What is Transpersonal Counseling Psychology?

At Naropa we earn a degree in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology: Art Therapy.  Many people haven't heard of Transpersonal Psychology and Naropa just made a little explanatory video that turned out pretty cool. Check it out if you want to know more about what the heck we're doing at Naropa!


Visit this link: Naropa TCP Video

Update on the Naropa AT Response to Wildfires

"Art has the potential to change lives and often in profound ways. When words are not enough, we turn to images and symbols to tell our stories. And in telling our stories through art, we can find a path to health and wellness, emotional reparation, recovery, and ultimately, transformation." 

- Cathy Malchiodi

The Naropa art therapy community is currently offering 2 forms of support for those impacted by the recent wildfires and would like to offer an invitation for the Naropa community at large to participate.  The Art Therapy program is based on the foundation of nurturing socially engaged art therapists through the practice of serving and building community through the arts.  We believe in the inherent power of art making to improve lives, bring about positive change, build community and to help tell people's stories when words are not enough. 

Please join us in one of two ways:

* Free Naropa Community Art Studio Open Studio at the Nalanda Campus on 63rd and Arapahoe in Boulder will be open each Sunday from 09/12 until 10/31 from 10am-1pm for persons affected by the fire. It is an open studio with the intention of creating individual and community art in order to express and witness the experiences, emotions, and stories of people impacted by this tragic event.  All who are feeling the impact of this fire are invited to participate.

* Offer words and/or art in cards of gratitude!  Please take a moment to write a note of gratitude to one of the many fire fighters, volunteers, and rescue workers who provided front-line assistance to local residents impacted by the wildfire!  The act of taking care to create something thoughtful and special for another human has the potential to be a very powerful experience for the sender and the receiver.  Cards are ready for your kind words and/or creative flair at the Transpersonal Counseling Psychology (TCP) office on the Paramita campus.

• Write a note of gratitude in a pre-decorated card

• Take a set of blank cards to decorate for those who do not have time to decorate or do not identify as artists who would still like to contribute
• Take cards for your friends, classes, roommates, or co-workers to decorate or write in
• Make your own homemade cards and drop them off at the TCP Office front desk

All cards will be collected and distributed 
to local Boulder agencies on:
Monday, October 4th

Please contact Chelsea O'Neil at chelseaoneil@gmail.com with any questions

Giving Thanks!

Transpersonal Counseling Psychology students from Naropa gathered on Saturday to cut, fold, and decorate handmade cards.  Art therapy students are highly encouraged to pick up a small stack of cards to decorate and return without messages so that those that don’t feel comfortable decorating are still able to write messages.  We are looking for any and all forms of gratitude, particularly making it easier for those that do not identify as artists or have the time to decorate to be able to participate by writing messages in beautiful, handmade cards.

Naropa community members are invited to…
• Write a note of gratitude in a pre-decorated card
• Take a set of blank cards and decorate them yourself
• Take cards for your friends, roommates, co-workers or family members to decorate or write in

Cards are ready for kind words and creative flair at the front desk of the Transpersonal Counseling Psychology office on the Paramita campus. 

All cards will be collected and distributed to local Boulder agencies on: Monday, October 4th

Offering Gratitude!

The fire has been one of the most destructive fires in Colorado, destroying more homes than any other blaze in state history. 700 firefighters and support personnel have been in action for days!  We will be making thank-you cards for firefighters, law enforcement, and rescue/aid workers helping with the fire efforts.  We need help!  Artists, art therapists, students, friends, family, Boulderites, and the like....

If you're interested in mailing in cards in from somewhere else or making a donation, please email chelseaoneil@gmail.com for contact info.


We will be making thank-you cards for firefighters, law enforcement, and rescue/aid workers helping with the fire efforts on
Saturday, Sept. 18th we will be meeting in the studio from 12pm-4pm to…
•    Cut paper
•    Fold cards and bind in small packages with ribbon
•    Decorate cards
•    Write messages

Cards will be at the front desk of the TCP office, the art studio and possibly somewhere on the Arapahoe campus for students and faculty to write messages and/or decorate the cards and then return them to the pick-up point.  I will then collect all of the cards and drop them off at designated stations throughout the community.  Awesome Amy of the 1st years is checking on card stock donations.  If you have any materials that could be of use please bring them by on Saturday the 18th!

