The Roots & Future of Child Dance/Movement Therapy 21th Early Childhood Forum: Renewing and Growing Internationally

Date & Time:

Sunday, October 27, 2024

8:30 AM- 11:30 AM

Location:

Palmer House Hotel

17 Monroe Street

Chicago, IL 60603

USA

Course Description:

In its 21th year, this forum explores DMT with children and families. It is the 5th year concentrating on tracing the international roots and evolution of DMT with this demographic. Aligning with the conference theme, the panel presents their adaptation, integration, renewal and innovation, inspired by an international DMT post-graduate training, developed by an early innovator in the field. Through discussion, case studies and experientials, participants explore how DMT in eastern European countries, South America, and the USA are advancing the field of DMT for children with learning differences, ADHD, neurodiversity and in a pediatric palliative care residential setting. (26-50% Movement; All Levels)

Learning Objectives

TBA

About the Instructors

Dr. Suzi Tortora, Ed.D, LCAT, BC-DMT, CMA, NCC, LMHC has a private practice in Cold Spring, NY and NYC, specializing in parentinfant/child/ family therapy; trauma; medical illness; International Medical Creative Arts Spokesperson for the Andréa Rizzo Foundation; 2003 created and currently senior DMT for pediatric patients at Integrative Medicine Service, MSKCC, NYC; received 2010 Marian Chace Distinguished DMT award; holds faculty positions nationally and internationally; offers an International Webinar Training Program; published author: The Dancing Dialogue: Using the communicative Power of Movement with Young Children used extensively in DMT training; and Keren & Tortora-Dance/Movement Therapy for Infants and Young Children with Medical Illness: Treating Somatic and Psychic Distress (2023).

Ashley Ervin, LCAT, BC-DMT

Carolina Mateos, BA, Dance/Movement Therapist Advanced Registry Argentina, Educational Psychologist

Sorina Petrescu, Master Political Science/ DMT Romania

Registration:

https://www.adta.org/annual-conference

Embodied Harmony: Nurturing Ethics in the Dance/Movement Therapy Community through Our Multiple Ways of Knowing (Plenary)

Date & Time:

Saturday, October 26, 2024

10:15 AM- 12:15 PM

Location:

Palmer House Hotel

17 Monroe Street

Chicago, IL 60603

USA

Course Description:

The Standards & Ethics Committee acknowledges that we are struggling as a community with our sense of connectedness and need to become more unified as an organization. The goal of this plenary is to move towards harmony within ourselves and then within the community; the Committee invites participants to attune through diverse embodied conversations and have dialogue among themselves. This shared experience is the first step towards mutual understanding. The Committee aims to co-create an inclusive space to reckon with how diving into unconscious processes can lead to greater ethical awareness. We will invite integrated knowledge from different inner perspectives (i.e., gut-brain, heart-brain) and explore the Embodied Ethical Decision-Making Model through experientials. (26-50% Movement; All Levels)

Learning Objectives

TBA

About the Instructors

Jenn Whitley, M.S., BC-DMT, LCAT, CMA Jenn provides dance/movement therapy for children, parents, and adults at Dancing Dialogue.  She specializes in providing DMT for individuals who have ADHD, anxiety, experienced family separation, eating disorders, learning differences, autism spectrum disorder, medical illness, issues with disruptive behavior, Bipolar Disorder, Parkinson's Disease, trauma, and provides parenting support and grief counseling. Jenn is a board-certified Dance/Movement Therapist (DMT) and Licensed Creative Arts Therapist who received her master’s degree, with honors, in Dance Therapy at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.  She is trained through the Ways of Seeing program at Dancing Dialogue, Certified as a Laban Movement Analyst from the Laban Institute of Movement Studies, is trained in EMDR therapy, and completed training in the discipline of Authentic Movement at The New York Center for the Study of Authentic Movement with Joan Wittig. Jenn is also a Reiki Practitioner (Level II) and trained in Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy (MCP) through MSKCC. She has been a DMT at Dancing Dialogue since 2014 working with children, families, and adults incorporating all aspects her training into the Ways of Seeing psychotherapeutic multi-arts approach. She is certified provider of TeleMental Healthcare from the Telehealth Certification Institute.

