workshops, seminars

If you know of any arts therapy workshops and seminars in Australia and New Zealand please let us know. Send information to Jill.

Vocal Improvisation Workshop

Is having a voice important to you? This workshop will explore abstract vocal sound to connect to intuition, emotion and indescribable feelings, through the use of play and improvisation. We will also ground ourselves through activities that bring heightened awareness to our breathing and listening. You will be supported in a safe environment within a small group for your exploration. Join us in reconnecting with our first instrument of expression, our voices.

When: Sunday 26 May 2013, 2-4:30pm
Cost: $90

Voice as therapeutic medium

Professional Development for Health Professionals

Are you interested in working with voice as a medium for therapeutic expression? This workshop takes you through different group activities focusing on voice, breath, and listening; as well as some one-on-one companioning using vocal improvisation that connects to inner thoughts and emotions. The voice we are exploring sits outside of singing or speaking; it’s a primal connection to our individual energy. In expressing indescribable feelings and sounding out with a listener, we intuitively re-discover our voices and strengthen our sense of self.

When: Wednesday 29 May 2013, 1-4pm
Cost: $115

Facilitator: Alice Hui-Sheng Chang
For more info: check the Melbourne Art Therapy Studio website – www.melbournearttherapy.com.au or contact Alice on alice@huishengchang.com

Expressive Therapy Clinic – Workshops and Training

Expressive Therapy Clinic offers the opportunity for participants interested in Mindfulness Meditation, Art Therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy and Positive Psychology to attend courses, weekend workshops and specific trainings.

The training programs are especially helpful for Health Care Professionals, Teachers, School Counsellors, Social Workers, Occupational Therapists, Psychologists, Counsellors, Art therapists and people interested in gaining more skills to increase general wellness for themselves and for others they work with. Training in Art Psychotherapy in combination with learning the skills of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy and Positive Psychology- Weekend Workshops – Tweed Heads

PROGRAM OUTLINE

Saturday – Managing Emotions using DBT

Wise Mind and Mindfulness; Distress Tolerance and Self-Soothe; Emotional Regulation Strategies; Reality Acceptance skill.

Sunday – Finding Wellness using Positive Psychology

Introduction to Positive Psychology; Savouring and remembering; Expressing Gratitude and Finding Meaning; Learning Optimism; Acting from your strengths; Conclusion; Questions and observations.
Facilitator: Megan Shiell Grad Dip Ex.Th, M.A AThr – Dialectical Behaviour Therapist
When: 15 and 16 June, 7 and 8 September, 30 November and 1 December 2013
Where: Expressive Therapy Clinic – Unit 7/133 Wharf Street, Tweed Heads (07) 5536 5553 or 0417 084 846
Cost: $350

Experiencing Being Well & Living Well with Mindfulness

A one day workshop presented by Health Psychologist & Mindfulness Meditation Teacher John Barter joining with Megan Shiell using art therapy to bring a non-verbal art experience to the course.
Facilitator: John Barter (Buddhist Psychologist, Mindful Meditation Teacher) and Megan Shiell Art Psychotherapist
When: Every third Sunday each Month for 2013.
Where: Expressive Therapy Clinic – Unit 7/133 Wharf Street, Tweed Heads (07) 5536 5553 or 0417 084 846
Cost: $150

For more information: Email: m.shiell@expressivetherapyclinic.com.au or go to www.expressivetherapyclinic.com.au – Look under “New Programs and Courses and Training Opportunities”

All Expressive Therapy Clinic programs are now approved for CPD/OPD Points with:
AASW • ACA • ANZATA • Australian Psychological Society Event No: 12036

Body as Voice: Restorative Movement Psychotherapy

Trauma and Resiliency Training Series

Part 1: Body Mind/Beginners Mind: Somatic and Creative Arts Approaches to Working with Survivors of Trauma
Saturday 29 and Sunday 30, June and Monday 1, Tuesday 2, July 2013

Part 2: Body Wisdom: Somatic and Creative Arts Approaches to Working with Survivors of Trauma
October - Saturday 12, Sunday 13, Monday 14, Tuesday 15

Part 3: Body as Voice: Somatic and Creative Arts Approaches to Working with Survivors of Trauma
Dates TBA

Exposure to traumatic events literally and metaphorically “freezes” our bodies, minds and spirits in a “lock-down” of past memories. Current neuro-psychiatric research has shown that when someone is traumatized, a majority of traumatic memory is implicit—or sensory-motoric. Many of the researchers endorse the use of non-verbal therapies for survivors to fully integrate the past with the present and restore well-being and balance.

