Upon request, I offer workshops and presentations on pottery and Art and the Healing Process.

Pottery:

Art and the Healing Process:

When I am asked to do Art and the Healing Process workshops and/or presentations, I talk about the use of the arts as a way to process "life's journeys". I talk about the use of symbols and images and how they affect the immune system -- i.e., our emotions can sometimes help and sometimes hinder the effectiveness of how the immune system responds to stimuli.

In our traditional ways, there were collective social reinforcements in our families and communities that recognized the importance of celebrating the changes/cycles of life with rites of passage -- these were times of giving of self, being given instructions on how to conduct oneself, and the ultimate responsibility to community.

Today, most of these rites of passages are either forgotten or not celebrated, and in my humble opinion, have created a disconnect from "self" and the continuing rhythms of the natural world and the social cohesion of tribal traditions based on living in that landscape for thousands of years.

I work with Native American youth and people of all ages, race, gender, and class on issues of psychic and historic trauma -- loss and alientation from self. I find it easiest to work with them through the arts -- arts in the larger context of ceremony (theatre at its best), storytelling, poetry, dance song, as well as the visual arts. Working with the arts, doing hands-on projects, learning the discipline, talking and sharing of stories, gives those involved a way to process their issues, whether personal or collective.