|
I am so excited to share my latest passion project with you: a participatory perinatal picture book called The Days Before I Met You The back story: I originally wrote and illustrated it during my first pregnancy in 2017. At the time it was an intuitive use of art and narrative therapy that helped to channel my growing pains into something tangible during a difficult third trimester. And now, I'm ready to share it with the world so it may provide a helpful resource for other first-time expectant parents in their own family building adventures. You can check it out, purchase, and review it on Amazon here: https://a.co/d/7TM6wrz Please take a look and share widely! Sharon Itkoff Nacache ATR-BC LCAT LPAT PMH-C 
0 Comments
 The overhead view of artmaking in progress and scattered supplies beautifully captures the burst of creative energy that flowed through today’s wellness workshop. Busy, bright, layered, bold, playful! Another example of this powerful, hands-on approach to addressing workplace burnout, one team at a time!💥 #artheals #artsinmedicine #caregiverburnout #creativeresilience #artastherapy
Post by Sharon Itkoff Nacache ATR-BC LCAT LPAT PMH-C 🌷Politics is personal when your country is in crisis. Cory Booker’s historic 25 hour speech is helping to wake up disempowered Americans and remind them what they can do on a micro level to enact positive change on a macro level. 🌷Today marks the first-ever National Day of Action for Maternal Mental Health to rally Americans to contact their federal elected officials to protect the funding of maternal mental health programs. 🌷Mental health conditions are the MOST COMMON complication of pregnancy and childbirth, impacting 1 in every 5 mothers in the U.S. or 800,000 families each year. Mental health conditions are a LEADING CAUSE of maternal mortality in our country, accounting for 22% of pregnancy-related deaths. 🌷To address this crisis, The Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance has helped to establish two federally-funded programs that have proven effective in helping mothers get the support they need: The National Maternal Mental Health Hotline and The Maternal Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Program. 🌷Turn your despair into hope and make a massive impact for maternal mental health in just a few minutes. The campaign is today only. Contact your elected officials: https://lnkd.in/g-dc8rtW 🌷We need you. Moms need you. Your voice matters. Post by Sharon Itkoff Nacache ATR-BC LCAT LPAT PMH-C  🌱It's always a joy to see what hardworking hospital employees will create when provided with a designated time and space to play with art media and creative inspiration through NYC Health + Hospitals HHArt of Medicine program in partnership with the Whitney Museum of American Art. 🌱This chilly Spring morning was spent exploring our inner and outer worlds inspired by Women's History Month and the bold mixed media art of Emma Amos. Experimenting with watercolor resist mandalas helped us tap into the gratitude that often dwells below the daily tension, with some participants even manifesting their own peaceful islands to visit whenever needed.#healthehealer #staffworkshop #burnoutprevention #artheals #artsinmedicine #creativeresilience #womenshistorymonth2025 #arttherapylife Post and Photo by Sharon Itkoff Nacache ATR-BC LCAT LPAT PMH-C  Mothers are master multi-taskers. But is this an evolutionary superpower, or simply a result of society’s overreliance on caretakers’ invisible labor? In this intensive era of parenting, too many parents are doing too much without systemic support in place, including but not limited to adequate federal leave policies and access to affordable childcare as well as perinatal and mental health treatment. Inevitably, the endless demand and constant overstimulation leads to caregiver burnout, mom rage, or physical ailments. My work is dedicated to helping new and expecting parents move that heavy pendulum from surviving to thriving. And my mental health “hack” as a perinatal art therapist and working mom of 2 is this: focus on the quality of how you are spending your time to reclaim some peace of mind. Find a way to practice mindfulness that works for you and your lifestyle. Mindfulness is the antithesis of multitasking because it entails complete presence in the “here and now.” But how do we stay mindful when there’s so much to do?? My mindful moments come in the form of being relational, embodied, or creative. For example, when I’m in session with a client or even meeting with a close friend, I am completely honed in on our conversation and relationship at the moment. I am fully and wholeheartedly with them. When I’m running or dancing, I am completely in my body and following the music. And when I find a creative flow, I am transported to a different time zone where nothing else exists. These experiences feel nurturing and restorative, so that I am able to carry on from a place of abundance rather than deprivation. Can you find the areas of your life where you feel fully engaged and lean into them to cultivate a mindfulness practice of your own? Post by Sharon Itkoff Nacache ATR-BC LCAT LPAT PMH-C   🎨What a gift to be able to spend this chilly Sunday in creative collaboration with The Drawing Center and The Creative Center during the 2025 Creative Center Training Institute for fellow clinicians, educators and creatives.
