HOFSTRA CREATIVE ARTS THERAPY CONFERENCE
Specializations in Art Therapy
April 15, 2008
Hofstra University’s Graduate Creative Arts Therapy Program
Presented
A one-day conference in Hofstra University’s Student Center
School of Education and Allied Human Services
The Keynote Speaker: Michelle Dean, MA, ATR-BC, LPC
Michelle L. Dean, MA, ATR-BC, LPC, CGP is a Registered & Board Certified Art Psychotherapist, Licensed Professional Counselor & Certified Group Psychotherapist. She specializes in treating clients who have eating disorders & survivors of trauma in her private practice in Glenside, PA. In addition to her practice, Ms. Dean is an Adjunct Professor at Arcadia University, where she has instructed undergraduate art therapy courses since 1997. She is a supervisor for graduate students, ATR candidates, & clinicians wanting to further their knowledge about art therapy & the therapeutic uses of art, eating disorders, & other related topics. Ms. Dean is the author of the children’s book, Taking weight problems to school (JayJo Press, 2005) and the chapter, “Preserving the self: Treating eating disordered individuals who self-injure with art therapy” in Creative arts therapies with patients who have eating disorders, edited by Stephanie Brooke (Charles C. Thomas, due out 2007). Her work has received the Delaware Valley Art Therapy Associations “Innovations in Art Therapy Award” in 2007.
Ms. Dean’s work history includes over a decade of eating disorder experience at nationally recognized eating disordered programs including positions as Art Therapy & Trauma Track Coordinator at The Renfrew Center, Art Therapist at The Belmont Center for Comprehensive Treatment and The Rader Institute in Philadelphia, as well as Therapist at The Delaware County Women Against Rape and Crime Victims Organization in Media, Pennsylvania.
Ms. Dean has presented extensively on the therapeutic benefits art, and the use of art therapy with eating disordered clients, and self-injurious behaviors. Ms. Dean is an approved provider for NBCC continuing education credits for both live programs and traditional home-study courses (#6302). She has been invited to speak on the radio, television, at schools, colleges, and numerous local, and national conferences.
An example of the conference schedule:
8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
8:30-9 a.m. Registration and Coffee, Student Center Theater
9-9:15 a.m. Hofstra Welcome, Jane M. Goldman, School of Education, Senior Assistant Dean, School of Education and Allied Human Services
Dr. Joan Bloomgarden, Program Director, Introductory comments
Dr. Deborah Elkis-Abuhoff, Assistant professor, Welcome
Student Assistants: Samantha Alexander, Morgan Gaydos, Marie Ragona, Ellen Panagoitopoulos, Victoria Prisco, Jennifer Ziegler
Program & Participant Learning Objectives:
* Attendees will be able to identify the spectrum of eating disordered behaviors as well as the manifestations of these behaviors as seen in patients’ artwork.
* Attendees will be able to identify the signs and symptoms of co-morbidity the often seen with eating disordered clients, such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse and post traumatic stress disorder.
* Participants will learn how an art-based approach may be utilized to bridge the psyche/soma split often associated with patients who manifest eating disordered behaviors -- more than two dozen specific tasks and examples will be illustrated and discussed.
9:30-11:00 PM. KEYNOTE: Michelle L. Dean, MA, ATR-BC, LPC
Bridging the split: Working with patients who manifest eating disordered behaviors utilizing an art-based approach
This keynote address focuses on the specialization of working with patients who present within a continuum of eating disordered behaviors ranging from anorexia, bulimia and compulsive eating patterns. Discussions of the theories of etiology concerning the emergence of eating disordered behaviors will illuminate why the art therapy process is a valuable modality of treatment for these patients often viewed as difficult to treat by many clinicians. The use of case examples, supported by current literature in didactic, interactive, and experiential formats will be provided.
Description of Workshops:
#1 Eating Disorders: Dolls of Transformation, Flower Doll Workshop, Kathy Masone, M.A. LCAT, ATR-BC
This workshop will teach participants how to create a simple doll from silk flowers. After the dolls are constructed adornments such as beads, glitter and paint are added. Participants will find that in creating several dolls, different aspects of their own personality will become apparent. A collection of dolls made by psychiatric clients will be on display along with a brief presentation on the pathology of who created them.
#2 Imaginal Resonance: The integration of mind and body as a reflective approach to insight oriented art therapy, Dorit Netzer, M.A. ATR-BC, LCAT
In this workshop, participants will be introduced to Imaginal Resonance, a transpersonal, mind-body integrative approach to eliciting awareness of bodily sensations, feelings, reflective thoughts, and imagination. The workshop will incorporate mental imaging techniques, art making, and writing into a process coined by the presenter as Imaginal Resonance. Examples for the application of this approach in clinical practice of insight oriented art therapy will be shared and discussed.
