Einat Metzl

Four Los Angeles women discuss how they use the knowledge and expertise of their art to change the lives of kids and, in turn, take steps to transform society.Professor Chuck Rosenthal, Department of English, chair Panelists:Sherry Jason began studying ballet at the age of 4, and at the age of 11 she began teaching ballet to neighborhood children for fifty cents a class in her parent¹s garage. Even then, it was her firm belief that classes in the Arts should be provided free for those children whose parents could not afford to pay. Ms. Jason performed as a soloist with Ballet Concerto and has continued her teaching for over 50 years. Graduating from UCLA with a BA in Psychology, she received her Juris Doctor from Southwestern University School of Law. In l975, Ms. Jason was sworn in as a member of the State Bar of California in private ceremonies by the Honorable Consuelo Marshall (now a member of the Federal Bench). Ms. Jason joined the Los Angeles County Public Defender\u27s Office Juvenile Division in l977. It was there that she met her husband and partner of 33 years, Bob Jason. Describing herself as an Attorney at Law/Ballerina at Heart, Sherry and Bob Jason created Ballet for Topanga in l979, and together produce The Topanga Nutcracker Ballet now in its 30th season. Through their experiences in the Juvenile Justice System, Sherry and Bob formulated a philosophy on the nature of delinquency, intervention and prevention. In l983, the Jasons used all their savings and borrowed from friends and family to create the Downtown Dance Studio/L.A. Fringe Theatre to be the artistic home to our community¹s most impoverished children. City Hearts was created in l984 to provide FREE classes to Skid Row, inner city, and at-greatest-risk children. Now celebrating 25 years, City Hearts has provided quality Arts education to over 27,000 children. As an advocate and instructor in the Arts arena for over 46 years, and as an attorney and defender of children\u27s rights for over 30 years, Sherry Jason is uniquely qualified to create, direct and implement City Hearts\u27 innovative programs of prevention. Utilizing her extensive dance background, Ms. Jason choreographed a segment on Jane Seymour\u27s Medicine Woman TV series and has been interviewed regarding City Hearts\u27 award-winning programs by NBC Nightly News and featured on CBS, CNN and other local and international news programs including Oprah. City Hearts has been named to the President\u27s Committee on the Arts & Humanities and been honored by the Sesame Street Parents Magazine and the Children\u27s Television Network as an inaugural recipient of the Sunny Days Award. In 2008, Ms. Jason helped to write the Standards/Foundations for Dance Education for 3/4 Year Olds for the California Department of Education. Keren Taylor, founder and Executive Director of WriteGirl, has been active as a community leader for more than 15 years. She has edited and designed dozens of anthologies and has served as publisher and editor of all of WriteGirl\u27s award-winning books. Passionate about helping women and girls, Keren has conducted hundreds of creative writing workshops for youth and adults, and has led staff development workshops for the California Para-educators Conference, California School-age Consortium, California Department of Education, Los Angeles County Office of Education, LA\u27s BEST and the New York Partnership for After School Education, among others. Keren has been selected to serve as a Community Champion and facilitator for the Annenberg Alchemy Program and is a popular speaker at conferences and book festivals nationwide including the Association of Writing Programs (AWP) Annual Conference, BOOST Conference, Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and Guiding Lights Festival. Keren is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including the President\u27s Volunteer Call to Service Award, Business & Professional Women\u27s Community Woman of Achievement Award, Soroptomist International\u27s Woman of Distinction Award, commendations from Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and others. Erin Cottrell is an award winning actress best known for her performance in Michael Landon Jr.\u27s, Love Comes Softly series as well as being the new Caroline Ingalls in Disney/ABC\u27s Little House on the Prairie. She has had an extensive career in film and television including guest lead appearances on E.R., CSI:NY, Cold Case, Medium, NUMB3RS, Ed, and Stranger\u27s With Candy, as well as reoccurring characters on All My Children and The Guiding Light. Her film credits include Legally Blonde 2, Love\u27s Abiding Joy and Faith of My Father\u27s, (the film based on John McCain\u27s biography.) Most recently she was seen alongside Jason Alexander and Christopher Lloyd in the NBC mini-series, METEOR. When Erin is not filming she is teaching. Since 2002 she has been a proud teacher for the nonprofit organization, City Hearts: Kids Say Yes to the Arts. She has taught jazz,…

ABSTRACT We propose a leadership framework for the creative art therapies (CATs) as a means to affect the sociopolitical contexts of our clinical and scholarly practices. The new model of facilitative leadership includes 3 aspects: developing the self, developing others, and envisioning a creative and just future.

This art-based, participatory action research sought to foster dialog between art therapists working on both sides of the US (Southern California)-Mexico (Tijuana) border in 2019. The paper summarizes the narratives from three initial focus groups, highlighting main findings arising from systematic analyses of verbal, creative and reflective writing input of participants. Identified themes include therapists' need to respond to immigration crisis; the realities of being a part of a border town; observing differences between communities; learning from the art of art therapists working with immigrants and refugees; and identifying challenges as a therapist. These themes inspired the creation of preliminary guidelines and are discussed within the context of mental health services around the border at this time.

