COMMUNITY LECTURE SERIES

The MPS Art Therapy Community Lecture Series invites renowned professionals to present work to both art therapy students and the general public.  Members of the art therapy community and related disciplines present the latest research in their fields and innovative forms of treatment and technique.  The objectives are to provide ongoing education to art therapy students, art therapists and related professionals; to broaden community outreach; to highlight the growth of art therapy with various client populations and in multiple settings; and to advance a greater understanding of the clinical and therapeutic practice of art therapy.  All lectures take place at 133/141 West 21 Street, Room 101C, between Sixth & Seventh Avenues. Lectures are FREE to the public. CEC’s available for ATR-BC’s.

1. Friday, February 1, 2013, 6:30-8pm
Thinking Outside the Box: Developing Non-traditional Art Therapy Groups for Court Involved Youth
Jessica Zapotechne, ATR-BC, LCAT
This lecture will focus on two different art therapy group curricula that were created and implemented with youth in an alternative to incarceration program. The groups were based on elements of experiential learning, art and narrative therapy and were designed to engage youth and foster program connectedness. Theoretical background along with clinical application of each curriculum will be discussed. This should be of interest to clinicians who are working with at-risk youth, specifically those who are resistant to traditional forms of therapy.

Jessica Zapotechne, ATR-BC, LCAT, currently works with at-risk youth involved in the criminal justice system at the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Service (CASES).  Previously, she worked in a District 75 school in Brooklyn. Jessica received her training in the use of narrative therapy from Dr. Amy Smiley at the Center for Rehabilitation and Recovery in New York, and has been designing and implementing art therapy groups for adolescents for the past seven years with a specific focus on engaging and empowering youth through art making and the experiential process of learning. She has presented both nationally and internationally and maintains a private practice.

2. Friday, March 22, 2013, 6:30-8pm
Pink Elephant Remedies: Approaches to Art History and Art Therapy
Francis Palazzolo, MA
While the fine art world prides itself on inclusiveness, and the lack of discrimination in idea and practice, there is an elephant in the room: art therapy is not looked upon in the best light, particularly in academic circles, nor is it included in post-Modern art discourse. An elephant looms on the other side as well: art history is an underdeveloped resource in approaching work with clients in an art therapy setting. While not an art therapist, Francis Palazzolo has worked for the past 25 years at FEGS, JBFCS, and he co-founded the HAI Art Studio with a progressive mission to teach and apply art history in mental health settings, with the goal of empowering mental health consumers with the ideas and practices that shape visual culture.

Francis Palazzolo, MA in Studio Art and Philosophy from New York University, has exhibited his paintings, sculptures, performances and films in New York and abroad for over three decades in 37 group and solo exhibits. While maintaining his professional career as an artist, he has taught art workshops for people with disabilities for over 20 years, and is currently the Artistic Director and a curator of exhibitions in the Gallery at Hospital Audiences Incorporated, where his leadership and creative ideas have resulted in high artistic quality tailored to each individual’s interests and abilities while maintaining a sense of community. Francis has worked with the MPS Art Therapy Department at SVA for many years via Special Projects collaborations, and was also one of the presenters at the Department’s 27th annual conference in 2011.

3. Friday, April 19, 2013, 6:30-8pm
Locating Levity in the Profound:  Laugh Therapy for Mental Health Professionals
Kelley Linhardt, ATR-BC, LCAT; Jenna Wood, LCAT, MT-BC; and Kerry Ellis, LCAT, R-DMT, RYT
In a field where compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma are common, it is necessary to develop practices that allow release while promoting sustainability. Laughter has been used restoratively since the antiquity to trauma and is currently being used therapeutically in practices as diverse as yoga, trauma treatment and palliative care. We will celebrate our work’s occasional absurdity and its perpetual profundity in a space where both the severity of what we experience on a daily basis as clinicians are our compassion for our clients are unquestioned. Participants will be exposed to current research, multimodal techniques and interventions that may be used in clinical practice or self care.

Kelley Linhardt, ATR-BC, LCAT, received her MA in Art Therapy from New York University, is certified in cross-cultural trauma intervention by the International Trauma Studies Program affiliated with the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, and is currently a clinical extern at the Ackerman Institute for the Family. Ms. Linhardt splits her time between working with inner-city high school students with a history of chronic-absenteeism in East New York, and working as an art therapist at the college counseling center at the New School University.

Jenna Wood, LCAT, MT-BC, is a music therapist at Kings County Hospital Center. She completed her master’s degree at New York University in music therapy and is currently a candidate at the National Institute for the Psychotherapies, studying psychodynamic approaches in clinical practice.

Kerry Ellis, LCAT, R-DMT, RYT, is a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist, Registered Dance/Movement Therapist and Certified Yoga Teacher based out of Brooklyn, NY. She has spent the past 5 years training and working as a Dance/Movement Therapist within inpatient psychiatric settings, and has been working through community workshops on how to make creative arts therapy accessible to all.

ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Our annual art therapy conference, hosted in conjunction with the Visual Arts Foundation, enhances the education of our students and invites the opportunity for professional networking. The day-long session is comprised of lectures, workshops and experiential sessions on noteworthy clinical topics of interest to art therapy students, professional practitioners, clinicians, faculty members, professionals in related disciplines, clients and the community at large. Our next art therapy conference, Perception of Identity through Art: How Narrative and Perspective Shape Understanding, will take place on Friday, March 15, 2013. More information will be posted soon.