Saturday, October 10th, 2026
Opening: welcome, Acknowledgments and House-Keeping
9:00 - 9:30 AM
“Beyond Aphasia: Reclaiming Identity and Well-Being Without Words Through Art Therapy”
10:00 - 11:30 AM | 1.5 CE Credit - LPC, NBCC
Cindy Concannon, ATR-BC, LPAT, LPC, NCC
Angel Aguilar, Intern Clinician
People living with aphasia are often an invisible population within mental health care—frequently excluded from research, underrepresented in clinical training, and at times turned away from services due to communication barriers. Aphasia is a language disorder caused by brain injury that can affect speaking, understanding, reading, and writing. Importantly, aphasia does not impact intellect. Individuals with aphasia continue to think, feel, form relationships, make decisions, and maintain a sense of identity; they may simply have difficulty expressing these experiences through language. Art therapy supports communication beyond spoken and written language.
This presentation introduces an open studio model that allows individuals with aphasia to explore ideas, interests, and identity through creative expression in a supportive environment. It also examines how art-making can foster a visual language for self-expression, advocacy, and connection. In addition, the presentation will explore how open studio groups can extend into the community through public exhibitions, creating opportunities for visibility, recognition, and reconnection with family, friends, and the broader public. Finally, it will address the role of individual art therapy in assessing and supporting anxiety, depression, grief, and loss through adapted, nonverbal approaches.
Attendees will learn:
A clear definition of aphasia as a language disorder caused by brain injury, and an understanding that it does not affect intellect.
How and why people living with aphasia are often excluded from mental health research, training, and services, The prevalence and impact of aphasia, including the estimated 70,000 individuals living with aphasia in New Jersey, 2 Million in the US.
How communication barriers contribute to unrecognized or untreated anxiety, depression, grief, and social isolation.
The principles and benefits of an open studio art therapy model for people with aphasia.
How art-making can support identity expression, communication, and advocacy through visual language.
The role of community-based art exhibitions in fostering connection, visibility, and social reintegration.
How individual art therapy can be used to assess and support anxiety, depression, grief, and loss using adapted, nonverbal approaches.
“Experiencing GlassRoots”
Michelle Knox
9:30 - 10:00 AM
Morning Session | 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
“Self-Defined: The Performance of Hip-Hop Persona”
10:00 - 11:30 AM | 1.5 CE Credit - RDT/BCT, LCAT
Purple S. Norris
Adam Stevens, MA, LCAT, RDT/BCT
While live performance, recorded music, and music videos are widely recognized as artistic creations, the construction of a persona is a subtler, everyday performance for most musical practitioners. Within hip-hop culture, emcees, DJs, producers, and other performers intentionally develop a performance identity that is actively disseminated through interviews, stage presence, branding, fashion, and daily lifestyle choices. While persona is vital across the performing arts, it holds a uniquely profound significance for hip-hop practitioners.
This interactive workshop will explore the dynamic relationship between hip-hop persona development, identity (re)definition, and self-actualization. Specifically, participants will explore how practitioners leverage persona as a dynamic tool for creative expression, a foundation for identity transformation, and a vital strategy for self-protection. Rather than a passive lecture, this session utilizes a participatory framework to explore "thick" and "thin" personas. Grounding the theory is a compelling case study from “The Performance of Hip-Hop Persona: Mitigating Crisis of/with Intersections of Identity”, co-authored by Purple and Dr. Tyler Bunzey, of how hip-hop practitioner Purple Haze uses the intentional process of renaming to interrogate and represent her identity transformation as a Black queer woman from the Bronx navigating Newark. Through this localized lens, attendees will move beyond passive observation to actively map how persona operates as a living text of resilience.
“Strengthening Resources Through the Integration of Music and Drama Therapies With Psychodrama”
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM | 3 CE Credit - RDT/BCT, LCAT, NBCC, MMT, LCAT, MT-BC, TEP
Barbara McKechnie, LCAT, LPC, RDT/BCT, RPT, TEP
Amy Clarkson, MMT, LCAT, MT-BC, TEP
Psychodrama collapses time and space so that we can experience the past or future in the present moment where we have the power to create or recreate our story. In this workshop, we will engage participants in exercises that catalyze spontaneity and creativity, inviting the embodiment of resources through musical expression, movement and role exploration. By enacting and reclaiming sources of support, we expand our sense of self, strengthen healthy connections with others, and we feel empowered to live our lives more fully and courageously.
