Possibilities are opening up for creative arts therapists to work with kids in school communities.
In this workshop, we invite the exploration of:
possibilities for how we respond,
recognising what we bring,
connecting our work with our values.
We share stories from our practice, and offer the opportunity for participants to create and share a response.
We look outwards to our current context and imagine ways to plant and grow the presence of and access to Creative Arts Therapy for kids in schools.
Gerry Katz, PhD, RN
My professional practice over six decades combines experience in tertiary education and healthcare in Australia, in Canada, and in the USA. Among the highlights are my role as co- ordinator of the RMIT University Master of Creative Arts Therapy program (1996-2008), psychotherapeutic and arts therapy work in community and acute care mental health centres and in schools, and work with survivors of the Black Saturday Bushfires (Victoria, Feb 2009). My current work includes Creative Arts Therapy programs for students in primary and secondary schools and professional supervision for clinical therapists and educators.
My particular interests are in the social value of the arts, in arts based education and research, in the mental health of girls and women, and in understanding indigenous knowledges. I am drawn to the potential of the dramatic and literary arts for informing the lives of young people and their families.
My practice, like my philosophy, is child-centred and focuses on developing a trusting relationship with each child. This means following the child’s lead and proposing the arts therapy session as an offer ~ one that may be accepted or rejected on any given day. For both individuals and for small groups, I provide an offer of a safe space, an accepting atmosphere, materials with which to experiment and create, minimal questions on my part with the concurrent invitation to ask me as many as necessary, a promise of confidentiality and a proposal to have fun.
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Melissa Nelson-Campbell
My love for the arts as therapy started back in 2006 after running my first self-care workshop in the lounge-room of my home in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Being raised by migrant parents, it was in my blood and bones to strive, develop my own identity and create a meaningful life for myself. I studied several courses in art therapy, mixed media, meditation teaching and counselling, working my way toward taking bigger and bolder steps in my career.
As a woman of colour, artist, and art therapist, I am driven to support people from diverse backgrounds yearning to find their voice and be heard.
My therapeutic arts practice led me to working with local human rights organisations, university and high school students, board members and local council. I am currently employed as an art therapist for a multicultural primary school with a high percentage of children carrying trauma. They are resilient, passionate, and extremely responsive to the vast healing potentials of creative arts therapy.
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Dr Carla van Laar
I remember standing in front of a class room of student Creative Arts Therapists and telling them that it is possible that within our lifetimes, there will be an Arts Therapist working on staff in every Australian school. I am passionate about continuing to support work for CATs in schools, especially through the Victorian Government’s Schools Mental Health Fund and Menu.
A number of years ago, I successfully applied for a $50,000 grant a to run mental health and well-being projects in two Western suburbs schools. Working with together with school staff, we developed a ‘whole school’ approach that included working with school staff, parents, whole year levels and small groups.
The various activities we did within the schools reflect, in some ways, the three tiers of mental health and well-being responses as they are outlined in the current Schools Mental Health Fund and Menu. These might be thought of as a spectrum across promotion of well-being, crisis prevention, and responding.
I embrace the idea that it takes a village to raise a child… and I believe it takes a village to support the families and educators around the children too.
I am thrilled to be collaborating with Gerry and Melissa in this workshop. Gerry was my teacher, and Melissa was my student. I love to see the values that we share rippling through our work in schools.
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THE 2022 CREATIVE MENTAL HEALTH FORUM
AND SELF CARE RETREAT
WELCOMES GERRY KATZ AND MELISSA NELSON-CAMPBELL.
We look forward to sharing this special space with you in 2022.
For more information please click here.