🎨Inspired by the prolific drawings of avant garde Jazz musician John Zorn on display, we engaged in various forms of intra and interpersonal listening, explored the mind-body connection, and experimented with multimodal forms of expression using mixed media. 🎨I left feeling energized and inspired by the artwork, the creative process, and my colleagues. Grateful to be able to practice and share the work I love! #artastherapy #arteducation #teachingartist #artinmedicine #artheals #creativeconnection #community Post by Sharon Itkoff Nacache ATR-BC LCAT LPAT PMH-C This evocative image from yesterday's hospital staff wellness workshop explores the power of reframing perspective, shared with permission from the artist. For some, rainy weather and stormy times can make them depressed or down, wanting to hibernate inside. But for the artist, the rain offers a cleanse or catharsis, refreshing and resetting him for what’s to come. His raindrops referenced the brushstrokes of the painter Alma Thomas, a pioneer in arts education and Black history, whom we also honored today. Post by Sharon Itkoff Nacache ATR-BC LCAT LPAT PMH-C  I'm thrilled to be a part of next month's 2025 Training Institute for Arts-in-Healthcare and Creative Aging via The Creative Center at University Settlement entitled “Creating a Culture of Connection through the Arts.” Here’s a teaser of what I’ll be offering on Sun, March 9 at the Drawing Center, as part of a series of fabulous virtual and in-person workshops from my art therapy and art educator colleagues. Registration is now open and spaces are limited! https://lnkd.in/gukzKUpa Post and image by Sharon Itkoff Nacache ATR-BC LCAT LPAT PMH-C  I finally had a chance to check out the fabulous community art show, “Beneath the Surface” at Pictor Gallery in Chelsea, NYC. I’m so inspired by the versatility and vision of my fellow LCATs and honored to display my work, "Inner Knowing" alongside them. There’s still time to visit and learn more about working and making art as a creative arts therapist: The closing reception w/ artist panel is this Sat 1/18 3-4p. Donations will go to @lcatadvocacy to continue to work toward expanding access to our mental health services for all New Yorkers. @thelcatcec Post by Sharon Itkoff Nacache ATR-BC LCAT LPAT PMH-C  Happy New Year! I am still catching my breath from a whirlwind year of workshop facilitation, clinical practice, and of course the most all-encompassing role of all, mothering. With the help of indulging in film and literature over the holiday break, I’ve been honing in on some personal intention setting for 2025. Claire Ochetsky’s powerful allegory “Chouette,” inspired me with its raw take on mothering authetically in spite of society’s impossible expectations. The protagonist reflects, “My life's work, as your mother, will be to teach you how to be yourself–and to honor however much of the wild world you have in you.” The movie adaptation of Rachel Yoder’s “Nightb*tch” shook me with its embrace of the beauty and preciousness of creating and sustaining new life, but also the primal, violent, and grotesque. The ability to hold these conflicting tensions is what makes us uniquely human, and art provides the platform to explore and make meaning from them. The new mother finally realizes, “art seems essential, as essential as mothering. In order to be a self, it is essential.” Both of these pieces, written by artist-mothers, deeply resonated with me, with their emphasis on the universal need for freedom of expression and the importance of listening to one’s own voice in the chorus of daily distraction and societal expectation. May we all seek out opportunities to express and listen to our inner knowing and artist selves in 2025 (and beyond.) And if you’re local to NYC and seeking some creative inspiration, come check out the upcoming “Beneath the Surface” group gallery show I’m participating in at the Pictor Gallery, opening next Saturday, January 11, 2025. Post and Painting, "Inner Knowing," by Sharon Itkoff Nacache ATR-BC LCAT LPAT PMH-C   |
Blog Posts
April 2025
Categories |
RSS Feed