“Moving in Sync: How Drama Therapy and Dance/Movement Therapy Foster Collective Healing”
11:45 AM - 1:15 PM | 1.5 CE Credit - RDT/LCAT
Daisy (Anqi) Cai, MA, LCAT-LP, P-RDT
Aarya Singh, MA, LCAT-LP
Ta Wei Chen (陳大為) MA, LCAT, RDT
This experiential presentation is facilitated by a drama therapist and a dance/movement therapist who developed this collaborative approach while working together in inpatient psychiatry. This presentation focuses on the exploration of movement syncopation in dance/movement therapy and the drama therapy core process of dramatic projection and intentional witnessing as agents of change, introspection, and interpersonal connection. Through an action-based directive and facilitated dialogue, participants will discover how moving together can reveal collective stories, foster deeper connection, and illuminate pathways for collaboration and transformation within the creative arts therapy community. Together, we invite participants to consider how accessible, embodied practices can foster mutual support and collective healing in times of uncertainty.
15 minute Break | 11:30 AM - 11:45 AM
Throughout Newark, NJ and other urban areas, community gardens have emerged as hubs for addressing food insecurity, increasing public green spaces, and building community among neighbors. As grassroots initiatives, many community gardens have been created by residents seeking to increase access to healthy foods and to reduce crime and blight on their block. By incorporating creative arts and therapeutic practices, community gardens can become catalysts for healing and social transformation. In this session, I will present various examples of how sketching, storytelling, murals, installations, and collaborations with local artists and organizations have fostered community engagement, resiliency and empowerment. As participants of creative art activities engage in self-expression and beautification of their community, the realization of their capacity to effect change in their environment can arise. Just like the cycles of growth from seed, to seedling, to blossom to fruits and finally compost are observed in the gardens, so are participants engaged in their own cycles of growth, strengthening roots and building networks of inter-connection that can be expressed and examined through the creative arts.
“Growing Together: Strengthening Communities through Creative Arts and Rhythm in Community Gardens”
11:45 AM - 1:15 PM
Roxana Marroquin, MS
Alyssa Muniz
Lunch Break | 1:15 - 2:15 PM
Afternoon Session | 2:15 PM - 5:15 PM
“"Creative Arts Perspectives on Working with Families Experiencing Domestic Violence”
2:15 PM - 3:45 PM | 1.5 CE Credit - MT, RDT, ATR-BC, LPAT
Presenters Maria Caruso, ATR-BC LPAT,
Olivia Corveleyn, MT-BC
Lillian Ribeiro, MA, RDT/BCT
Participants will move through the experience of a person navigating an abusive relationship through embodiment of a character using role-play, while making choices and encountering the barriers that can influence a survivor’s path toward safety. Through interdisciplinary creative exploration using drama, music, art, and facilitated reflection, participants will develop a greater understanding of the impact on families experiencing domestic violence, examine the complexities of power and control, gain insight into valuable resources for survivors, and identify trauma-informed approaches for supporting individuals experiencing domestic violence.
“Grieving in Community”
2:15 PM - 3:45 PM | 1.5 CE Credit - RDT
Janelle Zapata Castellano, MA
Sheryl Machlowitz, MA, RDT
This workshop explores grief and how to allow grief to exist in community through applied theatre techniques. Participants will be asked to reframe grief through an expansionist and communal lens, turning a heavy load into one that many people carry. We will use writing, poetry, and community conversation to give participants tools for group and community settings.
“Therapeutic Ritual Processes”
2:15 PM - 5:15 PM PM | 3 CE Credit - REAT, RDT
Maude Davis, PhD(c), RDT, REAT
Ornela Kapetani, MA, RDT
This workshop introduces Therapeutic Ritual Processes —a new ritual-based dramatherapy method associated with the process of becoming. Utilizing the metaphor of being pregnant with yourself. Expanding beyond the linear Hero's Journey framework—which is dominant in therapeutic theatre interventions—the approach intentionally preserves the concept of a journey of transformation. The method is for people who identify with a feminine transformation process and proposes a cyclical, gestational model. Extending Moreno’s model of group psychotherapy, this methodology creates space for the self to birth its authentic expression. At present the process is guided by the questions: What part of you is still forming? How do you trust your inner knowing when you have no words? What prompts you to take a risk? What fears emerge when you are in the space of becoming? What gives you energy and strength? When are you wild?
