Exploring Disability and the role of the arts

I’ve been working on developing my workshops in India and Hong Kong. I realize that offering these workshops is an interesting experience. Of being obviously a professional- knowledgeable and all that- but more importantly I  have started to think of myself as a  door woman.  I happily open the metaphorical  door for others to walk through. I just do it by offering a new way of thinking about understanding themselves.  Not only think, but do. One of my greatest joys actually is watching students encounter themselves through the world of art, dance, music and the written word. And by doing that, in some way they have helped themselves make sense of their world and their role within it. There can be and is joy in these awakenings and understandings.

Expressive Therapy Workshop

On this trip, part of our work is to be present with the topic of disabilities. Actually, this topic comes up quite regularly in my work. On this trip, I am hoping to turn the concept of disability a bit on its head.  What makes a person disabled? what is the role of the support person?  How can we reframe what we think when we hear about someone with a disability?  Why is this important that we do? So often we over look people who have a disability, as “not abled” Instead they are very abled and have very definitive thoughts  and feelings about this.

My research has led me to new thinking and new territory. My own role as a person with a disability (which I have spent a goodly portion of my life attempting to ignore) has been one of mixed messages and experiences EXCEPT in the area of creating art. For me it has been a deep blessing in which the ability to create art has supported me in gaining clarity and understanding of myself as a person with value and a person with ability.

So, I take what I have found for myself, add a smattering of  academia, and voila…

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Preparing to Sojourn

Well, once again, there has been a long time between blogs. Daily life, work, family and projects take up the psychic space that I need to think about writing a blog. Some of what I have been doing, I have done with my partner in life and career Michael Watson, who has been writing voraciously and beautifully. To read about his work I invite you to go to his blog here.

It is cold here. It is supposed to be about 5 degrees tonight. Fahrenheit.   I wrap myself in my Indian scarves and shawls to remind myself of the warmth of South Asia.

I keep myself busy! Besides my clinical work,  and my work  with the Centre for Playback Theatre (which has been ubber busy this past fall!!! We are gearing up for our winter session trainings- check them out at: http://www.playbackcentre.org/training-program), I have been teaching.  This past semester I taught various classes on Transpersonal Psychology and  expressive therapies. We dove in deep, and as is the case for many of my courses, bridged between the personal worlds that we exist in and the academics of understanding the theories behind why we would use the arts as a tool for healing. And as always, I experienced the deep richness and satisfaction of a co-creative and collaborative process – I as teacher being student at times, and my students teaching me so much that often isn’t written in textbooks.

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