learning throughout the day, there was also dedicated time to mind/body & sensory based activities to support and explore self-care themes. Part of the morning included engaging in stretching, movement, & deep breathing and during some of the afternoon I was able to introduce and lead everyone in an art experience focused on art journaling as a tool for nurturing emotional resilience.
Nurturing Emotional Resilience through Art Journaling
 Everyone created paper bag art journals (check out this past post on how to make one!) as a tangible reminder of our supports, strengths, positive affirmations, and comfort. Each person also received an Artist Trading Card as an invitation to create an anchoring image that reflected a sense of peace and relaxation inspiration. A variety of creative goodness was offered for materials such as acrylic paint, pastels, Sharpies, gel pens, printed paper of various colors and bright designs, tissue paper, as well as journaling cards & Smash pad paper. I also invited people to bring their own favorite quotes, sayings, images and inspiration related to resiliency, affirmation, and self-care.
It was great to see the room buzz with book making and art journaling energy infused with both written and visual positive messages. The group was encouraged to continue working on their handmade journal and ATC post retreat and to also incorporate its presence into a work space where it could be of help or support in times of need or support.
In relationship to this post’s topic, next month at the National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children’s Childhood Trauma Practitioner’s Assembly, I’ll be presenting another workshop about Art Journaling’s Visual Voice in Trauma Intervention. This hands-on workshop will explore the use of art journaling as a safe, contained space for processing emotional expression, promoting self-care, and sharing one’s personal narrative and intentions. Content will include themes and the benefits of art journaling as a visual voice and means of trauma intervention with youth and women survivors of trauma. Participants will also engage in creating their own mini art journal with mixed media to identify and support their own professional self-care practices and intentions related to working with trauma & loss issues. Registration for this year’s Assembly is still open if you’re interested in attending!
It was so wonderful to have a day to come together to honor self-care and the impact trauma work can have on our wellbeing, as well as learn and practice ways to manage, balance, and cultivate what supports our best self – at work, home, and in our relationships. Very grateful!
Calling sock monkey makers: I’m organizing the 3rd Annual 6 Degrees of Creativity Sock Monkey Swap!
Everyone who signs up for the sock monkey swap will be randomly paired with another sock monkey maker. You’ll be making one sock monkey for someone, and someone will be making one for you. To sign up for the swap, e-mail your full name and a mailing address to me at 6degreesofcreativity@arttherapyalliance.org by November 25, 2013. During the week of November 25, you will receive mailing info from me on where to mail your sock monkey to. Please note you are responsible for postage, which could be to an international destination. Please don’t sign up for the exchange unless you are committed to the swap and following through. All sock monkeys should be mailed out by December 16, 2013 to their new home.
I also recommend checking out this content prepared by SIUE Master’s Art Therapy Counseling students Clarissa Weltzin and Renee Tate about the benefits of making sock monkeys for self care and their written sock monkey instructions. Both Clarissa and Renee participated in last year’s 6 Degrees of Creativity sock monkey swap and service project for OSM. It was a pleasure to see their poster session, “The Fuzzies of Self Care: No Room for Sock Monkeyin’ Around” presented at the Illinois Art Therapy Association Conference last month!
Holiday Happening: Sock Monkeys for OSM | creativity in motion
I’m also interested in putting together a DIY 2014 calendar featuring handmade sock monkeys created by my sock monkey making friends…. More fun! Please let me know if you’re interested in submitting a photo by December 16 of your sock monkey for one of the calendar months!
This year‘s program included over 200 faculty and 130 sessions over 4 days across New York City. There was a lot going on!
Creative Meet Ups & Connecting
One of my favorite things to do is to connect with and meet up with art therapists, students, and virtual friends I have met, collaborated with or follow online, which this conference allowed plenty of opportunity for, including a Networking Meet Up at The New School on the first day of the Summit! It was great to meet many in person from the Art Therapy Alliance and 6 Degrees of Creativity communities who were also attending the Summit.
“What we know matters, but who we are matters more”
In relationship to self-care and trauma work, an awareness of our own personal and professional vulnerabilities and willingness to be open to these are valuable insights to strengthening our practice and connections with those we serve.
I think this open and authentic look into myself and self care practices can only help me become more aware and present with the work I do and hopefully protect against trauma exposure responses we are also so vulnerable to.
For more information on trauma exposure, this fact sheet about secondary traumatic stress from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network is a helpful resource for warning signs, prevention and intervention ideas.
Exploration of the vulnerability topic also spontaneously surfaced in my 365 revo’lution this week on Day 252. A welcomed surprise around my intentions of service & trust!
I’ve been gearing up for art therapy fall happenings and goings on that I’m looking forward to this year… Lots of good stuff on the calendar! Check it out:
This week begins the first day of Art Therapy Studio I that I’ll be teaching for Ursuline College’s Art Therapy and Counseling Program. I’m very excited to meet the students and work together throughout the fall semester exploring concepts about the creative process, developing their unique self-expression, and symbolic language through art. This course engages students in tons of personal art making in and outside of class, as well as time to reflect about their identity as an artist, which I believe is so essential in the on-going work of an art therapist. Students will be creating a portfolio of work, exploring artist mentors, and telling their own path as an artist through digital storytelling to help facilitate this discovery.
