The Certificate Program in the Arts and Trauma Treatment offers two sequential levels of training. This intensive training is ideal for therapists working with traumatized patients who wish to deepen their knowledge of using the arts in trauma treatment, including:
- Creative arts therapists wanting to sharpen their skills in working with trauma
- Clinicians of all modalities who would like to learn to incorporate the arts into their work
- Experienced trauma practitioners seeking a supportive community to help counter isolation and burnout
- New clinicians who desire additional direction, consultation, and clinical training
Level I
Learning Objective: Students will be exposed to an integrated approach to implementing the arts in trauma treatment.
Format: Experiential and didactic instruction, intimate consultation groups, and assigned readings
Location: New York City, New York, USA
Schedule: Four intensive training weekends (Friday evening – Sunday evening) during the traditional academic year (September-June).
Hours: 15 hours of on-site instruction per weekend, for a total of 60 hours
Topics covered include:
- Trauma Theory: including psychobiology and neuroscience
- Trauma Processing through the Arts: including phase-oriented treatment, case conceptualization, assessment, and practices for fostering both expression and containment
- Gender & Culture: including understanding and assessing for the impact of forms of difference on therapist and patient, addressing shame and marginalization, and working in diverse cultural contexts
- Self Care: including mitigating secondary trauma and burnout, considering the positioning of the therapist and boundary setting, and working within oppressive systems
- Working with the Body
- Working with the Voice
- Working with Image & Symbol
- Working with Metaphor & the Imagination
- A Special Topic to be offered each year with rotating guest faculty
Level II
Learning Objective: Students who have completed Level I will receive advanced training in arts modalities and will address areas such as:
- Complex dilemmas in trauma treatment
- Integrating arts-based practices with other forms of psychotherapy
- Addressing dissociation and compartmentalization
- International applications of arts modalities
- Current topics in trauma treatment
Location: New York City, New York, USA
Schedule: three intensive training weekends
Hours: 15 hours of on-site instruction per weekend plus pairing with an approved supervisor for 10 hours of individual consultation, for a total of 55 hours.