Hi ~ I'm just someone who paints to music, delves in crafts and creations, loves dancing, and write alot for my own healing and liberation.
I've always known there was a healing aspect to all of it ...
I feel that especially when I'm in a meditative state, and especially when creating to music ... my best work comes forth.
I'm just here to explore that more and relate to others who feel similar ~

I'm Mary Anne. I always think of art as healing and i think it is sad that few understand the artists work inc the artist at times. Art when being honest tells us so much abour our true nature. I have not been happy being an artist because it is the interaction with people that i want yet from persuing that path i have discovered so much i think all doctors need to have it as a tool....not to make great paintings just to delve into real matters and see them as they are..reeligious fanatics too. If I had had the money i would have become a therapist. i have also learned a lot by taking a few courses with an art therapist. All the arts are just so interrelated and science is no exception. One can draw ones problems and divine the healing path to take as well.

Too often I fall into the trap of trying to make something more beautiful than it is.

Glad to be in this group and hope t o post sommorr...
somorree

Hi, I'm Jorga. I'm about 6 months from finishing my Master's in Chinese Medicine (acupuncture and chinese herbal medicine).

Hi

I thought I'd take a minute to introduce myself, make the move from lurker to participant in this tribe. I'm Jojo and I am an Art Therapist in Boston. I transplanted here from the west (Colorado and Oregon) almost 4 years ago to go to graduate school in Expressive Art Therapy. I am also an artist, although I have not been doing much of my own art work lately and really need to get back into making art on a regular basis for my own sanity. I love the work as an art therapist and am always amazed at the power art making has to heal the soul. The act of creating be it visual art, dance, music, or however one can connect to ones creativity is so vital to the healing process, especially since feelings, and memories are rarely verbal. In making art it can hold these things, allow for expression of things there are no words for (or can't be expressed verbally) and create safety. I've been working with many different populations, ages 3 to 67 years old, from psych hospitals to community based art therapy programs of at risk youth (the most amazing place in the world - rawart.org/). I'm about to start a new job developing an art therapy program for a DYS locked unit for adolescent boys. I'm excited about this.

Jojo

Hi! I'm Lynn Grasberg, HA (Humor Activator).

I teach comedy/theater improv (and use it to teach conflict resolution skills to teenagers and adults). I also do a lot of healing with singing and opening up energy through the voice, and work with groups from high tech companies, hospitals, schools . . . Sometimes I do this in my clown persona, Penelope.

I do several kinds of energy work and last year became a Reiki Master. Generally, I pay attention and do what's called for in each situation using lots of laughter, humor and play to loosen up the stuck places.

Sometimes I work very informally and sometimes in more straight-laced ways. I work with people in private sessions, give keynote speeches, humor-on-the-job trainings, and public classes and seminars.

I live in Boulder, CO and love to travel.. (Give me an excuse! I'll come perform and/or teach.)
Lynn

Hi
I focus on energetic healing, Chi, aura healing and cleansing, space clearing and purification. I trance dance for energy clearing and sing or chant for chakra clearing.
I believe sound(including music) is a vehicle for higher states of consciousness as well as somatics(dancing).
Tai chi, Chi kung are some interest.
I enjoy being around others who feel that it is important to have a grounded and healing environment.
I'm pursuing a MPH profession; community organizing but will apply alternative healing methods to my practice and research. I don't offer any services for sale but do offer friendship by email or beyond.

Hello everyone,
Hello there,
My name is Margot. I just joined tribe.net.
I am a whole foods chef and holistic health counselor with a private practice in Manhattan. I offer cooking classes, holistic nutritional counseling and gourmet catering. I have also been interested in learning more about healing through creative arts, specifically music and dance.
I have just read all of your intros and you all sound so interesting!
Thank you to Marcus for creating this tribe.
I would love to find more people to connect and network with.
I look forward to hearing from all of you!
Be well,
Margot

here's a little about me...

i am currently finishing my final semester majoring in therapeutic recreation at the university of georgia. i am completing my internship at a special recreation association in a suburb of chicago.

i hope to use the arts as much as possible once i finally get into the field. i have always known i want to work with children, but this internship has proven to me that i can enjoy working with many ages with many types of disabilities.

i saw first hand the benefits of using visual art with children with cognitive disabilities when i worked as the art coordinator for a camp for children wih disabilities. it was such an amazing experience and a true encouragement. i was able to help with fine and gross motor skills, open children up to becoming aware of their different senses, and help them to learn more about famous artists, nature, and different culture all through art... imagine that - having fun while learning!

well that's all i'll make you read now, but feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

Hi I am Davor, and I have known Marcus for a long tiime.

I am working towards entering Nursing School, planning on pursuing a BSN.

I don't offer any services, though I could titilate you with my growing biological knowledge and my rudimentary spanish skills.