Douglas Cornman, MA, BC-DMT

Meg Chang, EdD, BC-DMT, LCAT, NBCC

Lauren Milburn, LMHC, BC-DMT

XaHara MeGod MA, R-DMT, G-RMT, CPT

Registration:

https://www.adta.org/annual-conference

Alligning Somatic Therapies and Dance Education

Saturday, July 20, 2024

5:15- 6:15 PM

Location:

Gibney: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center

53A Chambers Street

New York, NY 10007

Course Description:

TBD.

About the Instructors

Suzi Tortora, EdD, BC-DMT, CMA, LCAT, LMHC has a full-time private practice in Cold Spring, New York and NYC, specializing in parent- infant/child and family therapy; trauma; medical illness; and adult chronic pain. She is the International Medical Creative Arts Spokesperson for the Andréa Rizzo Foundation, having created and continuing to be the senior dance/movement therapist for pediatric patients at Integrative Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, NYC, since 2003. She received the 2010 Marian Chace Distinguished Dance Therapist award from the ADTA. She teaches in Europe, South America, New Zealand, Israel and Asia; holds faculty positions in the USA, The Netherlands, Chech Republic, Argentina and China; offers the Ways of Seeing International Webinar Training Program for dance/movement therapists and allied professionals; has published numerous papers about her work; and her book, The Dancing Dialogue: Using the communicative power of movement with young children is used extensively in dance/movement therapy training programs internationally.

Sandi Stratton-Gonzalez, MA is Manager of the Arnhold Support Program for Dance Educators, offering mentorship, professional learning, and other resources to NYC Public School’s dance educators. Sandi teaches Dance for Children with Disabilities for the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO), is a founding member of the NDEO Dance and Disabilities Advisory Committee and writes curriculum for the P-12 dance classroom for the Dance Education Laboratory (DEL). For over 20 years (1999-2019), Sandi was the Dance Specialist at The Children’s School (PS 372) in Brooklyn, the first fully inclusive public school in the United States. There, she developed a sequential PK -5 curriculum, chaired the Arts Committee, and administered the school’s extensive enrichment programs. Sandi is co-author (with C. Gallant and D. Duggan) of Dance Education for Diverse Learners: A Special Education Supplement to the Dance Blueprint and has been published in Dance: Current Selected Research Volume 7 and Dance Education in Practice. Sandi taught Dance in Elementary Education at Hofstra University (2008-2018) and has mentored countless educators as a Cooperating Teacher for Hofstra and New York University. Prior to working in dance education Sandi was the founding Artistic Director and a Resident Choreographer of Soundance Repertory Company (SRC), 1984 – 1999. 

Registration:

https://www.ndeo.org/somatic2024

How to Integrate Information From the Speech Language Pathologist Into My Work as an Occupational Therapist, Mental Health Practitioner, or Educator or Creative Arts Therapist Break Out Session

Sunday, April 14, 2024

2:10- 3:00 PM

Location:

Online. Zoom link provided to those who register.

Course Description:

Speech Language Pathologists serve an important function when collaborating with professionals from all disciplines. In this breakout session, educators and clinicians will share their experiences and discuss how an understanding of each child’s language challenges can help support their discipline’s work. Participants will be invited to engage in an open dialogue and gain a deeper understanding of the interplay between speech-language therapy and intervention goals in educational and clinical settings.

As a result of this presentation, participants will be able to:

• Explain ways that a Speech Language Pathologist can support development across disciplines. 

• Identify ways that a Speech Language Pathologist can contribute to professionals in other disciplines to understand a child’s regulation/learning abilities.

• Identify ways that a Speech Language Pathologist can support professionals in other disciplines to create meaningful treatment activities through a richer understanding of the child's developmental language profile.

About the Instructors

Suzi Tortora, EdD, BC-DMT, CMA, LCAT, LMHC has a full-time private practice in Cold Spring, New York and NYC, specializing in parent- infant/child and family therapy; trauma; medical illness; and adult chronic pain. She is the International Medical Creative Arts Spokesperson for the Andréa Rizzo Foundation, having created and continuing to be the senior dance/movement therapist for pediatric patients at Integrative Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, NYC, since 2003. She received the 2010 Marian Chace Distinguished Dance Therapist award from the ADTA. She teaches in Europe, South America, New Zealand, Israel and Asia; holds faculty positions in the USA, The Netherlands, Chech Republic, Argentina and China; offers the Ways of Seeing International Webinar Training Program for dance/movement therapists and allied professionals; has published numerous papers about her work; and her book, The Dancing Dialogue: Using the communicative power of movement with young children is used extensively in dance/movement therapy training programs internationally.