Art therapy students are highly encouraged to pick up a small stack of cards to decorate and return without messages so that those that don’t feel comfortable decorating are still able to write messages.  

This is a GREAT activity for students to work on while in community art studio or on Sunday if you’re willing to help out in NCAS!  Feel free to take cards to your places of employment, in the community or classes, for your roommates, or bring your own homemade cards from other places for the donation.   

We are looking for any and all forms of gratitude, particularly blank cards which will make it easier for those that do not identify as artists or have the time to decorate to be able to participate by writing messages in beautiful, handmade cards.

Naropa Art Therapy Community Responds to Boulder Fire

 A fire broke out Monday outside of Boulder and spread over roughly 6,300 acres. It has since become one of the most destructive fires in Colorado, destroying more homes than any other blaze in state history.  According to a recent Huffington Post article, about 3,500 people have been out of their homes for four days and fire managers said as many as 700 firefighters and support personnel and seven air tankers were assigned to fight the fire, considered the nation's top firefighting priority.

We are quickly brainstorming ideas to aid fire evacuees in the area.  As students and professionals in the art therapy community we are joining forces to help in whatever way that we can.  First off,  

The Naropa Community Art Studio at the Nalanda Campus on 63rd and Arapahoe in Boulder will be open each Sunday from 09/12 until 10/31 from 10am-1pm for persons affected by the fire. It is an open studio with the intention of creating individual and community art in order to express and witness the experiences, emotions, and stories of people impacted by this tragic event.  All who are feeling the impact of this fire are invited to participate.

All other Naropa art therapy community efforts will be posted on this blog.  Feedback and ideas for projects are welcome and encouraged.

Many blessings.  Stay safe.

For the latest news on the fire and resources available in the community, check out this link:

http://twitter.com/YahooNews/boulderfire 


or visit http://www.boulderfire.com/

 

Blog Inspiration!

There is a wealth of information out in the digital world!  Technology offers us a chance to connect with people all over the world through communication, education, shared laughter and joy, and of course through art.  There are tons of great blogs and websites that offer information and support for art therapists.  For example, here's a link to a great art therapy blog that offers step-by-step art interventions for expressive therapists. 

Check it out!


The Art Therapy Catablog:
"I am a recent grad of U of L's Expressive Therapies program, and am building a small private practice... I am a mere pup in the field- yet I have already learned so much! I keep thinking, "I really need a place to record this stuff," and thus, a blog is born. My intention is to create some kind of catalog for ideas, interventions, and those rare moments of pristine clarity."

http://sara-crafton.blogspot.com/

Where do you go for ideas and inspiration?

Artist Trading Card Exchange!

The Linked-in group Materials and Media in Art Therapy is once again hosting an Artist Trading Card exchange! The theme for this go-round is "Collage Unleashed."  This time, there s still a chance for you to sign up! The deadline to sign up is August 11 by 8pm EST. 

In order to sign up there are a few guidelines for you to follow:

• You must be a member Materials and Media subgroup of the Art Therapy Alliance group at Linked-in

(if you are not already a member, Linked-in is free and all you have to do is a group search to find those listed above)

• You must then email the host of the swap, Melanie.

(her email is listed in the conversation post in the Materials and Media subgroup... since this is for members only, please sign up and log in to get it. I'd hate to share private info with the whole web!)

• The email must have "Alliance ATC Swap" in the header.
• The email should include your full name and mailing address.

Once you have signed up, make 4 ATCs based on the theme Collage Unleashed. These and a self addressed return envelope need to be in the mail no later than August 30. Melanie will then take the time sort through the ATCs, and on the week of September 7 she will send you 4 ATCs from other swap participants.

This is a fun and creative way to network with your fellow art therapists and art therapy students. 

