Art Therapy Round Up: Connecting & Creating During COVID-19

Posted on by Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC

A few years ago, the site brightdrops.com posted this about Albert Einstein’s very well known and inspiring quote “Creativity is Contagious” (a favorite!):

It’s funny to think of creativity being contagious, like a virus, but it really does spread from one person to another, just by the act of that second person watching the first be creative…Then find that others start acting the same way, and before long you’ve got a virtual creative epidemic on your hands. (brightdrops.com, 2016)

I think of creativity in this way a lot.  So much, it inspired me to dedicate an entire chapter in The Art Therapist’s Guide to Social Media about my concept of 6 Degrees of Creativity and examples of how our art making and creative deeds can have a profound influence among and around us, on and offline.  These times of COVID-19 create a unique lens (in many ways!) about our shared impact and aspirations related to the power of creativity and its contagion factor.

Art therapists and the art therapy community have been responding via social media and online in these times of COVID-19’s pandemic outbreak by spreading enhanced and new opportunities for virtual connection, community, and creativity. These efforts offer meaningful ways to support one another, exchange art in digital spaces, and manage this life altering experience together through creativity and acts of art.  This is very refreshing to see each day as we continue to navigate this crisis.

This post offers a round up of some of the online places, spaces, and projects  that have been mobilized and activated by members of the art therapy community to assist during this time with ways to connect & create:

  • The Potomac Art Therapy Association (PATA) on Facebook and Instagram has been regularly sharing and re-posting creative expressions that art therapists, graduate art therapy programs, and art therapy students have been making during these times of having to shelter in place, physical distancing, and spending more time at home.  PATA is using the hashtag #stayinandcreate if you want to follow what they share or use it while you are making art at home during this time.
  • Art therapists have been using their blogs to reach out with art-based resources and creative self-care strategies — some great examples are here from art therapist Sherri Jacob’s blog and here on art therapist Dr. Lani Gerity’s blog.
  • Digital art sharing &  making spaces have also been created by art therapists to respond to COVID-19, make art together virtually, and create creative connection such as the Facebook Groups Coronavirus Response Art by Art Therapists and #Coronart.  Creative Contact, an  artist trading card swap is bringing together art therapy practitioners, educators, and students to share miniature artworks and their creating process online during this time of staying home with the future goal to exchange our art with one another through the mail eventually.  This project has included virtual meet-ups where art-making takes place together as a group online.

Think about how you can start your own creative chain reaction of compassion, kindness, or connection during this challenging time through acts of art making and your social media activity.  Consider participating in a random act of creative kindness with hopeful messages to leave for others to discover.  Examples I have seen over the last few weeks include sidewalk chalk expressions, window art, or public and street art that others can take in from a safe physical distance or behind the screen of their device.  The round up links above are also good examples to start with for inspiration!

Digital Time Capsule: Favorite Art Therapy & Technology Related Activity, Resource

Posted on by Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC

Contributors to the Art Therapy & Technology Digital Time Capsule had these responses about their current favorite art therapy and technology related activity or resource:

Applications

Social Media &  Sites Online

Devices & Communication

  • Smartphone
  • Tablet
  • Teleconferences
  • Online meetings
  • Closed group chats online

Media Sharing & Content

  • Photos
  • Cloud storage
  • Podcasts
  • Videos

Creative Expression

  • Digital painting
  • Virtual reality painting

t the beginning of this new year & decade, the idea of creating an art therapy & technology digital time capsule seemed like it would be a fun and collaborative project to invite current art therapists and future art therapists to participate in! This digital time capsule is an opportunity to document our relationship and activities with technology in 2020 as art therapists and re-visit the responses 10 years from now in 2030. Feel free to contribute your own response in the comments below. You can also connect to previous posts in this series here.

Digital Time Capsule: What Do Art Therapists Dislike & Like About Technology in 2020?