Beth Osten, Occupational Therapist

Dr. Michelle Havens, Educator

Diane Selinger, Mental Health Practitoner

Registration:

Register here.

Inter- and Intra-disciplinary care in a Pediatric Integrative Medicine Medical Setting: Combining Knowledge to Best Support Children, Adolescents, Young Adults and their Families

Date & Time:

Saturday, March 23, 2024

2:00 PM- 4:00 PM

Location:

Virtual lecture. Zoom link will be provided after registration.

Course Description:

This presentation exemplifies how a robust integrative medicine team is part of standardized care, providing vital support for children, adolescents and young adults, and their families in a pediatric oncology hospital. Using case study material and evidence-informed research, this panel presents the variety of ways a multidisciplinary team of creative arts therapies (dance and music), mindbody therapies (yoga, martial arts) and touch therapies (Reiki, massage) work collaboratively. This team approach is essential to meet the needs of the whole patient, incorporating all aspects of the individual’s experience by addressing the emotional, physical, and spiritual aspects of pediatric patients, their families and caregivers along their cancer journey. These modalities give oncology patients and their caregivers tools to help with reducing stress, create life balance, improve quality of life, help them face their fears, and cope with pain, both physically and psychically. The strengths, challenges and administrative organization necessary to successfully integrate services are highlighted. Creative arts therapies are a psychotherapeutic modality that utilizes arts-based methods. In a pediatric medical setting these therapies facilitate children, who inherently don’t have the tools to verbalize their experiences, to express emotions and thoughts that are felt but are difficult to share through words. This is an especially salient need due to the vast and complex concerns a pediatric cancer diagnosis and treatment creates. Caregiver involvement is often an important aspect of these therapies, fostering a unique bonding experience unlike other services in the medical setting. Mind-body and touch therapies are a group of healing techniques that focus on strengthening the mind-body connection and improving overall health. These therapists incorporate breathwork, various movement forms and practices, meditation, Reiki, massage, and guided imagery to strengthen and coordinate a person’s mind, body, and spirit. This presentation combines lectures, experiential activities, and audience involvement, featuring the hospital's current research.

Learning Objectives

1. Learn how professionals working in a variety of disciplines both uniquely support the patient and family members, and work together as an integrated team.

2. Learn core elements of medical creative arts, mind-body and touch therapies for pediatric oncology patients and their families.

3. Learn the administrative organizational structure needed to implement collaboration among the integrative medicine multi-disciplinary team within the structure of standard interdisciplinary medical care.

CONTINUING EDUCATION 2.0 ADTA CE; 2.0 NBCC CE; 2.0 NY LCAT

About the Instructors

Dr. Suzi Tortora, Ed.D, LCAT, BC-DMT, CMA, NCC, LMHC has a private practice in Cold Spring, NY and NYC, specializing in parentinfant/child/ family therapy; trauma; medical illness; International Medical Creative Arts Spokesperson for the Andréa Rizzo Foundation; 2003 created and currently senior DMT for pediatric patients at Integrative Medicine Service, MSKCC, NYC; received 2010 Marian Chace Distinguished DMT award; holds faculty positions nationally and internationally; offers an International Webinar Training Program; published author: The Dancing Dialogue: Using the communicative Power of Movement with Young Children used extensively in DMT training; and Keren & Tortora-Dance/Movement Therapy for Infants and Young Children with Medical Illness: Treating Somatic and Psychic Distress (2023).

Jennifer Whitley, MS, BC-DMT, LCAT, CMA is a board-certified DMT and LCAT in NY, graduating from Pratt Institute in 2012. She is trained in: Ways of Seeing, Level II Reiki, LMA from LIMS, and authentic movement. Jenn works at MSKCC in NYC with a focus on medical DMT in pediatric oncology (MSK Kids), offers dance wellness classes, and leads workshops for adult patients through Integrative Medicine. She provides dance therapy in the school setting and works in private practice at Dancing Dialogue using Suzi Tortora’s Ways of Seeing approach. Jenn is on the Board of the Andréa Rizzo Foundation and the ADTA Standards and Ethics Committee.

