Claire Golomb is a Professor Emerita of the Department of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts. For over 40 years she taught courses on child…
By Claire Golomb, Professor Emerita of the Department of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts, USA, and author of the new book The Creation of Imaginary…
The 2010 American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) Conference took place at the Cleveland Renaissance Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, this year and JKP was, once…
“True empathy is part of a very genuine understanding of the other person. And we learn this through dramatic playing which we can observe in the first few hours after a baby is born: they will try to imitate the expression on the mothers face…the baby is responding as if they are the mother; this ‘dramatic response’ continues to develop in those early weeks and months, like a life rehearsal for the development of empathy.”
Last week, JKP attended the 5th UK Dementia Congress in Bournemouth. As the largest dementia-focused annual event in the UK, the congress offered an exciting…
“Anyone can benefit by telling their story and being heard, whether it’s through art, narrative, or other means of communication…Everyone has a story and all of these stories are sacred. There is healing and connection in telling these stories to someone who takes the time to listen. Art is a wonderful venue for telling these stories.”
Have a giggle – and raise awareness! – with this activity from Bonnie Thomas‘ new book, Creative Expression Activities For Teens! This book is bursting with art and journal…
“In working in dementia care we need often to let ourselves become foolish, unconventional, stop making sense. I have been thrilled to meet staff who at the drop of a hat will dress up, play the guitar, sing uproariously…or who have the capacity to sit quietly with someone without an agenda. It is this joy of the crazy and the still, this lightness of being, which is refreshing and life-promoting in the work that we do. We can play with balloons, blow bubbles, doodle, improvise. We don’t have to make a finished product. By creatively and somatically being with a person we can instil a sense of safety, of physical and emotional security.”
“There are a variety of self-help techniques that the individual can use for their own sake…In addition to individual methods, there must be systems in place to secure good follow-up for personnel involved in critical incidents or in work with traumatized children over time.”
“Through sensitively handled, creative interaction and by the use of ‘creative’ approaches with traumatised young people their characteristic rigidity begins to loosen. New possibilities emerge, the mutative nature of create endeavours. In time, they may be able to see painfully familiar situations in different and helpful ways that can lead to their forming a new response.”