Blog

Much of my work as a perinatal therapist is about creating a safe space to bring unacceptable feelings out into the full light of day, and then clarifying, validating, and destigmatizing them together.

Had a fabulous time co-presenting at today's BrainMind Summit NYC as part of the Arts Passport experience hosted at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Wow! What an inspiring morning sharing our Art-Centered Practice of Care with fellow creatives and museum professionals at the New York City Museum Educators Roundtable conference at Columbia University Teacher's College in NYC. 

I had so much fun yesterday discussing #creativeresilience and #burnoutprevention in #familybuilding and running a #privatepractice on "The Creative Psychotherapist Offical Podcast," Season 3 Episode 13 with my fabulous colleague, Reina Lombardi, MA, ATR-BC, ATCS, LMHC-QS

Mattel just released a Barbie Art Therapy Playset available at Target, that includes a therapist and “patient” doll along with a cheerful childlike painting, mini art supplies, “mood stickers” and even a pet cat.

This is a space for all gestational birthing persons to explore this intense bio-psycho-social-spiritual transition through a safe, trauma-informed, and creative lens.

We’re over one week into our New Year's resolutions, and some of us are already wildly off track. In my household, for example, we are recovering from a whirlwind combination of a sprained ankle, Covid, and pink eye, which means our “to do” lists are completely backed up and any loftier goals feel even further out of reach. Logically, I know health is most important and that the body knows best. So why is delaying my own imagined timeline so inherently frustrating then?

This is a space for gestational birthing persons to explore this intense bio-psycho-social-spiritual transition through a safe, trauma-informed, creative lens.

It’s been a rough year for so many–environmentally, politically, spiritually, personally. Without sugar coating hardship or minimizing the struggle at home or out in the world, I do believe in the power of our experiences to enrich us with the right support.

Spent this wintery morning with some incredible staff of the Whitney Museum of American Art as we explored our own micro/macro worlds through a mindful engagement with printmaking.

Just because we can do it all, doesn’t mean we have to (or should.) Hallmark-inspired, consumer-driven fantasies around the “perfect” holiday experience, deep-rooted--often patriarchal–-”traditional” gender roles, and perhaps some unconscious desires to either replicate or make up for some lost childhood magic all contribute to the extreme PRESSURE of this time of year.

I’ve never considered myself a particularly “political” person, in large part due to privilege but also because I tend to inhabit the healer/peacemaker role, always cherishing individual connections as opposed to larger group opinion.

Today I had the rare treat of co-leading a mindful art workshop for interns across various departments of the Whitney Museum of American Art. We were inspired by the current exhibition by Ruth Asawa, a prolific Japanese American artist who had spent some of her teen years in internment camps in California.

How do we approach this holiday that celebrates all that is primal, scary and grotesque when real life already contains enough horror, anxiety, and reminders of suffering as it is? Right now skeletons and bloody characters presented as lighthearted fun feels too triggering, too real.

I feel honored to be able to collaborate with NYC Health + Hospitals and the Whitney Museum of American Art and implement a deeply personal, art-centered approach to care through ongoing arts-based wellness workshops.

Creative Support for Caregivers is a virtual art therapy group using an open studio process for anyone in NJ/NY who identifies as a caregiver and is interested in developing a restorative creative practice for stress management.

Yesterday was our first arts-based workshop of the autumn season provided for a dynamic group of administrators, physicians, and clinicians at Elmhurst Hospital Center along with my esteemed colleague from the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Aside from back to school time for families and important holidays for many, September also marks NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) Awareness Month, established to acknowledge and educate the public around the unique challenges childbearing families face while navigating their baby’s time in and provide them with the support and resources they need.

Yesterday’s Art-Centered Practice workshop invited hospital staff members from various departments to engage in mindful observation of a mural installation on the first floor by abstract painter Helen Frankenthaler, followed by an open studio process approach to art-making and reflective writing as a form of self care.

Healing is not linear. Or always visible. But we can still trust it’s happening. This is especially true when we are living in an Age of Anxiety, when public health and environmental variables compound everyday stressors and push our cortisol levels to new heights.