Happy creating!

iMovie as an Art Therapy Tool with Children

In the fall semester of the second year of the Naropa art therapy program, students take a child and adolescent populations course.  Through readings, discussion, practice sessions with children, experiential exercises and assignments, students focus on understanding development, art assessment, approaches to treatment and the practice of art therapy with a variety of child and adolescent populations.

Each student is paired with one child, ages ranging from 4-12, for a practicum art therapy experience.  In the Fall of 2009, Donica Snyder (pictured right) created a six session art therapy treatment plan that encouraged her child client to write his own myth, manifest his own characters and setting using art materials, and use photography and iMovie to put it all together in a stop-animation short.  Check out the amazing project that was created over the course of six sessions!  A great example of technology as a tool in the art studio.

Women in the Arts Documentary

In a predominantly female field, sometimes it is nice to hear the voices of other women.  The documentary Who Does She Think She Is?  follows the lives of 5 women who are maintaining a relationship between motherhood and art making.  Our program is full of mothers-to-be, new mothers, and experienced mothering extraordinaires (we have some great fathers too) who are attempting to juggle their commitment to the field of art therapy, their own artist identities, and their educational and professional goals.  This film is a wonderful look at expectations and conflicts that may arise in the lives of women when they attempt to "have it all."  For more information about the film, watch the trailer below or visit whodoesshethinksheis.net.

Art by Ft. Carson Soldiers on Display

photo source

A new exhibit called 'Conflict|Resolution', will run through June 20 at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center (just a car ride away from Boulder).  The display features artwork produced by soldiers in an 11 week art therapy Creative Expressions workshop.  To read more about the program and the current exhibition visit this article or visit http://www.csfineartscenter.org/

For more great information about ways that art therapy is helping to support combat veterans, check out these wonderful resources:

Combat Paper Makers

They Drew Fire

Exposure Therapy for Soldiers

International Art Therapy Association

A Chance to Give Back

Photo Credit

Through a blog I follow for creative inspiration, Mon Petit Poppet, I discovered a big-hearted sewing activity that began with another blogger, Dance for Cheese.  The directive is to sew a reversible pinafore for little girls and/or plain elastic-waist cotton shorts for little boys who live at the Dago Dala Hera Orphanage in Kenya. 

Knowing that many of the art therapy students at Naropa sew... I thought this would be a great activity to use our creative talents that will be life enhancing indeed!

The fabric shop that started this activity is located in Melbourne, Australia.  A young Melbourne woman spent time volunteering at the orphanage this past Christmas.  She was struck that the children there did not have adequate clothing and that the orphanage did not have enough funds to supply any.  Her mother works at the fabric shop and she and her co-workers began making the reversible pinafores which the orphanage had requested upon contact.  Soon customers noticed the pinafores in the back of the store and they too joined in.  Through the wonderful world of blogging... the news has spread. And now I pass it on to you.

Want to be involved? All you need to do is make a girl's reversible pinafore and/or boy's elastic-waist cotton shorts that are ready to be shipped by June 4, 2010.  They are collecting these items for children of many ages - so you can make them in the child's size of your choosing! I would be willing to gather the items made and send them off in one package.  I will also find out the address of the Melbourne blogger, who has offered to have items shipped to her so that she can drop them off a the store, and I can share that with anyone who contacts me (annicejohnson@gmail.com) to send their pinafores and/or shorts. 

- Annice Johnson, Class of 2011

Semblance of Self

2nd Year Art Therapy students revealed their student exhibition: Semblance of Self on April 30th.  The collection is a culmination of a semester of work in the Art Therapy Studio: Process and Materials course.

Course Description for PSYT624 
Art Therapy Studio: Process and Materials
Contemplative practice is carefully integrated with the investigation of various art processes and materials throughout the semester. The open studio model is followed, allowing for students to practice mindfulness through process painting, drawing and sculpture projects. Commitment to personal and transpersonal imagery is encouraged as an essential part of understanding one's identity as an artist, the purpose of the therapeutic community and contemplative models for practicing art therapy.