#3 When the Image Knows Best: A Jungian Perspective on Art and Play, Joan Alpers, MSP, LCAT, ATR-BC, CCLS
A brief overview on Jungian theory will be illustrated by sandplay, mandala imagery and case history, followed by a quick lesson on how to search for meaning in a symbol. Participants will have the opportunity to explore the relationship between the Ego and Jung's concept of the Self.
#4 The Magic of Humor and Dramatic Expression, Elyse Miller, M.A. ATR-BC, LCAT
Having a sense of humor is not only important on a personal level, but also on a professional level. Humor can build self-confidence, self-esteem and increase self-expression skills. Creating therapeutic bonds is a difficult task that can take many months in some cases many years to develop. Humor is just another way to strengthen, to develop that bond. This workshop will help you discover your humor style and most of all allow you to evaluate your overall sense of humor. Discover the power of humor, how to heal through humor and get back the gift of laughter. You will have the opportunity to tell a joke, laugh, play and create some art.
#5 Art Therapy and DBT with Adolescents, Melissa Klay, MPS, LCAT, ATR
Working in an alternative high school for adolescents, symptoms of depression, anxiety, mood changes, and impulsivity are experienced daily. Some of the adolescents self-medicate their emotional and behavioral difficulties with drugs and/or alcohol. The major treatment modality used with this population is Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). Through art experientials, the workshop will focus on how to integrate art therapy and the five DBT skills used with adolescents.
#6 Dolls of Transformation
#7 Art With the Blind
#8 Shamanic Healing
1st Workshops 11:15 – 12:30
Lunch 12:30 – 1:30
2nd Workshops 1:45 – 3:00
3rd Workshops 3:15 – 4:30
Each attendee will be given a certificate that is acceptable by ATCB for four CECs towards BC recertification at no additional cost.
About the Keynote:
Michelle L. Dean, MA, ATR-BC, LPC - is in private practice and is an Adjunct Professor at Arcadia University in Glenside, PA. She is a supervisor for ATR & LPC candidates and provides professional workshops for mental health clinicians. Her work recently received the Delaware Valley Art Therapy Association’s Innovations in Art Therapy Award (2007). Ms. Dean is the author of, Taking weight problems to school (JayJo Press, 2005) and the chapter Preserving the self: Treating eating disordered individuals who self-injure with art therapy in Brooke, S. (Ed). Creative arts therapies with patients who have eating disorders. Published by Charles C. Thomas due out in 2007.
About the Presenters:
Dorit Netzer, M.A. ATR-BC, LCAT is an art therapist in private practice and an adjunct professor at Hofstra's Creative Arts Therapy Master's program. She has worked with a variety of populations in community settings and specializes in working with children and families as well as post graduate supervision. Dorit is a doctoral candidate in the global department of the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, and is in the process of completing a doctorate dissertation on the topic of imaginal processes as vehicles for transpersonal development.
Joan Alpers, MSP, LCAT, ATR-BC, CCLS is a NY State licensed and board certified Art Therapist.
She currently directs a Child Life Program for medically ill children at Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip, N.Y. Additionally Ms. Alpers teaches for the Hofstra Graduate Art Therapy Program and maintains a private practice in Suffolk County with an emphasis on art and sandplay therapy for children, teens and adults.
Elyse A. Miller, M.A. ATR-BC, LCAT, currently works in the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychiatric Rehabilitation in the North Shore- Long Island Jewish Health System. She received a degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology and her Masters Degree in Creative Arts Therapy from Hofstra University. Currently, she maintains a private practice in Massapequa Park, NY. She works with children, adolescents and adults, individual/family, in the areas of depression, trauma, bereavement, eating disorders, and divorce. She as well supervises professionals toward their ATR.
Melissa Klay, MPS, LCAT, ATR, PhD Candidate has experience working with adults, adolescents, and children. She currently works with adolescents at St. Luke’s Hospital Center and has a private practice. She is also a visiting instructor in the Graduate Creative Arts Therapy Department at Pratt Institute.
For Information about the Creative Arts Therapy Program at Hofstra University please contact:
Deborah Elkis-Abuhoff, PhD., Assistant Professor
Joan Bloomgarden, PhD., Creative Arts Therapy Program Director
CRSR Department,163 Hagedorn Hall
119 Hofstra University Hempstead, NY 11549-1240
516-463-5300
For appointments call Eileen Shea: 516-463-5752
Directions to Hofstra University’s North Campus—Student Center
By car: Hofstra is on Long Island close to New York City and can be reached easily by main east-west and north-south roads. Meadowbrook Parkway is the closest: it runs north and south between the Southern State Parkway and the Northern State Parkway. Leave Meadowbrook Parkway at exit M4 West to Hempstead Turnpike. Hofstra is on Hempstead Turnpike less than one mile west. Conference parking is available on the North Campus.
By train: Take the Long Island Railroad from Pennsylvania Station to Hempstead Station. There is a blue Hofstra University shuttle bus that leaves from the station on the hour and half hour. Please call for convenient trains allowing time for connections.
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