Shinah House Working to Provide a Place for Healing and Hope

photo from http://www.shinahhouse.org/index.html

I had the pleasure of speaking today with visionary, social entrepreneur, advocate and mental health survivor, Sharon Unger from Cardston Alberta, founder of Shinah House. There are plans underway for a community centre and ranches across Alberta where women suffering from mental illness can participate in a variety of programs including art and music therapy while learning about nutrition and healthy eating. And that's not all. Women will have an opportunity to take part in the day to day activities of the ranch from collecting eggs to milking goats and grooming horses.

Shinah house is working to create places for healing where hope can be found. At the Shinah House website Unger describes her approach “By addressing the whole spectrum of life issues all can achieve improved wellness and personal growth through excellent nutrition, spiritual self-awareness, emotional connectedness, physical fitness and development of interpersonal skills”.

To learn more about Shinah House visit the website

Creative Arts Therapies Faculty Position Haifa University

The Faculty of Health and Welfare Sciences and the Faculty of Education, Haifa University, are happy to announce the opening of a search for candidates for a tenure track academic position in The Graduate School of Creative Art Therapies for the 2009-2010 academic year.

The candidates will be required to teach in the Masters Degree Programme, as well as develop research programmes, obtain research grants and supervise advanced level students within the courses of study.

Requirements:

• completed PhD or confirmation by 1.9.2009
• relevant academic background in therapy and in the course of study
• peer reviewed publications in scientific journals
• teaching experience in Hebrew
• proven Master level (thesis) supervision of research

Candidates are requested to submit the following:

• introductory letter containing a description of areas of research, proposed future research plans and a description of your potential contribution to the school
• detailed Curriculum Vitae including publications, previous places of employment, teaching experience, conferences, grants
• documents or diplomas confirming degrees in the relevant subject area
  
• 1-3 publications
• names and electronic addresses of three references

Send materials snail mail to:

The Graduate School of Creative Art Therapies, Haifa University, Har Hacarmel, Haifa, Israel and by email by March 6, 2009 to: Professor Rachel Lev, Head of Search Committee rlev@univ.haifa.ac.il

Windsor Regional Children's Centre, Healing Arts Program Incorporates Creative Arts in Mental Health Program for Children and Families

I received news recently about the Windsor Regional Children's Centre Healing Arts Program.

The centre offers programs and services delivered by interdisciplinary teams that provide programs including in-school, in-home and on-site services. In addition to traditional family, parental and group therapy The Healing Arts Program also makes use of music, art, drawing and painting, drama, dance and creative movement approaches.

In March 2005, the Centre conducted a research study supported by the Ministry of Culture and Children's Mental Health Ontario which demonstrated the effectiveness of children's mental health interventions that made use of the arts specifically music, painting and dance.

The study concluded the arts did have a positive impact on children (self-esteem, self confidence improved, positive social interaction between children, children's independence increased) Some parents also expressed children were happier, less depressed, more spontaneous and listening skills improved.

Source: Windsor Regional Children's Centre

The Windsor Regional Children's Centre would like to announce that they are sponsoring a new event called "Jazz Up the Arts" to take place September 21, 2008 from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m at the Centre. Professional jazz musicians will perform and there will be a silent auction and wine tasting...all to help support the Healing Arts Program.

If you would like to sponsor or donate to this event contact Lindy LeDuc-Wilson at lleducwilson@wrh.on.ca

Website: www.wrh.on.ca

Art as Medicine Books of Note

Art as Medicine Creating a Therapy of the Imagination A Book by Shaun McNiff
"Whenever illness is associated with loss of soul the arts emerge spontaneously as remedies, soul medicine." Shaun McNiff

For those interested in art therapy approaches I would like to recommend the book, "Art as Medicine, Creating a Therapy of the Imagination" written by Shaun McNiff and published by Shambhala Publications. Shaun McNiff is a Past President of the American Art Therapy Association and Dean of Lesley College and a university professor at Lesley University, Massachusetts. He is also a board member for CCAHTE, The Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal.

One of the many progressive ideas put forward in the book, "Art as Medicine Creating a Therapy of the Imagination" is the suggestion that one can have an "image dialogue" with art and artworks, actively engaging with the subjects present in the art while opening the way for inner discovery.

From the book (pg. 145):
"Image dialogue is a mode of the creative process that follows picture making and creates yet another series of expressions. This therapy of the imagination was anticipated by Jung, who introduced all of the creative arts therapies to psychotherapy through his practice of active imagination, an inner drama involving the full spectrum of artistic expressions."

