Natalie Rogers

Christine Evans

Saybrook Graduate School Announces

A Certificate Program
Expressive Art for Healing and Social Change: A Person-Centered Approach

Faculty:
Natalie Rogers, Ph.D., REAT, and Christine Evans, PhD., REAT

Please let us know of your interest as soon as possible. Enrollment is open to non-Saybrook students but is limited to 21.

This program offering is unique. It combines in-depth theory, experiential learning and practice of the person-centered approach of Carl Rogers in conjunction with the expressive arts. Incorporating the expressive arts – movement, sound, visual arts, creative writing and psychodrama awakens creativity, fosters self-empowerment and enhances counseling, mediation, social action and group facilitation.

The program is designed for anyone in the mental health field wishing to use person-centered expressive arts in their practice.  This includes psychotherapists, social workers, pastoral counselors, nurses and educators and individuals in organizational development. It is also appropriate for those wishing to re-awaken their authentic creativity as a way to enliven their work and personal lives.

Location 
These retreats will take place at the lovely Westerbeke Ranch in the town of Sonoma, an hour north of San Francisco. Comfortable sleeping cottages, excellent food, a swimming pool, as well as the large meeting room are set in the rolling hills of Sonoma County.

Educational Concepts:
Using the expressive arts in psychotherapy is a natural evolution. We are coming to understand the need to engage in processes that awaken and integrate all aspects of self: the body, mind, emotions and spirit. Expressive arts does just that -- it is a non-verbal language that helps both the client and the therapist to communicate at a deep level.

The Creative Connection process, as developed by Natalie Rogers, interweaves the expressive arts -- movement, art, sound, writing and guided imagery -- to tap into the deep wellspring of creativity that is within each person.

Questions we will be exploring

• How do the expressive arts help us connect to our body, psyche, soul, and the world?
• How does the creative process bridge inner and outer healing?
• How do we use the arts in our counseling and psychotherapy practice?
• How do we use the person-centered expressive arts in groups
  such as Hospice, and in bereavement and recovery centers?
• How does inner peace connect to world peace?
• How do we create research to validate what we are learning?

Brief Course Descriptions

I. Nourishing the Soul
March 3-9, 2008
The creative spirit within each individual longs to emerge, to be known and celebrated. Yet out of fear, shame, shyness, or just plain reluctance, people put a lid on the deep well—the source—of their creativity. The creative process puts us in touch with our soul, our spirit, our inner wisdom.
This initial intensive course provides experience in self-expression through the creative arts -- movement, art, music, and writing. This can be a sacred and often mystical experience, transforming pain, anger, fear, and grief into forms that can nourish the soul. This course focuses on the inner journey through a creative process in an accepting, non-judgmental and often playful environment. No art experience necessary.

II. Client-Centered Expressive Arts for Counseling
June 9-15, 2008
In this course emphasis will be on the theory and practice of the person-centered approach and using the expressive arts in counseling. Using the expressive arts for psychotherapy will be taught via counseling demonstrations and communications triads. Theoretical presentations and discussion will follow those experiences. Readings, discussions, a paper, and video tapes of a counseling session will ground the experience in theory and concepts. Applications with various client populations will be discussed. Video tapes of Carl Rogers and Natalie Rogers and others in counseling sessions will be studied.

III. Expressive Arts and the Wisdom of the Body
October  27 - November 2, 2008
To build trust in the wisdom and wholeness of body, mind, emotions and spirit, students will use expressive arts to explore inner polarities, body awareness, self-image, and metaphor in health and healing issues. Putting society’s ideas of body image aside, a deeper wisdom is discovered. The relationship of childhood experiences to present day body awareness and comfort will be explored through the arts, reading, discussion and writing.

IV. Expressive Arts for Social Change
March 2-8, 2009
This course will be an immersion in experiential, creative approaches to peace and conflict resolution. Through theory, discussion, psychodrama and the arts students will explore how we can recognize and appreciate our ethnic, cultural, religious and ideological differences. Students will learn to use person-centered communication skills and the expressive arts to help clarify thoughts and feelings, explore interpersonal communication in emotionally charged situations and envision solutions for personal transformation and social change. Also, the use of expressive arts for healing the wounds of social and natural trauma will be studied.

V. Expressive Arts: Group Dynamics and Facilitation 1
June 8-14, 2009
The goal of this course is to empower students to create their own program to fill their specific needs. The faculty will encourage and facilitate this process of self-determined individual and group projects during this week. Students will be asked to come to this event with some notion of what they need and want and bring resources to share. The selected themes will develop as they brainstorm with each other and support each other’s projects. 

VI. Expressive Arts: Group Dynamics and Facilitation 2
October 12 – 18, 2009
The theory of person-centered group dynamics and encounter groups will be studied through reading, viewing video tapes of Carl Rogers and others who facilitate encounter groups, and discussing our own process.  Students will learn to observe, analyze group process and may have the opportunity with faculty guidance, to facilitate a group in a person-centered expressive arts process. 

Faculty

Natalie Rogers, Ph.D., REAT, author of The Creative Connection: Expressive Arts As Healing, and Emerging Woman: A Decade of Midlife Transitions, is a pioneer in expressive arts therapy, leading trainings in Europe, Russia, Latin America, Japan, and the U.S. Dr. Rogers trained and practiced as a psychotherapist. Her personal mission is to facilitate personal and planetary healing by incorporating the expressive arts in cross-cultural work. Natalie founded the Person-Centered Expressive Therapy Institute, Santa Rosa, CA. She has taught at the California Institute of Integral Studies, the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, the Institute of Imaginal Studies, and JFK University. She was awarded the first Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Expressive Therapy Association. Presently she is a Distinguished Consulting Faculty at Saybrook Graduate School where she offers this Expressive Arts Certificate program. She is an artist, mother, and grandmother.
 
Christine Evans, Ph.D., REAT, is a licensed clinical psychologist and co-founder of the Living Arts Center in Mountain View, CA. She has taught at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, the California Institute of Integral Studies, and internationally. In her clinical practice with adolescents and adults, Dr. Evans bridges verbal therapy with expressive arts modalities. Authentic movement and mindfulness are paths of healing and spiritual growth she has studied, practiced, and shared with others for many years. Her passion and commitment to a Person-Centered approach ensures a deep respect for individuals as they access the timeless gift of the arts to heal.

For Further Information

If you are a non-Saybrook student, contact:
Annie McGeady, Dean of Admissions at Saybrook, amcgeady@saybrook.edu
(415) 394-6196 or 800-825-4480  x 1255

If you are a Saybrook student, contact:
JTBrown: jtbrown@saybrook.edu

If you want information about course content contact:
Natalie Rogers: nrogers@nrogers.com