An apt title for the potential personal experience this global pandemic has encouraged. Two days after it was announced that gatherings of 50 or more people needed to be postponed, and that public schools in New Mexico would be closed until April 6th (now that has been extended through the end of the school year),…
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Hello! My name is Beth Lykins, and I am a current student at SWC. I am starting my final quarter of my first year in the Art Therapy and Counseling program, and I wanted to share a student’s perspective of life at SWC. I am attending part-time, so I generally take two courses per term.…
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We are asked to look within ourselves in our first few classes here at SWC. This process varies from person to person. For me, it has been an incredible opportunity to work on some issues I had thought were already worked through. It only goes to prove the cyclical nature of self-exploration and personal growth.…
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by Debbie Schroder
Program Chair for Art Therapy/Counseling Program
It doesn’t really surprise me that as we approach the eighth week of the quarter, I’m finally able to spend a little time putting together an image that contains mandalas created by incoming art therapy students, during orientation. The quarter has been full – of teaching…
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I'll start with an ending. One Art Therapy Techniques class in 2014 ended with each member of the group creating an altar of the art that was made during the quarter. We made Mandalas every class, as well as masks, body tracings, finger painting, inner guides and characters, and containers. In that class, I made…
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What is a Container?
There are so many types of containers, a person, place, or thing that holds. Many images come to mind: a milk carton, hands, shoes, a home, a room, a box, a nest, my heart, a chair, a mouth, a closet… Many sensations come to body: warmth, safety, fear, constriction, flee,…
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by Debbie Schroder
I have a song stuck in my head. I think it’s staying stuck because we’ve entered a new year and part of the lyrics are “How am I gonna be an optimist about this?” The song is called “Pompeii”, by Bastille.
This quirky song’s melody sounds pretty upbeat but the lyrics really appeal…
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by Debbie Schroder (2013)
The Wild Heart Gallery in the art therapy building is simply exploding with color! The show, entitled “The Hands That Guide” was hung this week and is a delightful mix of art created by faculty and staff at Southwestern College.
I’m always aware,…
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My 2013 section of Current Trends in Art Therapy's Journey Shoes! Check out the directional video on Vimeo, which was used in Art Therapy Alliance's Six Degrees of Creativity 2.
The students seemed to enjoy the process of recreating the shoes that they brought in to class. Some brought old shoes, uncomfortable shoes, shoes with…
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by Debbie Schroder
The idea seems simple, initially. When making a Genogram (kind of a family tree) use an image instead of a square or circle (how Genograms are usually done).
Each week in my Family Art Therapy course, one or two students shared their art-based Genograms. Never doubting our…
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Shadow Boxes created in my section of Current Trends in Art Therapy, Winter 2013.
After exploring a population that students have a form of resistance to working with (from lack of information to disinterest, to strong opposition) through a research and reflection paper, they were asked to look at how their resistance is a part…
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Painting by Laura Lansrud-Lopez, M.S., M.A., LPCC, LPAT, ATR-BC, ATCS, ACS
Words by Deborah John, Ph.D., ATR-BC, LPAT
I wrote this poem to explain the way that I experience all art forms as deeply connected.
The Arts
connect and move the soul
to places we long to be.
Ultra-blue or grape-dark sky
Drifting…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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by Deb Schroder
As we prepare for the beginning of a new academic year, I take inventory of our art supplies and start compiling lists of what needs to be ordered. From teaching and making art in the large art therapy classroom I became aware this summer, of the scarcity of the color black. Black…
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An Art-Based Ritual
by Deb Schroder
Artwork created by Magdalena Karlick
A summer ritual in the art therapy program has begun again. We’ve started our annual “Portfolio Review” process which is a part of the transition for first year students who are ready to begin second year in the fall.
Deborah John and I will…
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Southwestern College Santa Fe, NM