Facebook Privacy and FTC Settlement

The Washington Post writes a brief Q&A re: Facebook and their privacy policies.

“On Tuesday, Facebook agreed to settle federal charges that it violated users’ privacy by getting people to share more information than they agreed to when they signed up to the site. As part of a settlement, Facebook will allow independent auditors to review its privacy practices for the next twenty years. It also agreed to get approval from users before changing how the company handles their data.”

Upcoming Seminar

Staying on the forefront: Art Therapy, the Online Presence and New Technology

Save the date! I’ll be giving a 2 1/2 hour workshop for NorCATA on Sunday January 29th at Fort Mason! Once the sign up information is available, I’ll be posting it here.

Hope to see you there!

Quiet Hands

Check out this creative by the Autistic writer Julia Bascom about abuse, sensory differences and therapy:

“In a classroom of language-impaired kids, the most common phrase is a metaphor.

“Quiet hands!”

A student pushes at a piece of paper, flaps their hands, stacks their fingers against their palm, pokes at a pencil, rubs their palms through their hair. It’s silent, until:

“Quiet hands!”

I’ve yet to meet a student who didn’t instinctively know to pull back and put their hands in their lap at this order. Thanks to applied behavioral analysis, each student learned this phrase in preschool at the latest, hands slapped down and held to a table or at their sides for a count of three until they learned to restrain themselves at the words.

The literal meaning of the words is irrelevant when you’re being abused.”

Expressive Therapies Summit

From Judy Rubin via LinkedIn:

Dear Friends. Family & Colleagues,

I’m writing to you to let you know about an event in NY that I think is worth your while if you are in or want to visit the area. It’s a 4-day Expressive Therapies Summit with over a hundred presentations, workshops, and courses, on all of the creative arts therapies and related areas.

In addition, this year there is a special all day Symposium on Liberating Creativity through Analysis & the Arts which will end with a special Film Premiere – a $10 ticket buys you a film,. a panel of the artists in it, and a lovely reception.

If you can’t make it or even if you can, please let friends and colleagues know about it. The proceeds from this event will allow our very nonprofit nonprofit, Expressive Media, to continue to make teaching films about the arts in healing.

I hope to see you there!

Judy

HERE’S THE LINK: http://summit.expressivemedia.org/

Volunteers Needed in Montreal

I receive emails from time to time from readers trying to decide if art therapy is the right career path for them. I always suggest volunteering with an art therapist to see if they like it and to get their toes wet a bit.

Here’s a volunteer opportunity in through Concordia University at their Loyola Campus in NDG. Good luck!

In Memoriam: Dr. Bob Schreiber

Ever since I met the psychiatrists of Redwood Place, I knew I had access to a very rare resource—psychiatrists trained not only in dishing out medicine, but also in talk therapy.

A staple of Psychiatry in the East Bay, Dr. Schreiber dedicated his time and effort to working with some of the most difficult populations: troubled children and adults with trauma, mental health issues and/or a developmental disability. He always took the time to talk to each of his clients individually outside of clinical meetings. He had a warmth, allowing him to speak of difficult issues so that even the most resistant client felt at ease.

The clients loved him and the staff loved him too, including me. His annual invitation to the river was a highlight for all Redwood Place staff. We would bond over mosquitos, hikes, freshly cooked food provided mostly by Mary Lu and Bob, and the fire, which Dr. Schreiber would build himself—chopping the wood, tenderly ensuring that we would be warm at night as we sipped our drinks and chatted.

You would be hard pressed to find a kinder man. Dr. Schreiber, you will be sorely missed.