Posted on by Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC

Inspired by contributions that are coming in for the Art Therapy & Technology Time Capsule, this week takes a look at what art therapists dislike & enjoy about technology in their 2020 lives:

Dislikes

  • Constant checking of email, social media and its impact on being truly present
  • Lacking mindful use with intention & purpose
  • Frustrating issues with connecting
  • Cyberbullying
  • Trolling
  • Cost
  • Concerns about the impact on mental health, especially for youth
  • Impact on anxiety, depression, suicide?
  • Feeling lost or immobilized without access to the Internet
  • Reliance on the quality of wifi
  • The time & energy it takes to learn, re-learn & navigate new technology or changes
  • Disclosure anxiety, digital permanence, its impact, safety concerns
  • Limited screen size/frames for interacting
  • Beliefs that teletherapy is less effective
  • Others that still do not understand how to use technology wisely
  • Lack of means to make envisioned tools & ideas come to life

Likes

Applications & Digital Media:

  • Available ways to create, especially via smartphones
  • Augmented reality (AR)
  • Virtual reality (VR)
  • Immersive environments
  • Taking photos of personal art & sharing this art on social media
  • Saves time

Accessibility to:

  • New ideas for self care, art therapy directives
  • See clients or supervisees not able to physically come to their office/studio
  • Support network
  • Collaboration
  • Professional training opportunities

Inspiration, Aspiration & Hopes:

  • Technology’s potential
  • Expanding possibilities
  • Growth opportunities
  • Innovation
  • Possibilities and interest from clients

Connection with:

  • Colleagues
  • Art therapy information & resources
  • Community
  • People worldwide, near & far
  • Hearing about other art therapists
  • Seeing other people’s art
  • Having conversations with other art therapists no matter where they live
  • Communication across physical distances

At the beginning of this new year & decade, the idea of creating an art therapy & technology digital time capsule seemed like it would be a fun and collaborative project to invite current art therapists and future art therapists to participate in! This digital time capsule is an opportunity to document our relationship and activities with technology in 2020 as art therapists and re-visit the responses 10 years from now in 2030. Feel free to contribute your own response in the comments below. You can also connect to previous posts in this series here.

Art Therapy & Technology Digital Time Capsule: How Do You Use Technology as an Art Therapist in 2020?

Posted on by Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC

At the beginning of this new year & decade, the idea of creating an art therapy & technology digital time capsule seemed like it would be a fun and collaborative project to invite current art therapists and future art therapists to participate in! This digital time capsule is an opportunity to document our relationship and activities with technology in 2020 as art therapists and re-visit the responses 10 years from now in 2030. As this time capsule project begins to take shape with contributions, sharing some of the questions & responses from the art therapy community also makes this process fun!

DigitalTimeCapsule

This first blog post features examples from art therapists about how they use current technology in 2020 as an art therapist. Responses are divided into seven areas and includes practices, tools, platforms, software, and activities related to therapeutic work, administrative tasks, learning & professional development, research, teaching & education, as well as professional connection and the art therapist’s own creative practice.

 Professional practice with clients:

  • Online group work, digital art therapy, telehealth & teletherapy, virtual reality
  • Populations: Young adults living w/ cancer, adolescents, older adults
  • Chatrooms, Skype Business, InTouch
  • Playing music via phone, using a customized, appropriate playlist created on Pandora
  • Setting timer(s) on phone for managing group time
  • Recommending, encouraging mental health apps for clients to use

Professional practice administrative tasks:

  • Photographing client art to insert digitally into their electronic medical record
  • Scheduling, Calendar use
  • Documentation: treatment plans, client notes, billing
  • Theranest, GoogleDocs
  • Social media (FB) for promoting practice, events
  • Professional website

Professional development, learning:

  • Accessing the American Art Therapy Association (AATA) journal online
  • Purchasing books online (i.e. Amazon)
  • Online CEUs
  • AATA Conference app

 Research:

  • Conduct research, project collaboration
  • Search online for literature, directives, news/research about art therapy
  • Dropbox, GoogleDocs, Twitter

Teaching, Education, Supervision:

  • Online course teaching via Blackboard. Moodle
  • Teaching graduate art therapy students about digital art therapy
  • Online supervision via Skype, Zoom, WebEx

Professional Connection:

  • Finding, sharing information and resources about art therapy
  • Promoting art therapy to others
  • Network with other art therapists, colleagues
  • Communicate with colleagues, art therapy friends via email, text
  • Communicate with national and state art therapy associations, professional organizations
  • Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn

Art Therapist Creative Expression:

  • Digital & virtual painting
  • Virtual reality
  • Finding inspiration
  • Sharing own art via social media (i.e. Instagram)
  • ArtRage, altering photos

Contribute to our digital time capsule! What are some examples of how you use technology as an art therapist in 2020? Leave your responses below in the comments section!

Look Back… Media & Technology 1968

Posted on by Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC
It was a pleasure and honor to celebrate the Toronto Art Therapy Institute (TATI)’s 50th Anniversary with an invitation to speak at the Institute’s special gala event held this week. The TATI, founded in 1968, was the first art therapy training program in Canada established by Dr. Martin Fischer, one of the early pioneers in the field.