"My use of dialogue has emerged from a desire to deepen psychological engagement with images and amplify the spectrum of expression." S. McNiff.

As the book moves toward these rich and intimate dialogues and exchanges through art, I am taken to the place of dream, a soul place of symbol and metaphor, that sacred world where the many and varied sides of the self are made manifest and given voice. CM

More information about this book at: http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/author/164.cfm/

Faculty of Social Work, Wilfrid Laurier offers Sandtray Therapy Workshop

Faculty of Social Work, Wilfrid Laurier University,

Workshop

Sandtray Worldplay Therapy: Exploring the Possibilities

We are continuing to accept registrations for our 2-day introductory workshop; Sandtray Worldplay Therapy: Exploring the Possibilities, April 16 and 17.

This program will combine theory, experiential exercises and demonstrations with Dr. Gisela Schubach de Domenico, developer of the Sandtray/Worldplay method. She has taught this method in a variety of countries and a variety of contexts, working with adults as well as children in psychotherapy, play therapy and education.

For information contact:

Brenda Mann, Continuing Education
Faculty of Social Work, Wilfrid Laurier

Email: bmann@wlu.ca

Arts and Cancer, Wellspring Helps Support Cancer Patients and Caregivers

Wellspring Offers Supportive Programs and Art Therapies

I recently heard from Daniel Lockwood, Program Manager at Wellspring, the cancer support centre in London, Ontario. Wellspring has opened an additional new location in Stratford, Ontario on the premises of The Quilt Project, 55 Downie Street in Stratford. The centre offers Peer Support daily from 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m., Yoga and Journaling as well as a Resource and Lending-Library.

The History of Wellspring

"Wellspring founder Anne Armstrong Gibson was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Along with all the other fears about treatment, survival and the future of her husband and two young children, she experienced something more, an overwhelming sense of isolation. She quickly realized that this was an all-too-common experience among cancer patients, and became determined to fill the void. With the help and encouragement of some of the leading experts in the field of oncology, Anne worked with family, friends and supporters to establish Wellspring, a non-profit organization offering psychological, emotional, social, spiritual and informational support to individuals and families living with cancer.Anne's vision for Wellspring was to create a Canada-wide network of community-based centres that would provide people with the tools they required to cope with cancer. In 1992, Wellspring opened its first centre, The Coach House, on Wellesley Street East in Toronto. In 1999, Wellspring launched its second centre, in north Toronto, on the campus of Sunnybrook & Women's College Health Sciences Centre. Over the following two years, centres serving the regions of Halton-Peel, Niagara and London, Ontario all opened their doors. Although Anne died in 1995, her vision still guides the organization toward achieving a network that will one day span across Canada."
excerpt from website at http://www.wellspring.ca/home.html

Wellspring offers many helpful and supportive programs such as a coping skills program, discussion series as well as expressive arts programs among them Art and Music therapy.
The organization critically evaluates all programs and conducts research into broader topics in supportive care. The programs and centres are guided by The Wellspring Model, which is based on the goal of effectively meeting the diverse supportive care needs of as many cancer patients and caregivers as possible.

Wellspring is able to provide comfort, support, education and coping skills to a growing number of men, women and children who are living with cancer. Their network registered over 30,000 visits last year, and that number continues to grow. All programs are free of charge for individuals and families living with cancer, and Wellspring receives no core or government funding.

Wellspring offers:

• High-quality supportive care programming for people with any type of cancer

• 
  Programs for children whose parents have cancer

• 
  Support, coping skills and information for the partners, sibling, friends, parents, and other caregivers of cancer patients

• 
  Childcare and transportation services for families seeking cancer support at Wellspring Halton-Peel

• 
  Specialized programs for people facing cancer in the Chinese, Aboriginal, Gay and Lesbian communities

• 
  Volunteer development and support

Read an article about Wellspring, London at

http://www.fims.uwo.ca/newmedia/newmedia2004/therapy/therapy_laidler_wellspring_d4_p.htm featuring interviews with Wellspring, London Executive Director, Shelley Markland and
London Art Therapist, Wanda Sawicki

Website: http://www.wellspring.ca/home.html
If you would like to support Wellspring, information about donations can also be found at the website.

"Art, because it's a creative thing, pulls something out of you that is really life-giving and life-promoting," says Sawicki, "and that's a moving thing to see at a time in your life when you are facing possible death."
Wanda Sawicki, Art Therapist