My interest involves helping people and hopefully eventually changing the way medical care is administered in this country, I hate insurance companies and want Quality medical care for everyone. (but that is a few years off for me)

Hi Marcus, and everyone! Ok, I'll take you up on the suggestion to introduce myself.

My interest in Art and healing is lifelong. I am unsure what my career path will look like from here on out, but at the time Expressive Arts Therapy is what I gravitate toward. It parallels my own creative expression, which has always been 'intermodal' (visual art, music, writing, and more recently dance and movement.)

I have a BA in Humanities with a focus in Expressive Arts Therapy. Yet I am unsure of the next step. I am disabled by Repetitive Strain Injury I got on the job as an Executive Assistant. During the 4 years I've dealt with this, I did manage a year of school. I currently have not found work that fits except for volunteer work that I can do at my own pace.

I have found movement based work to be incredibly healing. I recently attended a weekend workshop at the Tamalpa institute in Marin, CA and was pain free for several days after moving some emotional stuff out into the open, and with no pain meds, so obviously this is a good way to spend my time learning with a group. There are, however, some blockades. Financial, transportation.

Recently I have dabbled in working with elders in a nursing home, but had to stop due to my injury. I then had 3 weeks of 2 family emergencies which revolved around death. (One passed on, one just barely scraped by.) It was a very powerful time for me and many involved, and my entire family is adjusting to huge transformations. It all seems related to the work I will be doing ongoingly.

I am a bit drained from March, though, facing my own pain and a workshop I am about to lead for people with my injury. I am tapping into a deep place to find a way in which it can be a supportive experience for myself and the group.

I am paying more attention to intuition and intuitive tools these days. Even though I can't afford much time on the computer due to my injury, I think this is a great community to have discovered and want to see what can happen with it when I do have a few moments to log on. Please feel free to reply...I guess I am most interested in hearing about the various educational paths for expressive arts professionals...it is quite confusing. I am pretty sure I want to start with movement based training for the most part, as book learning and hand use is pretty difficult for me in general. I also would like to hear about how others live/work as a facilitator/counselor/guide in this creative healing work.

I will try to think of more specific questions for the future, but anyways, nice to meet you all! I will look at your 'bios' more thouroughly as time allows...until then, keep healing, creating, living, dreaming!
ang

Every time I come on this tribe, I tell myself, I really need to introduce myself, and then just wind up reading everyone else's profiles and signing off. Such a daunting task this is-

Well hello. I'm Kavindra, and I've been healing myself and doing artsy things and healing myself while doing artsy things nearly all my life. Although I am interested in music/dance/art/poetry/performance art, my main interest in healing has been the body mind connection embodied through yoga, and dance, with a sprinkling of pranic healing (like reiki). I'm a musician by trade, and am looking to combine my love of music/movement in my senior recital for my BA in music. I studied music therapy for awhile, but prefer to get a masters in Dance therapy from Naropa. I worked with severly retarded adults doing dance and LOVED this work.

I am interested in deep, excavating, completely holisitic psychological work- body, mind, emotions, spirit, soul. I value introspection and extroversion, meditating, performing, and teaching others. Giving and getting massages is nice too. I also love to analyze the dynamics of relationships, and my loved ones get annoyed at my playing Freud.

Thank you Marcus, for this tribe. I have long been looking for a place to volunteer- gettin' my karma yoga goin'. I would have been happy volunteering for Tree People or some other environmental agency. But--- you listed a website for Expressive Arts for Abused Children, and I couldn't have been more excited to start training to volunteer there.

I've had to go solo in my endeavors in music/dance, as I can't meet anyone in L.A. who I see eye to eye with artistically. I really click with the bay area's artistic scene. It would be really nice to meet some musicians/dancers in the L.A. area with whom I click. "People... people who need people.... ARE THE LOVELIEST PEOPLE...."

Rainbows, butterflies, and chocolate sprinkles,
Kavindra

I first heard of music therapy from the leader of an amateur orchestra I played with, who got her certificate in it in London. I'll now be starting my Master's degree in the fall in music therapy. I play piano, violin and am learning guitar. My interest lies in the geri-psychiatric population. I volunteer at an adult day center, which I love, and where I've grown particularly attached to an elderly man with paranoid schizophrenia. I'm also interested in doing medical research and the whole field of neuroscience.

Hi there. I'm a graduate student in philosophy with an interest in language and consciousness and a background (mostly on the receiving end, but I'll get there one of these days!) in counselling. I'm interested in using myth, storytelling, drumming, participatory ritual and other creative media to further healing and self-transformation. Peace.

