MUD
On my elbows and knees,
trudging through thick mud.
Cut up, alone, and enveloped in darkness,
yet there is something delicious about the taste of this earth.
I chew it: its salty crunch cleans my mouth.
I pour it over me: it is thick and wet, and gives me a coat of warmth.
I…
Continue reading
by Amy Hautman Bates
My first quarter at SWC has introduced me to what seems like a million new healing practices. One I find particularly interesting is Psychodrama. It is believed that acting out physically frees us from barriers and allows us to act spontaneously in the here and now. I like drama and I…
Continue reading
by Debbie Schroder
A few months ago I wrote about the importance of words. Today I’m having trouble finding the right ones to describe my experience in supervision this quarter. Not wanting to add to the old myth that art therapists don’t talk, I’ll try to summon some words to express what I’m very aware…
Continue reading
Reflection Option #3: A Letter to My Teacher--By Colleen Dougherty
Dr. Carol Parker, Ph.D, LPCC
Southwestern College, Santa Fe, NM
Dec. 3, 2012
Dear Carol,
I am writing to tell you about my experiences so far in the AmeriCorps program called OARS-Opportunities in AmeriCorps for Re-entry Success. This program exists in four of New…
Continue reading
My Journey With My Ally Plant, by Dr. Carol Parker
About 10 years ago while leading one of my first Wilderness Fast ceremonies in a remote location in Death Valley, I was shocked when a young woman named Ricki returned from her solo site laden with three-foot long stalks of Wild Tobacco. I had no…
Continue reading
My Life in in 5 Chapters
a poem by Portia Nelson
Chapter I
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk
I fall in.
I am lost ... I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.
Chapter II
I walk down the…
Continue reading
by Magdalena Karlick
I delved into this rag rug project at the beginning of the summer, wanting to recycle old, ill-fitting, and stained clothing to make a rug for my son’s new room. I imagined a place where he could sit comfortably while looking at his books or playing with his toy animals.
Here are…
Continue reading
Materials: Markers, Colored Paper, Scissors, and Glue
These days, most presents for family and friends are family creative efforts; Mama and Judah (2 1/2 years old) taking lead. My folks and my brother are all Scorpios, with their birthdays within two weeks of each other. This year we made a collage with spontaneous scribbles, hand…
Continue reading
Being a new student in SWC is a rewarding, challenging, and startling experience all around. I clearly remember the expectations I had for myself and the school when I landed in Santa fe, NM.
Before starting my journey in SWC I had been in four different colleges and universities studying biology, chemistry, humanities and genetics.…
Continue reading
What is healing? by Andrea Mitchell
What is healing? I was asked that question on the first morning of my first class. Actually I was asked to make artwork that represented healing to me. I made a medicine wheel, it was the first thing that came into my conscious, and I have learnt to…
Continue reading
Light Figures and Consciousness: At the Core of Southwestern College's Curriculum (Santa Fe)
by Katherine Ninos, developer of the Psychology of Consciousness Sequence
As you all know, Southwestern College’s mission statement reads “Transforming Consciousness through Education.” Consciousness has always been at the center of our curriculum; indeed, our two quarter sequence “Psychology of Consciousness” constitutes…
Continue reading
Perhaps you can relate to the state in which I found myself a few days ago—heart tight, body tense, mind churning, going over and over events from the far and recent past and in a useless but unyielding manner. I find myself in such a state fairly often, probably due to the fact that I…
Continue reading
by Amy Hautman Bates
Artist's Block "Who is an artist when she is not making art?"
(This is a doodle, not a painting.)
In September, my partner and I packed everything we owned to move from the Southeast to the Southwest. It was very cathartic to consider everything we had and decide if and why…
Continue reading
Psychopathology (and seeking Authenticity) In the Chama River Canyon
About to embark upon a day alone with Mother Earth, my Psychopathology class and I ceremonially share our hopes and thoughts before surrendering to what She has to give (or take from) us. At this point, I am well-adjusted to the process of intention-setting, and yet…
Continue reading
The staff at Southwestern Counseling Center works very hard, so at our last staff meeting we decided to arrange a ceremony to call in some extra support and prayers for ourselves. Luckily, Carol Parker agreed to facilitate an authentic Peruvian ritual, more accurately, a "Becoming Despacho". Despacho translates into "dispatch," so here we are collecting…
Continue reading
They say “you are what you eat” and I believe this. I believe that I consist of much of what I consume. I consume veggies…gratitude….beans….prayer…bread…self acceptance…chocolate….silence….tofu….turmoil…chips….friendships….rice…and more. I consume what is said on the TV news at night…what I read in books before I sleep…what is said in my office and in business meetings…what I…
Continue reading
Amy Hautman Bates, first year Art Therapy/Counseling student on her transition from Artist to Art Therapist
http://artforwellness.wordpress.com/2012/10/11/australian-aborigines-and-art-therapy/?preview=true&preview_id=53&preview_nonce=cecf41a352
I started this blog intending to write about the creative art's health and healing potential. Having been around art all my life, I thought I knew a lot about Art Therapy. But the more I read, the…
Continue reading
It was a vision.
On the rising from sleep one idle morning, the young 25-year-old girl experienced something out of this world; the girl saw clearly before her, her future. At 25, the girl had spent most of her twenties up to that point confused and searching for answers, directions and guidance. It came when…
Continue reading
by Deb Schroder
On a beautiful October Saturday, eight of us who teach in the Art Therapy Program gathered to share ideas, concerns and breakfast. I feel like I just want to say out loud that we have amazing, passionate teachers here!
I’m also going to say something else out loud in order to hold…
Continue reading
Why Putting Things In Boxes Doesn’t Make You a Wimp
by Laura Bailey, Student at Southwestern College
There’s nowhere in the world quite like Southwestern College; that’s just scientific fact. The students who attend Southwestern are striving for authenticity and conscious transformation, and the faculty and staff of this institution are striving even harder to…
Continue reading
Where Should You Go To Grad School for Counseling or Art Therapy?
By Allegra Borghese, written during her first year as an Art Therapy/Counseling student
1. CLASSROOM SIZE.
The number of students in an average class at Southwestern College is less than 15, with the range being from about 8-20 students per class, and fewer for Practicum…
Continue reading
Capstone Project: Artist Statement
Suzanne Otter, Fall 2012
Making art as a way to work through complex personal issues was helpful to me during the many years I worked as an organizational development consultant. I continued this “self-art therapy” during my formal study of art therapy and counseling at Southwestern College. The image-making and journaling…
Continue reading
Seren Morris talks about puppet-making as an art therapy technique.…
Continue reading
Chris Chappell shares the intimate details of his clinical work at Solace Crisis Treatment Center...
I am working 32 hours a week as a bilingual clinician at Solace Crisis Treatment Center in Santa Fe. I am for the most part loving the work. I am now seeing up to 11 clients and I do…
Continue reading
Southwestern College Santa Fe, NM