Malik Cadwell, BA Grandmaster of Martial Arts, Mind/Body Therapist, MSKCC, Integrative Medicine, MSK Kids, AYA will present on the use of various Martial Arts, such as Karate, Aikido, Tai Chi, and the complementary practice of Qigong, to support oncology patients of all ages and their caregivers. He will provide an experiential to help demystify the practices and terminology of Qigong, Tai Chi, and Martial Arts.

Karen Popkin, MA, MT-BC, LCAT is a music therapist. As part of the Integrative Medicine Service, music therapy is available to hospitalized patients of all ages for management of symptoms such as anxiety, pain, depressed mood and low motivation. After a patient is referred for music therapy, I come to the bedside to assess, treat and evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. Patients are seen 1-2 times per week.

Clare Patterson, E-RYT 500 is a Yoga Instructor Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and yoga4cancer senior teacher.

Registration:

https://www.adta.org/spring-virtual-summit

Social Media, an Ethical Query: What are best practices as a dance/movement therapist?

Date & Time:

Sunday, November 12, 2023

8:30 AM- 11:30 AM

Location:

Denver Marriott Tech Center

4900 South Syracuse Street
Denver, CO, 80237, United States

Course Description:

In the last two decades, social media changed the way humans communicate with each other. This workshop seeks to explore how our community is developing ethical practices within social media to ensure the wellbeing of our clients and maintain adaptive relevance of our field within the digital space. Recently, members brought increased ethical awareness of social media use to the ADTA Standards and Ethics Committee. After close analysis of the Code of Ethics, the committee will share recommendations regarding best practices of social media use, highlighting personal versus professional use, advertising, and advocacy.

About the Instructors

Jennifer Whitley, MS BC-DMT LCAT CMA is a board-certified Dance/Movement Therapist (DMT) and Licensed Creative Arts Therapist who received her master’s degree, with honors, in Dance Therapy at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.  She is trained through the Ways of Seeing program at Dancing Dialogue, Certified as a Laban Movement Analyst from the Laban Institute of Movement Studies and completed training in the discipline of Authentic Movement at The New York Center for the Study of Authentic Movement with Joan Wittig. Jenn is also a Reiki Practitioner (Level II) and trained in Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy (MCP) through MSKCC. She has been a DMT at Dancing Dialogue since 2014 working with children, families, and adults incorporating all aspects her training into the Ways of Seeing psychotherapeutic multi-arts approach. She is certified provider of TeleMental Healthcare from the Telehealth Certification Institute. Jenn’s experience also includes medical DMT at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, joining the Integrative Medicine Services (IMS) team in 2012, with a focus in pediatric oncology alongside Dr. Tortora. Her work at MSKCC also expands beyond pediatrics into staff wellness and providing virtual classes and workshops for adult patients through IMS. Additionally, she provides dance/movement therapy for children with neurodiverse conditions facilitating group DMT sessions in the public school setting since 2013.  She taught as interim instructor in The New School’s Creative Arts Therapy Certification Program, worked as DMT/Choreographer for Angelight Films, and presents workshops locally, nationally, and internationally. 

Hang Yin Candy Lo, MA, BC-DMT, RDT/BCT, CCLS

Douglas Cornman, MA, BC-DMT XaHara, A.M., MA, R-DMT, G-RMT, CPT

Meg Chang, EdD, BC-DMT, LCAT, NCC

Selena Coburn BC-DMT, LMHC, LCPC

Lauren Milburn, BC-DMT, LHMC, LPC

Neha Christopher, MS, LCAT, BC-DMT

Pamela Lerman, LCAT, LMHC

Registration:

https://www.adta.org/annual-conference

20 years: The Growth and Future of Pediatric Medical Dance/Movement Therapy

Date & Time:

Saturday, November 11, 2023

8:30 AM- 11:30 AM

Location:

Denver Marriott Tech Center

4900 South Syracuse Street
Denver, CO, 80237, United States

Course Description:

Pediatric medical DMT has grown over the last 20- years thanks to the support of the Andréa Rizzo Foundation. Starting as a three-hour weekly program at a leading oncology hospital in NYC, learn how Dréa’s Dream dance therapy is a national force with 5 programs in 5 states. Over the 20-years of the foundation’s existence, Drea’s Dream has incorporated the changing times by using advanced scientific theory and research to inform medical dance/movement therapy, strengthening its efficacy. Through discussions and experientials with DMTs from across the country, learn the core elements that