The evening offered a look back at the TATI’s great history and legacy of art therapy in Canada, as well as an opportunity to give attention to its active presence of faculty, alumni, site supervisors, and students, as well as what the future of the art therapy field holds ahead. This also included looking at the impact of technology on the art therapist, especially in the last 20 years for connection, community, and creativity.

*****

So what was the media and technology like/starting to emerge in 1968 when TATI was founded?  Here is a fun look back:

  • Color television was just starting to become more conventional in use and the first live, network transmission of video took place (a view inside an orbiting U.S. space capsule).  Now television includes an endless amount of channels and programs for the viewer — through real time and recorded network broadcasting, live streaming, breaking news, DVR recording, Netflix watching, and on the Internet, our mobile devices, and without the use of the conventional television set .

  • Music in 1968 could be played on an 8 track, which was considered the portable format for this time. Video tapes, such as Beta or VHS would not be available until the 1970s.  Now, music and video have become digitized and very portable in the form of MP3s, media sharing and online content communities, YouTube, Vimeo, Pandora, Spotify, Soundcloud, and podcasts are easily accessible through our computers and mobile devices.

  • Computers. Back in 1968, the “Nova” computer which only had 32 kilobytes of memory (!) sold for $8,000.   The computer that navigated the lunar module to the moon was introduced in 1968. Hewlett-Packard (HP) started promoting the first desktop computer this year too. The Internet as we now know it was very much undefined, but the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was starting to be developed in the early 1960s, which became the technical beginnings of the World Wide Web and Internet.  ARPANET published its first program plan and made its first network transmission the following year.  50 years later computers are less expensive, hold lots and lots of memory in miniature form, and is widely used by the masses (not just researchers, scientists, and academics) everyday, everywhere, anytime. The Internet (and now Wi-Fi too) instantly connects us to endless sites, networks, people, places, news, apps, experiences, and more all around the world.

Art therapists now live in a world of glocality (where the local and global co-exist!)  where we can easily connect to and virtually engage with our colleagues, beyond our local, regional, and national surroundings.  Platforms and programs like Skype, Zoom Facebook Live, What’s App, and more allow us to communicate and interact with one another.  The benefits of this connection are many- such as but not limited to:

  • Decreases isolation
  • Provides relational support
  • Obtain and exchange resources
  • Collegial engagement
  • Professional belonging
  • Creates opportunities for advocacy and awareness

The Internet has also held the concept of community as an important value to its early activity. Online resources and virtual spaces for art therapists were already surfacing in the mid 1990s, 15 years before social media really became widely embraced and used.  For example, Toronto art therapist, TATI alumna and faculty member Petrea Hansen-Adamidis created Art Therapy in Canada in 1996, the very first online web resource and forum in Canada. Learn more about Petrea’s experience and pioneering efforts with technology in this Art Therapists on the Grid interview here.

Online virtual communities can help art therapists:

  • Share and exchange information
  • Learn from one another
  • Create a sense of belonging
  • Strengthen professional identity

In addition, we can also keep strengthening our global digital citizenship as art therapists. We can enhance our understanding about the societal impact of living in a world without geographical boundaries due to technology and our use of social media.

This awareness first includes an individual understanding about how our personal and professional conduct online can impact the profession’s global digital footprint and art therapy’s international integrity. Having respect for the self, others, and what we access or engage with online deserves attention. Choosing to engage in online environments with empathy, compassion, generosity, and benevolence acknowledges the powerful influence our connections and interactions have on overall well-being, relationships, and creating community.  It also recognizes how we as art therapists have a valuable role in helping create a better digital world through our online presence and example.

Thank you to TATI for the opportunity to celebrate their historic milestone and include a little bit about technology and how it connects us all together, not just now but will continue to in the future. The media, programs, methods, and ways art therapists use technology will keep changing, developing, and offer new possibilities beyond our imagination for the future of the field… Also exciting to keep watching is how art therapists and future art therapists keep contributing to this digital landscape!

Congrats to TATI on their 50th year and here’s to 50+ more! 🙂

Spring 2018 Events

Posted on by Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC

There are a couple of events taking place this spring inspired by The Art Therapist’s Guide to Social Media:

On the campus of Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania on Monday, April 16 I will be presenting a free community lecture sponsored by the school’s undergraduate art therapy program. The evening event (6-7:30 pm) also includes 1.5 free continuing education credits (CEU sign in and registration 5:15-6 pm) available for ATR-BCs, social workers, marriage and family therapists, and professional counselors.