Hey Everyone!!
I am Deanna and am graduating in a week and a half (AHHH!! A little overwhelmed with graduating right now!) and am graduating with a Bachelor of arts in liberal studies with a my concentration in visual performing arts. My interest and wanting to continue to learn about art therapy began the beginning of this semester when in order to graduate all seniors must take "capstone" a class which is a semester long research studies which I had choosen to do mine on arts education in elementary schools which focused on through my final research paper on Art Therapy to show the impact of art and its importance to have the arts. I used to be a dancer growing up but now am a painter mostly. I love to paint and create art as my therapy in a way....I am wanting to mainly continue learning on everything about art therapy and look forward to future posts!! :o)
~Deanna

Hi all,

I just joined and am drawn particularly to physical/expressive arts (music, dance, yoga) and their potential for healing. I'm a new yoga instructor, a hoop dancer, and filmmaker. Recently, I bumped into a book called "The Wounded Healer". That phrase, "wounded healer", speaks to me.

That's all for now.

Divine Eye :)

Hi I'm Heather. I am going into the 4th year of my psychology undergrad. I have studied research on many types of therapy and that combined with my love for dance and experiences with dance in different contexts has sparked my interest in dance therapy. I am not sure that I am ever planning to work in the field but I would really like to learn more about it :)

Hello All,
I am six months away from getting my Masters in Counseling Psychology with a focus in Drama Therapy at CIIS in San Francisco. I am doing a practicum in a psychiatric hospital in Alameda County working with an incredibly diverse range of people and mental illnesses.

The technique I am focusing on in my practice is called Developmental Transformations. Anyone familiar with this method? It is defined as an "embodied encounter in the therapeutic playspace." It is kind of a stream of consciousness improvisation in groups or one on one. The work is very physical and powerfully evocative. If any one wants to learn more drop me a note. It is a play therapy with the therapist functioning as the play object as opposed to bringing in toys, props or other objects.

I changed careers and started graduate school when I was 40 and I am having a blast.

Peace all.

Hi, I've only recently joined and wanted to introduce myself. I'm Rachel (aka Windy, whichever you like), a psychology student in Sacramento, and I volunteer with a local crisis line. I would like to learn more about anything related to counselling/psychotherapy of any kind. I also wanted to mention that I have started a tribe called "Psychology & Counselling Students" to be a resource for students. Any students or teachers are welcome. Thanx for having me on the tribe.
Take care,
Rachel

Hi All~ My name is Sydnor and I have been a student in the Expressive Arts Therapy program at CIIS (in SF) for the last 2 years...I am just starting my practicum and have another year to go before I graduate. In my undergrad I studied systems theory, counseling psychology, and art (mostly theater and movement). This is what interests me most now, I guess...not only using art for healing on an intrapsychic level but on an interpersonal level as well, that expands into our environments and communities, both small and large...the specifics of this vision are still a work-in-progress...

In my practicum, I'll be working with clients one-on-one doing art therapy (and talk therapy), but eventually would like to bring the healing arts to all types of environments...

Well, I think that's it for now...looking forward to seeing what you all are up to!

Sydnor

Hi!! I'm Laurie. I am a musician, visual artist, singer, dancer, generally creative person. I graduated with my masters in social work last year and am working as a child and family therapist. I have a dream of really being able to incorporate my self in my various creative forms into my work. Music and other forms of creative expression have always been healing to me. I would like to make sure I keep them as part of my life and help other people intheir healing process with the language that comes most naturally to me. I look forward to exploring ways to do this as I grow as a therapist and as a person.

Hey there,
Currently I'm a student at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA where I am studying for both my equivalency and Master's in music therapy. I got into this field because I wanted to help people, and I wanted to do something with my musical training other than performance or teaching - although I am a teacher now, and I enjoy it immensely! It's been great experience so far...
I'd like to work with children in special education, babies, the elderly, and anywhere in the world where music therapy might be needed. I have a great interest in world music and would LOVE to learn how to encorporate that into my practice! I also see music therapy as going beyond the clinical settings and out into society.
If anyone on here is a music therapist - both AMTA accredited and "sound healing" - I'd love to hear from you and network.

Ciao,
I'm just prepping for an outdoor fest set tommorow...
playing electronic fiddle/spoken word/percussion + a diatonic button accordion (amazing harmonics) and additional percussionists with tribal belly dance, hoop and contact improv dancers sharing a set of original world fusion tribal deep folktronica (not my label, heh, gifted by a local Deep House DJ/Producer)...so, will catch up with introductions mid week...
ps. is their a cure for incipient Indigo 2nd Childhoodishness? just kidding...no I'm not... yes I am...oh look! I see colors! Wait a second! They're all shades of Blue!

Hello all, I am Mirical. I'm currently in my 3rd year of a bfa in developmental art which is a combination of education, psychology and art. As for as the art aspect goes I mainly work with paint but I'm also really interested in sculpture and installation. Growing up, I saw how therapeutic art can be and a couple years ago I decided I wanted to become an art therapist. Currently I'm making my decision as to which grad school I'll be applying to once I graduate. This is either going to be a diploma in Vancouver or a masters degree in Montreal. I'm mainly researching into job prospects and degrees etc. like a mad thing at the moment so I was very glad to find this tribe.