The journey of an art therapist turned education technology expert
Wow! Join me for a FREE experiential with the iPad at the Union Square Apple store on Saturday Feb 4th from 3-4pm!
This is a follow-up to my presentation at Fort Mason on Jan 29th, and will be 90% experiential. Come play with the iPad and make art. There’ll be Apple support staff there to help answer any technical related questions, and I’ll be there to answer art therapy related questions too!
Check out the Facebook Event to RSVP.
Join me at NorCATA’s annual business meeting at Fort Mason on January 29th! It’s going to be a great talk about new technology and the online presence. Don’t miss it! Register here.
Staying on the Forefront: Art Therapy, the Online Presence and New Technology
The online presence: an exploration of social media, privacy and professionalism.
- What is an online presence and why you already have one.
- LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Yelp—are they for art therapists too?
- Guidelines on the safest ways to present your professional self online, including a discussion of online privacy.
New technology and what it means for the art therapy field:
- What’s old and new in the digital art therapy world?
- Why new technology isn’t a perfect substitute for traditional media…yet.
- Why even your grandmother could learn how to use the newest technology.
- How digital art therapy is important for our field.
The road to catharsis & healing—
Diary Drawings: Mental Illness and Me features 711 drawings by performance artist Bobby Baker after being diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and Breast Cancer. Read more about it on the Atlantic and you can purchase Bobby’s book through Amazon.
But even more fascinating, is the Guardian’s slideshow by Bobby Baker about her art work and her journey. Bobby baker diary audio slideshow
Hat tip: Sara Windrem—thank you!
In March 2011, I posted about an interesting self-authored book by Dan Rhema, who discusses using art making to heal from a traumatic brain injury.
I was pleased to find out that Dr. David Van Nys interviewed Dan, for one of my favorite psychology shows, Wise Counsel. Listen to his story on iTunes, or from mentalhealth.net.
Facebook launched a new Report Suicidal Content feature for those of us in the US and Canada, where friends can report a concern about a post, picture or status update that someone wrote. But, it’s not obvious as to how to go about creating this actual report. One way is to go directly to the Report Suicidal Content page.
The other is to choose the option “Edit or Remove” when you hover over the post (you’ll see a small pencil show up in the right hand corner). Choose “Report/ Mark as Spam” and then, instead of clicking ok, you need to click on the small text asking you to “file a detailed report”.
Next, select “Violence or Harmful Behavior” and then through the drop down menu, select “Suicidal Content”.
So…what actually happens when suicidal content is reported?
[To] avoid abuse of the tool, and people crying wolf, by having the User Observations team carefully screen all the reports and only sending the private link out to those that have been deemed “actionable.”
However…in cases where Facebook has information indicating the threat is imminent, the company will “take all possible action to get help”…[by calling] local emergency and law enforcement authorities to respond, which the company also urges users to do on its “Report Suicidal Content” entry form.”
Facebook wants to expand the feature Worldwide, but did not give a timeline in this article.
From what the media is reporting, there is a mixed response to this new feature both in the US and Canada.
I know FB is trying to reduce the number of false alarms by not making the tool easily accessible…but if you didn’t stay up on the news, how would you know you can report suicidal content if it’s hidden under the guise of “Report as Spam”? (Plus, it looks like you’d report cyber-bullying in the same place. I had no idea!) I’m sure I can speak for everyone when I say that I hope this does help prevent suicidal behavior. I’m just not sure how functional the feature is if it’s basically only word of mouth that’s informing users of its existence.
I also hope the data is being collected and researched, as it will be very useful in understanding the warning signs of online suicidal ideation, and it’s similarities and differences than the presentation in “real life”.
I applied to present at AATA’s 2012 conference with an innovative and provacative idea—that I would discuss the possibility of using website design within an art therapy session in order to help process grief. You can read my abstract here, but here’s a highlight:
The idea of using a website as a virtual mural will be explored, which can be built and contributed to by one person or by numerous people across various geographic locations. The website as a tool to eternally memorialize the deceased will also be considered, since once material is posted on the internet it lives forever.
A few days ago, I received my rejection letter from AATA. They didn’t give a specific explanation for the rejection, however they did indicate several possibilities, such as a lack of interest in the topic. My gut reaction was that AATA dismissed the idea of web design as a form of art therapy, and for this reason I want to give a brief explanation of my rationale beyond what you can read in my abstract.
When I found out one of my closest friends, Jazz Virdee, was hit by a car and killed instantly while on vacation in the Dominican Republic, I couldn’t breathe. I was traveling myself and in a haze of disbelief, I managed to make my way back to our home town, Montreal. We planned to meet there in a few months, after her work with the UN in Haiti ended and we both had a little time. Never did I think we would be brought together again under these terrible circumstances.