Social Media: Connection, Community, and Creativity will explore how social media can enhance and strengthen professional engagement, collegial relationships, and creative practice. Discover how, as mental health professionals we can take a meaningful look at some of the challenges and benefits that social media can have on the clients we serve, the therapeutic relationship, and how to best navigate social media with purpose and responsibility in our own use. The significance and value of digital community for professionals will also be explored and its role in building knowledge, cultivating collegiate relationships and exchange, support, and professional identity. Finally, the role of how social media sites can also support creative drive, artist identity, and enthusiasm for art making and art-based endeavors will be presented. Meet the author and book signing to follow the event.

******

This all day workshop on Saturday, April 28 is presented by the New York Art Therapy Association and will be held on the campus of New York University in New York City and includes 6 ethics of continuing education for ATR-BCs and LCATs (and for less than $100!).

The morning program, Bridging Social Media’s Digital Divide: Navigating Ethical Considerations as Art Therapists will be a didactic presentation looking at some of the challenges and benefits that social media can have on the clients we serve, the therapeutic relationship, and how to best navigate social media as an art therapist with purpose and ethical responsibility in our own use. Content will explore the role and influence social media can have on our lives and work, both negative and positive , as well as the challenges art therapists may face in their social media use related to privacy and  boundaries. Practical suggestions to help minimize potential risks will be also be presented, including strategies to help empower an art therapist’s digital presence with professional responsibility.

The afternoon program, Empowering Our Digital Presence: Art Therapists and Social Media Workshop explores how art therapists can empower their digital presence online with mindful attention to digital boundaries, ones digital footprint, and the ways we navigate social media personally, professionally, and creatively. Attendees will use art making to discover and learn more about these digital landscapes, the challenges art therapists can face, and ways we can leverage social media and ethical frameworks to promote our professional interests, values, and work.

An author Q&A and book signing will follow the event.  To register, visit this link.

Looking forward to seeing friends and colleagues from the art therapy community, as well as anyone interested in the event topics at both of these offerings!

An Art Therapist’s New Year Checklist for Social Media

Posted on by Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC

This time of year can motivate us to make changes, embark on new things, and set goals we want to accomplish both personally and professionally. It is also a good time to try and start new practices and routines that will be of benefit to our wellbeing, relationships, work, and daily life in the year ahead.  This post inspired by topics in The Art Therapist’s Guide to Social Media, offers some to-do’s that art therapists to-be and art therapists can revisit, learn more about, or begin implementing related to professional social media use and online activity for the year ahead.

An Art Therapist’s New Year Checklist for Social Media:

☐ Take time to check your privacy settings on your social media profiles and sites. Remember to maintain awareness and management throughout the year;

☐ Find out about and review any social media policies or considerations that have been instituted at your university, workplace, and the communities or programs you are part of;

☐ Google your name to be aware of what content is available about you online. These results are also what others are viewing when they google or do an Internet search for you;

☐ Keep your LinkedIn profile updated;

☐ Be aware of your “Three Degrees of Influence”;

☐ Keep client content (art expressions, interactions, conversations- both negative, positive, and even when not using identifying information) off your personal social media networks of friends and family. When sharing online in professional or educational forums, protect identifying information, obtain consent, and consider the intention;

☐ If you are an art therapist in private practice or own an art therapy business, consider creating a social media policy to use with your clients;

☐ Strengthen your resources and understanding of digital social responsibility as a clinician;

☐ Remember to pause before you post online. Mindfully think about your post’s possible impact and influence, not just in relationship to your work as an art therapist, but also as a representative of the profession at-large. We are all ambassadors of art therapy on and offline;

☐ If you are an art therapy blogger, draft a one year editorial calendar to plan possible topics, content, and consistent scheduling;

☐ Practice and model global digital citizenship;

☐ Use social media to discover/learn a new art technique, media, artist, or creative inspiration;

☐ Identify and develop a social media sharing and delivery strategy that empowers your professional self, values, and work;

☐ Take an inventory of your digital assets. How you can leverage or enhance existing resources to promote and bring education to your work, art therapy, the populations you serve, and its benefits? Are there digital assets would you like to develop this year?

☐ Become aware of your digital footprint as you use the Internet and share online.