ABSTRACT This study examines the role that creativity, conceptualized as divergent thinking, might play in the process of resilience. In accord with current models of resilience, subjective well-being despite exposure to adversity is conceptualized as manifestation of resilience. In this case, survivors of Hurricane Katrina who have lost their homes were asked to respond to measures of divergent thinking, perception of adversity (life events), well-being, a short personality inventory, and a demographic questionnaire. In addition qualitative exploration of participants’ experiences living in New Orleans a year after the hurricane augmented understanding of coping and recovery within contextual framework. Findings suggest the specific traits linked with creativity such as originality, flexibility, and extroversion help predict emotional resilience after natural disaster. Specifically, originality was found to be a significant predictor for extroversion, which was a significant predictor of life satisfaction and the well-being composite in this study. Also, both Flexibility and originality were significant predictors of both clinical stress and life satisfaction for the African American population in this study but not for the Caucasian population; Similarly, originality and flexibility were significantly correlated to well-being measures under greater income disparity and not for participants reporting lower income disparity. These findings suggest that flexibility and originality are moderated by SES, culture and social structure and their effects might be masked under condition of social privilege and prevalence of resources. The importance of flexibility and original thinking was highlighted in interviews with participants of middle and higher SES of Caucasian background, providing further support for this conclusion. A discussion of findings attempts to integrate theories of creativity and resilience in light of the study results.

Abstract Through personal art processes, intentional dialogue, and application to clinical work, two art psychotherapists explore personal experiences with the death of a loved one. The paper illuminates the way art supports integration, articulation, and connection with self and the deceased after a profound loss. The paper begins with a brief review of the literature related to grief and loss therapy, art making, and art therapy. The authors then present personal artworks and narratives linked to dialectic reflections as they co-examine their art, consolidate insights through brief case vignettes, and present a summary of utilizing art therapy following the death of a loved one.

This exploration reviews current conceptualizations of resilience and creativity, suggesting important links between these two concepts, and offers a modified model for future research and applied clinical interventions. First, the authors examine four main models of resilience. Then, an overview of definitions and characteristics of creativity is presented in light of the resilience paradigm. Finally, an alternative model, which incorporates

An art-based case study was used to illustrate the therapy journey of a child working through issues related to early adoption. The objective of this case was to review art products and clinical notes systematically, exploring main clinical themes and illustrating both challenges related to adoption and the potential of art therapy to support healing within this context. The methods of investigation and report focused on exploring the meaning of narratives, the art products, and the relational dynamic which emerged during sessions. The results are discussed within the context of the relevant literature, emphasizing considerations for working through adoption challenges in art therapy.

This paper explores the current theoretical frames of working with children and adolescents, considers the socio-political and developmental considerations for art therapy practice within settings, and systems in which children are embedded. An illustration of the use of art materials, processes, and products for children and adolescents based on an art therapist’s clinical experience in school settings, mental health hospital, adolescents’ clinic, and private practice then follows.

This art-based, participatory action research sought to foster dialog between art therapists working on both sides of the US (Southern California)-Mexico (Tijuana) border in 2019. The paper summarizes the narratives from three initial focus groups, highlighting main findings arising from systematic analyses of verbal, creative and reflective writing input of participants. Identified themes include therapists' need to respond to immigration crisis; the realities of being a part of a border town; observing differences between communities; learning from the art of art therapists working with immigrants and refugees; and identifying challenges as a therapist. These themes inspired the creation of preliminary guidelines and are discussed within the context of mental health services around the border at this time.

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This study examines the role that creativity, conceptualized as divergent thinking, might play in the process of resilience. In accord with current models of resilience, subjective well-being despite exposure to adversity is conceptualized as manifestation of resilience. In this case, survivors of Hurricane Katrina who have lost their homes were asked to respond to measures of divergent thinking, perception of adversity (life events), well-being, a short personality inventory, and a demographic questionnaire. In addition qualitative exploration of participants’ experiences living in New Orleans a year after the hurricane augmented understanding of coping and recovery within contextual framework. Findings suggest the specific traits linked with creativity such as originality, flexibility, and extroversion help predict emotional resilience after natural disaster. Specifically, originality was found to be a significant predictor for extroversion, which was a significant predictor of li...

Abstract Through personal art processes, intentional dialogue, and application to clinical work, two art psychotherapists explore personal experiences with the death of a loved one. The paper illuminates the way art supports integration, articulation, and connection with self and the deceased after a profound loss. The paper begins with a brief review of the literature related to grief and loss therapy, art making, and art therapy. The authors then present personal artworks and narratives linked to dialectic reflections as they co-examine their art, consolidate insights through brief case vignettes, and present a summary of utilizing art therapy following the death of a loved one.