Next month, I’ll be attending Ohio’s Buckeye Art Therapy Association’s Annual Symposium (September 28 & 29) featuring Dr. Harriet Wadeson as the Keynote Speaker. Dr. Wadeson “will focus on the use of creative self-expression in facing severe illness as an experienced art therapist and from the subjective vantage point of her own cancer diagnosis and treatment as highlighted in her recent book, Journaling Cancer in Words and Images: Caught in the Clutch of the Crab.” On-line registration is still open until August 26 to attend this 2 day event of art therapy offerings!
In October I’ll be visiting Mount Mary University in Milwaukee again to teach a week-end class about Art Therapy Interventions and Strategies with Survivors of Domestic Violence. Content related to group work & appropriate themes, using art to help re-establish safety, build resiliency, manage traumatic stress, as well as art’s role to empower a visual voice in trauma intervention will be explored. I’m grateful to have this opportunity to spend time with Mount Mary’s art therapy graduate students and to share my experiences over this 3 day offering.
Also in October, I’ll be attending the Illinois Art Therapy Association Conference (October 26), Collective Rekindling: Healing Narratives in Art Therapy being held at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The Keynote Speaker for this conference is Dr. Lani Gerity, which is so perfect for the conference theme! As part of the conference, I’ll be presenting a workshop on Art Journaling’s Visual Voice in Trauma Intervention. This hands-on workshop will explore the use of art journaling as a safe, contained space for processing emotional expression, promoting self care, and sharing ones personal narrative and intentions. Content will include themes and the benefits of art journaling as a visual voice and means of trauma intervention with youth and women survivors of trauma.  Participants will engage in creating their own mini art journal with mixed media to identify and support their own professional self-care practices and intentions related to working with trauma & loss issues.
After some time away from working in my self-care art journal, I’ve worked on a couple of new pages:
Self Care through Creative Practice & Intention: Art Journal
As mentioned in my last post, I was inspired by Cherie Spehar‘s reminder at this year’s National Institute for Trauma in Loss in Children’s Assembly about anchoring– and its role in journaling & trauma informed practice. In Cherie’s workshop, she mindfully highlighted that the process of journaling in connection to inner thoughts, strong emotions, intense memories, and painful experiences can trigger overwhelming responses for trauma survivors. Part of proceeding with emotional caution includes anchoring, which involves creating a mini safety plan (before starting to journal) about what the client can do or go to, to help re-establish safety and ground themselves to the here and now if needed.
This resource (Reconnecting to the Present-Anchoring PDF) provides a really good overview about the process, benefits, and tips about anchoring from SASC. Another great reference is Babette Rothschild’s “applying the brakes” content in relationship to trauma intervention.
One anchoring consideration is to re-connect to a positive past image. A sensory based symbol (a smell, sound, taste, feeling, something you see) can be chosen for recall when feeling out of control and overwhelmed. This can help re-establish a sense of safety and well-being in the present.
For this art journal, I created an Anchoring Artist Trading Card that helps ground and re-connect me to the here and now. The sensation, feeling, and reflection of light often does this me.
I also did some mind mapping for my art journal in the form of a tri-fold to help expand on my self care plan and anchoring related to my professional self. I identified 4 important areas in honoring my own self care: Safety, Creativity, Support, and Well-being.
Tri fold notes to myself
This was an easy and fun way to create a visual self care plan!
Self-care plan made visible
Prompt: What would your personal anchor and self-care mind map look like?
I had some time this morning to do some smashbooking inspired by Artsyville’s Glue It Tuesday:
I Like This: Glue It Tuesday Smashbooking 6/25/13
This spread is dedicated to some of my favorite intentions for well-being to start off this day: trust, simplicity, balance, and embracing inspiration in today’s moments…I like that!
I have been working on another spread in my art journal dedicated to self-care. This adventure launched a few weeks ago, as a safe space for me to explore some trauma informed concepts and creative resources related to the topic of self care.
My first couple of pages focused on gratitude, as well as creating a self-care proclamation, and these new pages explore affirmation as another tool for self-care.
My inspiration and resources for these pages came from Jocelyn Paige Kelly’s interview with author Janet Nestor (Pathways to Wholeness and Nuturing Wellness through Radical Self-Care) and her reflections about the benefits of affirmations on our well-being, as well as this Life Book art journaling prompt from Dawn DeVries Sokol about identifying positive self words. I also re-visited Lesson 2 from Lani Gerity’s Happy Artist’s Life (showing gratitude to our strengths!).
Self Care through Creative Practice & Intention: Affirmation
Reflecting on positive thoughts, inspiration, and strengths is always a valuable process for me to return to. I think the expression and viewing in a visual, artsy form, (i.e. my art journal) that I can keep handy & accessible increases this benefit. This process helps re-focus and re-frame the challenges of my day to day practice with good vibes and intention important to my professional self-care.
Janet Nestor shares these thoughts in her Realizing Your Creative Life interview:
“Affirmations help us develop and maintain a positive lifestyle. We can create new brain neuropathways with our positive thoughts, and affirmations speed up the process. “Neurons that fire together wire together” illustrates what happens when similar thoughts are repeated over and over again.”
Here’s to the power of positive thought and art-making combined! And the awesome impact this can have on our neuropathways for self-care!
creativity in motion 
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