“How can I feel grateful for my joy and embrace my joy and allow myself to have that joy—
but then put that joy and that love into action?”

Elliot Page, Vanity Fair interview, 2021

IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

Art Therapy to Address Gender Social Skills for Autistic Adolescents presented by Sam Jesner, MA in Art Therapy

The presenter will outline a case study addressing the question, how does an art therapy group focused on gender social skills affect confidence in autistic adolescents’ ability to navigate gender? The researcher designed a six-week art therapy group protocol, with initial sessions focusing on gender education while later sessions addressing the individual’s gender.  This project is a continuation of Jesner (2022), a literature review on the intersection of neurodivergence and being transgender, which provided treatment recommendations to healthcare professionals working with either population based on identified gaps. This presentation describes the findings from this case study which includes the intersection of masking and being closeted, a primary concern for transgender autistic adolescents, and ways to conduct effective psychotherapy such as differences in telehealth versus in-person art therapy and the limits of exploring social norms in individual therapy. 

Conducting the Rising of Rainbow Adolescence – A Case Study on an Art Therapy Group for Queer-Identifying High School Students in Johannesburg presented by Kamal Naran, MA
The presenter will outline a group art therapy intervention that was run in a high school setting in Johannesburg, South Africa for queer-identifying students. The presentation covers the implicit and explicit challenges faced by the students in their school environment which included resistance from some staff and parental concerns. The program was steadfast in its mission to create a nurturing sanctuary within the school environment and will discuss the importance of creating safe spaces for queer youth in the school setting. The presentation will further explore how participants utilized art therapy techniques to navigate and express complex emotions, fuel creativity, foster resilience and forge supportive bonds and touch on the art therapist's role in fostering resilience through presenting their self-reflections around navigating power dynamics and self-disclosure.

Coping with Desperation presented by Rue Fine, MPS Art Therapy

With approximately 2.6 million people in the United states identifying as transgender, with 1.2 million within that population as non-binary, gender affirmative care is a growing necessity across the country. Due to barriers such as legality, financial assistance, and lack of accessibility, it has become harder and harder for these individuals to receive their care. Through an art-based self-study, this research aims to target and treat the distress associated with delays in gender affirmative healthcare. Photographic self-portraiture and humanistic theoretical approaches were taken to focus on the here-and-now and stay in the present during these delays. With the implications of further research being done, this study concluded that this intervention effectively alleviated the distress associated with lack of and delays in gender affirmative care. 

Paper Marbling, Drawing, and Resilience! presented by Michelle (Shell) Ku, Art Therapy and Counseling Graduate Student

The presenter will share their processes and research involving paper marbling and drawing as the mediums can be used to facilitate and mimic resilience. The paper marbling/ drawing process can provide access to the unconscious, a flow state, and even joy! Following the presentation, participants will be able to identify the current known origins of paper marbling, gain an understanding for how paper marbling and drawing can be used to access new reflections, awareness, and sensations, and get inspired for how this process could be used specifically with LGBTQIA+ individuals.  

Supporting Transgender/Gender Diverse Identity Development Through Embodied Exploration of Gender Euphoria, Joy, and Resilience in Dance/Movement Therapy presented by Rey Cianciotto, MS, R-DMT

This presentation will consist of a lecture on the importance of incorporating exploration of gender euphoria, joy, and resilience into therapeutic work with transgender/gender diverse individuals, based on the presenter's graduate thesis research. The creative arts modality of focus will be dance/movement therapy as an embodied method of exploring these themes in support of transgender/gender diverse identity development. The lecture will be followed by a dance/movement therapy-based experiential, inviting participants to explore the embodiment of these themes in their own lives. Room for discussion will be left at the end of the presentation to allow participants to process their experiences of the experiential and consider how they might center gender euphoria, joy, and resilience in their own therapeutic work with transgender/gender diverse individuals.