Immediately after her death, Jazz’s Facebook page was full of posts expressing sadness, anger and disbelief as wells as condolences to her family. New pictures were posted each day. Anything that people found in their photo libraries that never made it on her page before. New friend requests began popping up too. Jazz’s sister, who had access to Jazz’s fb account, was touched by the outpouring of support but intended to delete the fb account on Jazz’s upcoming 30th birthday. My heart sank thinking there’d be no where to see pictures, old messages, old times…I wanted a place I could go to, to sit with the memories. And in this technological age, our memories were online or in the form of digital photographs, emails and Skype video conference (that I wish I had recorded). Plus Jazz kept a few blogs from her various travels, working for NGOs in Africa and Mongolia. I wanted one place that consolidated everything before the 30th birthday deadline. So, with the permission of Jazz’s family and friends (who are in the photos), I went ahead with a web design project to memorialize my dear friend.
A combination of digital scrap book and public mural, I looked through all the photographs I could find, reviewed the blogs, and attempted to find videos of Jazz. I chose the words to memorialize and express my grief. I chose the colors, the placement of photographs and the overall feel of the website. I also opened the site up for everyone to see, allowing comments and letting others know that if they wanted to have anything included to email me with the information.
As I worked, not only did I experience the same “flow” as I do with traditional art making, I also was able to take the time to process my thoughts, memories and emotions. Creating this website helped transition me from numbness and shock to feeling and processing.
Now, I know most art therapists are not comfortable with web design. But, then again, I’m not comfortable with woodworking or silkscreening. There are forms of traditional art media that I’ve never dabbled in and that many art therapists don’t use in their practices. However, if the majority of art therapists chose not to engage in certain forms of art making, does that close off these practices from the field of art therapy? Of course not. Doll making is an acceptable art therapy practice, even though the majority of art therapists don’t use doll making in their sessions. Then it stands to reason that although rare and very new, digital art making in the form of a website is an acceptable practice within an art making session—as long as the therapist is skilled enough to facilitate the process with their clients.
Lastly, I’d love to hear your thoughts about this subject, and the (inevitable) morphing of art making into unexpected forms of digital media :) Growing pains of a new era!
What an interesting political phenomenon. This puppet show series has been posted on Youtube, which I’m sure places its creator in danger. It’s definitely worth watching at least one chapter to get a taste for this form of art activism. These shows are also a way to diffuse some of the anger brewing within the creator himself.
Take a look at episodes #4 & 5:
An article by Walter Russell Mead talking about what those us working art therapists already know. Here are some highlights, but this article is definitely worth an in-depth read.
“Young people graduating from master’s programs with low-paying jobs and crippling debt…
‘About one-third of people with master’s degrees make less money on average than a typical bachelor’s degree holder’.
Masters programs hit the sour spot of higher education — they tend to be more expensive with fewer financial aid opportunities than other programs, with a smaller payoff.
The jobs of the future will be more based on innovation and less on bureaucracy, and expensive degree programs will do little to help people navigate them.
In light of the recent classification of Art Therapy under “Recreation Therapy” by the Dept. of Labor, and the fact that one needs to hold a BA in order to become a recreation therapist, and my own personal experiences, Russell Mead’s words resonate with me more than ever. This plus the guild mentality that is so present in the mental health profession leads me to recommend that all those seeking a degree in Art Therapy to think twice. There are many ways to help others, and unless you are prepared to diversify your skill set beyond your MA and innovate, you may end up like so many art therapy graduates—working as baristas, secretaries, artists and sales people with a few hours a week here or there for actual art therapy.
Enjoy this video (2009):
Sigh. As Cathy Malchiodi pointed out on her Facebook page today, it’s very disappointing to see that the US Department of Labor considers Art Therapists to be Recreation Therapists. Not Therapist or Mental Health Counselor. And of course, not just plain old Art Therapist. Art Therapy apparently can’t stand alone, like Marriage and Family Therapist, Counselor or Social Worker.
Oddly enough, according to AATA, Art Therapy is now a “distinct employment classification” according to the Department of Labor:
Apparently, according to AATA, the definition of a “distinct” profession is to simply be classified at all. But, the meaning of the words and the taxonomy used to describe any given thing defines how we perceive that thing. If Art Therapy is merely a sub-classification, then we’re on a path of public misconception. And once that path is forged is very difficult to gain back ground.
And, while I’m glad that Art Therapist made it onto the list of jobs recognized by the Labor Dept, it’s a blow to the profession that AATA did not come through for and Art Therapy classification that is worthy of the Art Therapy field. To be a certified Recreation Therapist you need a BA. All art therapists at minimum have an MA, and many are PhDs, with specializations in specific psychotherapeutic techniques to treat mental illness and trauma. I’ve worked with several rec therapists, and they all were fly by the seat of their pants when it came to clinical work (if they were even expected to do any clinical work)…because they were not trained in clinical work at the level of an Art Therapist or any other clinician for that matter.
I’m having trouble understanding AATA’s rationale for this decision. Is it that they’ll take what they can get and be happy to be included in the Labor Dept statistics at all? How can they justify Art Therapists needing an MA in order to practice if we’re lumped in with a profession that only requires a BA? Why are they ok with placing the Art Therapy profession on the wrong path? Is it not worth struggling for a longer period of time, but actually being a truly distinct profession, such as Marriage and Family Therapists?