Incorporating Art in Therapy to Achieve Therapeutic Outcomes with Torture and Refugee Trauma Survivors
This Clinical Master Class webinar will demonstrate how art in therapy can be a valuable tool that can offer refugees with complex trauma a non-verbal means of expressing and processing traumatic experiences, fostering social connection, and promoting emotional well-being.
From Robert Gray, the founder and director of the College for Educational and Clinical Art Therapy, you will learn the benefits of incorporating art into treating trauma survivors. He will describe how art therapists use various art tools to facilitate in-depth processing—first physically, then emotionally, and finally intellectually.
Shima Sadeghi, a qualified Art Therapist and a STARTTS Child and Adolescent Counsellor, will take you through a real-life example of a young client who had experienced relational trauma, early abandonment, and complex grief. Creative interventions were used that facilitated repair, supported emotional regulation, and strengthened the internalisation of positive relational experiences.
You will be able to engage with Robert Gray and Shima Sadeghi via a live Q&A panel discussion facilitated by STARTTS’ CEO and Clinical Psychologist, Jorge Aroche. You will come away with many tools to use art in therapy to help people reclaim their inner world, change it playfully, and integrate what needs to be integrated artistically before their intellect catches up to process what has happened.
Robert Gray
A highly regarded art therapy lecturer from Germany, Robert Gray has degrees in art therapy, psychology and theology. As a psychologist, he is able to present art therapy practices in an evidence-based context which further facilitates a well-founded and comprehensible training program. He leads the field in art therapy with his unique integration of psychological techniques and spiritual practices. Robert is the founder and director of the College for Educational and Clinical Art Therapy. While he devotes his primary focus and energy to CECAT, as a sought-after speaker, Rob accepts select invitations to teach art therapy across Australia and around the world. For instance, he used to lecture on art therapy in a two-year full-time master’s degree. Robert is also the author of the book Art Therapy and Psychology.
Shima Sadeghi
Shima Sadeghi is a registered Licensed Marriage and Family Art Therapist working as a Child and Adolescent Counsellor at STARTTS. With a trauma-informed approach, Shima has worked extensively with children, adolescents, and their families from diverse cultural backgrounds, supporting their healing journeys through creative expression. She has experience working with teenagers who have experienced trauma in Nicaragua and has facilitated art therapy groups for Vietnam War veterans in the USA. Additionally, she has worked with children facing moderate to severe mental health challenges, using art therapy for assessment and therapeutic intervention to enhance their emotional well-being. Her training and experience allow her to create a contained and expressive space where clients can explore their inner world, process trauma, and build resilience through creativity.
Jorge Aroche
Jorge Aroche is a clinical psychologist and STARTTS’ Chief Executive Officer. Jorge was born in Uruguay and has worked with migrants and refugee survivors of torture and organized violence since before 1989, when he joined STARTTS. He has led the organization since March 1997, through some of the most challenging times for refugee services in Australia, helping STARTTS grow from a dozen staff to more than 200, assuming a truly state-wide role and becoming a world leader in this field in the process, while continuing to learn from its clients, its culturally diverse staff and the latest scientific advances. Jorge has also held a number of honorary positions in international humanitarian organizations, Australia government advisory bodies and NGO boards. He was the President of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) from 2016 until November 2020.
Who should attend?
This free live webinar is open to anyone interested, but particularly counsellors, psychologists, social workers and psychotherapists. PDFs of the slides and a certificate of completion will be emailed to you the day after the event.
CPD points – 1.5 CPD hours
This webinar adheres to the continuing professional development standards of most professional bodies. Please check the CPD policy of your professional body.
Clinical Master Classes are recorded
This event will be recorded. The recordings and slides of many of STARTTS’ previous Clinical Master Classes can be viewed for free via the Free Recorded Webinars page. The slides can be downloaded and you can issue yourself with a certificate of completion after viewing the recordings.
Contact us
stts-training@health.nsw.gov.au
(02) 9646 6700 Ask for the Training Administration Officer