15 minute Break | 3:45 PM - 4:00 PM
“Roleplaying for Real Life - Improvisational Theatre As An Agent of Social Change”
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM | 1.5 CE Credit - RDT
Ellen Williams, MS
Lillian Ribeiro, MA, RDT/BCT
Youth are daily confronted with life situations requiring that they demonstrate critical thinking, ethical values, and positive interpersonal communication. In "Roleplaying for Real Life", youth are trained to develop improvisational theatre performances around issues impacting adolescents (e.g., discrimination, substance abuse, bullying, etc.). Through roleplaying scenarios dramatizing these issues, youth develop the ability to make constructive real life choices. Workshop presenter is Ellen Williams, author of "Roleplaying for Real Life", Associate Professor, Expressive Arts 4-H Agent, Rutgers University.
“Have You Seen the Bridge? Music as a Path to Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication”
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM | 1.5 CE Credit - MT
Nicky Unverricht, MT-BC
"Music is a bridge to communication." This presentation introduces the idea that in music therapy, music is a "bridge" for verbal and non verbal communication. The use of rhythm, pitch, improvisation and more enhance the interaction between client and therapist, giving sound to what otherwise may not be heard. Participants will explore this sentiment in detailed slides as well as engage in active music making with provided instruments, providing them with education in music therapy practice as well as tools for life enrichment.
15 minute Break | 5:30 PM - 5:45 PM
“What's Your Hairstory? A Creative Exploration of Identity, Self-Expression, and Confidence Through Hair, Storytelling, and Play”
5:45 AM - 7:15 PM | 1.5 CE Credit - RDT
Alayna Hester, LCAT, RDT
Grounded in Adam Stevens’ Black American Role Taxonomy and Robert Landy’s Role Theory and Method, this presentation explores the complex, intimate, and evolving relationship between hair autonomy and identity, particularly within Black communities. By examining the roles individuals embody when their hairstyles change, we investigate how aesthetics, especially hair, can both reveal and shape aspects of the self. This workshop invites participants to explore questions such as: Who are we when our hair changes? What roles emerge, and how do they align or contrast with our internalized identities? Drawing upon drama therapy techniques including role and character exploration, participants will reflect on how shifts in hair expression can impact self-worth, self-confidence, and personal agency. This presentation centers Black women and non-binary individuals while offering clinicians tools for culturally responsive and identity-affirming care.
Evening Session | 5:45 AM - 7:15 PM
“Embodied Archetypes: Mini Mannequins and Collage as Social Justice Tools for Identity and Body Reclamation”
5:45 AM - 7:15 PM | 1.5 CE Credit - ATR
Wednesdae Reim Ifrach, PhD, REAT, ATR-BC, ATCS, LPC, NCC, CLAT, RMT
Societal narratives surrounding body image often strip individuals of agency, imposing rigid cultural standards that disempower identity development and internalize systemic stigma. This experiential presentation explores how combining Jungian archetypal collage with 3D mini mannequin alterations serves as a radical, social justice–informed response to body oppression. Participants will explore how clients externalize systemic body biases by first mapping their internal archetypal narrative (e.g., The Hero, The Shadow, The Sovereign, The Rebel) through multi-layered collage. That narrative is then given tactile form on mini mannequins—subverting a commercialized symbol of objectification into a personalized vessel of purpose, resilience, and body reclamation. Designed to foster interdisciplinary connection across art, drama, and expressive arts therapies, this session equips practitioners with actionable frameworks to help clients reframe societal expectations, cultivate bodily autonomy, and step authentically into their purpose.
Pediatric intensive care can be an overwhelming experience for children and families, often involving medical uncertainty, unfamiliar environments, separation from typical routines, and significant emotional and developmental stress. Within this complex setting, music therapists and child life specialists offer distinct yet complementary approaches to supporting children and families. This presentation will explore the collaborative practice of a music therapist and child life specialist working together withing a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). Through clinical examples and discussion of interdisciplinary practice, presenters will demonstrate hoe music therapy and child life interventions can be intentionally coordinated to address the emotional, developmental, psychosocial, and coping needs of pediatric patients and their families. Particular attention will be given to identifying opportunities for collaboration while maintaining clear professional roles, scopes of practice, and discipline specific competencies. The presentation will emphasize that effective interdisciplinary practice does not require disciplines to preform the same work; rather, it allows professionals to integrate their distinct expertise to provide more comprehensive, family-centered care. Ultimately, this presentation seeks to demonstrate how intentional collaboration between music therapy and child life can strengthen psychosocial support for children and families experiencing critical illness while preserving the unique identify and scope of each profession.
“Distinct Disciplines, Shared Care: Interdisciplinary Collaboration Between Music Therapy and Child Life in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit”
5:45 AM - 7:15 PM | 1.5 CE Credit - MT
Eden Medina, MS, LCAT, MT-BC
Hailey DeStacio, CLS - Northwell - Child Life Specialist Engaging Group