Taking on the above checklist can empower us as art therapists to take ownership of our digital presence, activity, and choices we make (or don’t make) online.  Smart practices to start and integrate!

*****

Save

2018 Online Book Discussion Group

Posted on by Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC

Coming in 2018: An online Facebook book discussion group for readers of The Art Therapist’s Guide to Social Media!  An opportunity for art therapists, art therapy students, and other interested readers to dialogue weekly about each chapter of the book.  A great way to spend the cold, winter months at the warm keyboard of your tablet, mobile device, or desktop!  So get your copy ready to join the group (any or all!) beginning January through March 2018 every Sunday 5:00-6:30 pm EST. Tell your colleagues, classmates, students, and friends (off and online!).  Sign up here through the site’s contact form if you are interested in a group invitation to participate!

Tentative Schedule:

  • January 7

Chapter 1: Introduction to Social Networking and Social Media

  • January 14

Chapter 2: The Challenges and Benefits of Social Networking

  • January 21

Chapter 3: Social Media, Art Therapy, and Professionalism

  • January 28

Chapter 4: The Value of Digital Community for Art Therapists

  • February 4

Chapter 5: Strengthening the Art Therapy Profession through Social Media

  • February 11

Chapter 6: Social Networking and the Global Art Therapy Community

  • February 18

Chapter 7: Social Media and the Art Therapist’s Creative Practice

  • February 25

Chapter 8: 6 Degrees of Creativity

  • March 4

Chapter 9: Future Considerations: Social Media and Art Therapists

Routledge is also having an end of the year sale of all its book titles, which includes a 20% discount of The Art Therapist’s Guide to Social Media if you still need to purchase a copy in time for the discussion group!  🙂

Art Therapy Buffalo on the Grid

Posted on by Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC

Art Therapists on the Grid: Art Therapy Meets Social Media Conversations is a weekly interview series this summer featuring a variety of art therapists and how they use the power of the Internet and social media in relationship to sharing their work with others, professional development, nurturing creativity, cultivating community and more.

Last month this series spoke with Rachel Sikorski, one of the founding members of Art Therapy Buffalo about some of the efforts of this professional group for art therapists in the Buffalo and Niagara, New York region – including how their web presence has been helpful to supporting their mission.  This week’s chat features an interview that took place virtually during one of community’s monthly meet ups where members of Art Therapy Buffalo were able to add their own experiences. Their meeting was held at the ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery for Contemporary Art, where the group has had an exhibit on display since early June to “respond to the current economic-social-political climate, and how this has impacted art therapists both personally and professionally, as they use art to help clients of all ages who may be struggling with hopelessness, fear, and anxiety as it relates to changes in leadership and policy, on a personal and collective level.”

This conversation features Rachel, Teresa Weston, Carla Reeves, Michelle Price, Sandie Crocker, Karie Schwartz, Katie Mullaney, Madonna Adymy, Andrea Koch, and Lisa Horlein who share more about their work and how the community of Art Therapy Buffalo has helped decrease a sense of isolation, foster support, and awareness about art therapy.  You can also learn additional information about the art therapy work of the entire Art Therapy Buffalo team here.

A few of the topics discussed in this chat include:

  • How community building and networking benefits art therapists
  • The role social media can play in outreach efforts
  • Exhibits as a form of advocacy and awareness about art therapy and a voice during times of change & uncertainty

Listen to the meet up below!

If you are interested in connecting with the Art Therapy Buffalo community to learn more about art therapy, obtain services in Western New York, or network with art therapists in this area, please visit arttherapybuffalo.com.

Resources mentioned in our conversation:

Spending time to virtually meet up with the art therapists of Art Therapy Buffalo was great— thank you to everyone who was able to attend and chat about their experiences!

This entire series and all the art therapists who have contributed about how they have leveraged and navigated the Internet and social media has been inspiring to share. Many of the conversations have had crossover themes and topics, but at the same time uniquely different reflections, resources, and experiences. A top ten summary of content inspired by this series can be read here.  Thank you for listening and tuning in!

Art Therapists on the Grid Convo Series

Posted on by Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC

A fun interview podcast series will be launching soon about social media and how art therapists are using it for connection, community, & creativity. Definitely very inspiring— such great energy and experiences to share! A different online recording and art therapist will be featured here on this blog beginning mid June through July.  Hope you will be able to plug in and watch!

Art Therapists on the Grid Convo Series | Art Therapist's Guide to Social Media