This training series will prepare clinicians, dance movement therapists, art therapists, and somatic therapists to work with survivors of trauma (in particular, trauma secondary to war, torture, interpersonal abuse, complex trauma, human rights violations, intergenerational and historic trauma, complex humanitarian emergencies and natural disaster) using a variety of very practical, body and arts-based practices and methods. It will benefit all mental health professionals who work with survivors of trauma and wish to integrate body-based and creative arts approaches into their work in individual, family, group or community contexts.

Facilitator: International presenter - Amber Gray
Where: The Convent, Dorm 1, Rosina Building, 1 St Helier Street Abbotsford, Melbourne
Contact: Mandy Agnew on rmagnew@bigpond.com Or phone 98899123 / 0437348808

Creative Therapy Worksop 2013 – The Journey: restoring balance in the face of loss

Hosted by Cancer Council Victoria

An autobiographically-based creative workshop project with Art Therapist David Champion

‘If there is tragic limitation in life there is also possibility. What we call maturity is the ability to see the two in some kind of balance into which we can fit creativity.’ – Ernest Becker

These workshops will aim to provide participants with an enjoyable and enriching experience of self-expression, combining two modalities, art-making and creative writing in a group setting. These workshops are specifically devised for people that have been affected by cancer - directly or indirectly.

Places strictly limited so book your place early!

Facilitator: David Champion is a registered art therapist currently in private practice. He has extensive background working in Palliative Care units with cancer patients and their families across Victoria.
David holds a Graduate Diploma of Counselling and Psychotherapy majoring in his special interest areas of Trauma, Loss and Grief.
When:Saturday 16th March 2013, Saturday 13th April 2013, Saturday 18th May 2013, 10:00am to 2:00pm for each of the workshops
Where:Cancer Council Victoria, 100 Drummond Street, Carlton VIC 3053
Cost: $15 per workshop The cost of the course includes all materials, a catered lunch and refreshments.
Contact: For more information or to book your place contact arts.awards@cancervic.org.au or call Supporter’s Hotline on 1300 65 65 85

TRAUMA AND THE BODY – A One-Day Workshop

This course presents some practical ways of using creative processes to recover from recent and/or past trauma-including repeated abuse/neglect trauma. Over the last decade interpersonal neurobiology research has shown how in a close and trusting relationship positive brain changes occur when moderate states of arousal are carefully activated by an experienced and skilled practitioner collaborating with the client. This requires activating both affect (mood) and cognition (thinking) and assists the client to develop a narrative that makes sense to them. (D. Siegal 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011) Working with Movement and the Body is known to be important in assisting this process of integration.

Participants will learn :
• Safe and respectful ways of dealing with trauma using the body, action and art in therapy
• Gaining awareness of the body
• Creating appropriate boundaries. Trauma affects a felt sense of personal boundaries. Interventions to create good somatic and psychological boundaries will be shown
• Experiencing (feel, think, act) when to trust or defend / protect yourself
• Exercises that connect mood and thinking creating a story that makes sense to the person
• Learn an effective trauma treatment strategy that combines mental imagery and action

Facilitator: Christine Bolstad is a Clinical Psychologist who has worked for over 20 years using creative processes to help people overcome trauma including training in movement and action in Europe with Dr Bermudez. She has helped clients and other professionals in the field of trauma, relationships, family issues and interpersonal violence. Christine works at the Inner West Therapy Centre in Sydney and is interested in showing people how to thoughtfully use these skills and interventions in their own practice. You will come out of this training with skills and more knowledge.
When: Four session Dates – 10 and 20 April; 8 and 18 May 2013.
This is a one day course run on a Week Day or a Saturday.
Numbers are restricted so that the course can address the interests of participants
Cost: $195 Time 9.30am – 4.30pm
To register or more info: please contact Christine on 9569 7433 or email chris@innerwesttherapy.com.au