• To offer presentations and experiential activities that immerse participants in arts-based practices that support expression, healing and the building of resilience.
•  To showcase how creative expression can be used by individuals and communities in conflict and crisis situations.
• To create a platform for dialogue and exchange.

Introduction and Overview 

Welcome and framing the importance of the uses of the arts in crisis situations.

Presentation and experiential engagement by presenters in arts -based approaches used in crisis-affected areas, illustrating the tangible impact on individuals and groups, of creative practices used towards support, healing and the building of individual and community resilience.

Closing Remarks and Next Steps 

Summary of key takeaways and a discussion on how participants can continue integrating arts-based methods into their work, along with potential opportunities for further collaboration.

• Creative arts therapists, educators, community workers and researchers.
• Professionals in trauma recovery, conflict resolution, humanitarian aid, and community development.
• Artists, cultural workers, and others interested in arts-based approaches to crisis intervention.

• Participants will gain an understanding of some practical tools and strategies for using the arts to address trauma and build towards resilience in communities affected by disaster and conflict.
• Increased understanding of how creative expression can foster expression, understanding, empathy and opportunities for healing in crisis situations.
• Opportunities for continued dialogue and global collaborations on using the arts to address social and emotional support needs and recovery in times of crisis, conflict and displacement.

This 2-hour webinar will allow participants to engage deeply with the healing potential of the arts and explore some practical applications. We are excited about the possibility of collaborating with IACAET to bring this important work to a global audience.

Dr. Vivien Marcow Speiser

Vivien Marcow Speiser, PhD LMHC, REAT, BC-DMT, is professor emerita and co-director of the Institute for Arts and Health in the Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences, Lesley University. Marcow Speiser has directed and taught in programs across the United States and internationally and has used the arts as a way of communicating across borders and across cultures. She believes in the power of the arts to create the conditions for personal and social change and transformation. Her interests and expertise are in the areas of working with trauma and cross-cultural conflict resolution through the arts and she has worked extensively with groups in the Middle East and in South Africa. She is a Fulbright Scholar (1920,23 and 24) and had a Salzburg Global Seminars Fellowship in 2020. She received an honorary JAAH Lifetime Achievement in Arts and Health Award in 2019, the 2014 Distinguished Fellows Award from the Global Alliance for Arts and Health, as well a 2015 Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award from theIsraeli Expressive and Creative Arts Therapy Association.

Dr. Phillip Speiser

Phillip Speiser, PhD, REAT, RDT/BC, is an artist, expressive arts educator/therapist, drama therapist, and psychodramatist who has developed integrated arts therapy, wellness/health and educational programs for over four decades. He is currently Director of Parkside Arts and Health Associates in Haymarket, Virginia where he does supervision and project development/management around the globe. He is also a research associate

at the University of the Witwatersrand and a lecturer at the art therapy program at the University of Johannesburg. After the tragic events of 9/11 he developed the Healing Arts Project, a trauma recovery/prevention program in Boston and New York City.

Dr. Tony Zhou

Dr. Tony Zhou holds a doctoral degree in biomedicine and has been working and living in China and Europe for many years. He is the Co-Founder and CEO of Inspirees Education Group​ (Netherlands/China). Though trained as a scientist, he has been greatly intrigued by modern dance and dance therapy since 2002 and has played an important role in driving the development of dance therapy and creative arts therapies in China. Dr. Zhou serves on an international advisory board for the journal Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy​. He founded Inspirees Institute and Creative Arts Education and Therapy (CAET) – Eastern and Western Perspectives​, the international open access journal. He is also a certified movement analyst (CMA) trained by LIMS​ in New York. Dr. Zhou is the team leader for the Chinese Group of Arts Therapy, Chinese Psychological Society, Guest Professor of Beijing Normal University, Chinese Central Academy of Fine Arts, Co-founder and core member of the World Alliance of Dance Movement Therapy (WADMT). He is the founding member and CEO of the International Association of Creative Arts in Education and Therapy (IACAET)​.

1. Dr. Paul N. Animbom, PhD, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Performing and Visual Arts at The University of Bamenda, Cameroon
2. Dr. Kim Berman, PhD, Professor in Visual Art and founding director of the art therapy program at University of Johannesburg (South Africa)
3. Dr. Krystal Leah Demaine, PhD, Professor of Expressive Therapies, Endicott College, (USA)
4. Dr. Rainbow T.H. HO, PhD, Professor and Director of the Center on Behavioral Health, Hong Kong University, China
5. Dr. Jun Hu, PhD, Dean of A/r/tography Research Center, Hangzhou Normal Univ, (China)
6. Dr. Debra Kalmanowitz, PhD, Head of the Art Therapy programme, Sapir Academic College (Israel))
7. Dr. Michal Lev, PhD, Faculty Lecturer at the graduate art therapy program at Ono Academic College (Israel)
8. Dr. Vivien Marcow Speiser, PhD, Professor Emerita Lesley University USA, and Distinguished Research Associate, University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa) 
9. Nsamu Moonga MMT, Music Therapy Doctoral Candidate, at the University of Pretoria (South Africa), and music therapist from Zambia.
10. Nathalie Robelot-Timtchenko, MA, founder and director First Aid of the Soul (Ukraine & US)
11. Dr. Raymond Saner PhD, titular professor Department of Economics and Management Basle University & co-founder of Centre for Socio-Eco-Nomic Development CSEND, Geneva
12. Dr. Lichia Saner Yiu PhD, President and Co-Founder, Centre for Socio-Eco-Nomic Development CSEND, Geneva Switzerland
13. Dr Ilene A. Serlin, PhD, Associated Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, USA
14. Dr. Celeste Nazeli Snowber, PhD, Professor of Education at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada 
15. Dr. Phillip Speiser, PhD, Research Associate, University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa 
16. Dr. Petro Janse van Vuuren, PhD, Head of Drama for Life Department, at the University of the Witwatersrand South Africa 
17. Dr. Rebecca Zarate, Professor of Arts and Health, and Associate Dean for Research at the College of Fine Arts, the University of Utah USA
18. Dr. Tony Zhou PhD, Co-Founder and CEO of Inspirees Education Group

Members of IACAET will:

• Receive access to all of our webinars wherever possible
• Gain access to a remarkable network of artists, arts therapist and educators
• Be invited to join colleagues in working towards the advancement of our fields
• Know that you are supporting the advancement of our field across the globe

Find membership details at:

https://www.iacaet.org/iacaet-membership/