About the Instructors

Suzi Tortora, EdD, BC-DMT, CMA, LCAT, LMHC has a full-time private practice in Cold Spring, New York and NYC, specializing in parent- infant/child and family therapy; trauma; medical illness; and adult chronic pain. She is the International Medical Creative Arts Spokesperson for the Andréa Rizzo Foundation, having created and continuing to be the senior dance/movement therapist for pediatric patients at Integrative Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, NYC, since 2003. She received the 2010 Marian Chace Distinguished Dance Therapist award from the ADTA. She teaches in Europe, South America, New Zealand, Israel and Asia; holds faculty positions in the USA, The Netherlands, Chech Republic, Argentina and China; offers the Ways of Seeing International Webinar Training Program for dance/movement therapists and allied professionals; has published numerous papers about her work; and her book, The Dancing Dialogue: Using the communicative power of movement with young children is used extensively in dance/movement therapy training programs internationally.

Jennifer Whitley, MS BC-DMT LCAT CMA is a board-certified Dance/Movement Therapist (DMT) and Licensed Creative Arts Therapist who received her master’s degree, with honors, in Dance Therapy at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.  She is trained through the Ways of Seeing program at Dancing Dialogue, Certified as a Laban Movement Analyst from the Laban Institute of Movement Studies and completed training in the discipline of Authentic Movement at The New York Center for the Study of Authentic Movement with Joan Wittig. Jenn is also a Reiki Practitioner (Level II) and trained in Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy (MCP) through MSKCC. She has been a DMT at Dancing Dialogue since 2014 working with children, families, and adults incorporating all aspects her training into the Ways of Seeing psychotherapeutic multi-arts approach. She is certified provider of TeleMental Healthcare from the Telehealth Certification Institute. Jenn’s experience also includes medical DMT at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, joining the Integrative Medicine Services (IMS) team in 2012, with a focus in pediatric oncology alongside Dr. Tortora. Her work at MSKCC also expands beyond pediatrics into staff wellness and providing virtual classes and workshops for adult patients through IMS. Additionally, she provides dance/movement therapy for children with neurodiverse conditions facilitating group DMT sessions in the public school setting since 2013.  She taught as interim instructor in The New School’s Creative Arts Therapy Certification Program, worked as DMT/Choreographer for Angelight Films, and presents workshops locally, nationally, and internationally. 

Sara Schmidt, M.Ed, MA, R-DMT

Ramanda Brockett, MA, R-DMT

Breanna Davis, M.S., R-DMT, LMHCA

Dr. Lori Baudino

Susan Rizzo Vincent

Registration:

https://www.adta.org/annual-conference

The Roots & Future of Child Dance/Movement Therapy 20th Early Childhood Forum

Date & Time:

Friday, November 10, 2023

9:30 AM- 12:30 PM

Location:

Denver Marriott Tech Center

4900 South Syracuse Street
Denver, CO, 80237, United States

Course Description:

Tracing the evolution of DMT with children and families, this year addresses DMT for those: exposed to traumas such as war and natural disasters; using movement, stories and music as sources to connect/learn about self and other, fostering selfidentity within community; using indigenous methodologies, and trauma work with indigenous students in public schools and its with effect the family unit addressing generations-long deficits of cultural knowledge; how dance helps youth develop social, emotional, and cognitive skills to thrive, positively address self-concepts, developing leadership and life skills; and child/adolescent mental healthcare practices within the context of urban Turkish and

About the Instructors

Suzi Tortora, EdD, BC-DMT, CMA, LCAT, LMHC has a full-time private practice in Cold Spring, New York and NYC, specializing in parent- infant/child and family therapy; trauma; medical illness; and adult chronic pain. She is the International Medical Creative Arts Spokesperson for the Andréa Rizzo Foundation, having created and continuing to be the senior dance/movement therapist for pediatric patients at Integrative Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, NYC, since 2003. She received the 2010 Marian Chace Distinguished Dance Therapist award from the ADTA. She teaches in Europe, South America, New Zealand, Israel and Asia; holds faculty positions in the USA, The Netherlands, Chech Republic, Argentina and China; offers the Ways of Seeing International Webinar Training Program for dance/movement therapists and allied professionals; has published numerous papers about her work; and her book, The Dancing Dialogue: Using the communicative power of movement with young children is used extensively in dance/movement therapy training programs internationally.

Selena Coburn, BC-DMT, LMHC

Charne Furcron, Ed.D, BC-DMT, LPC, NCC, BCC, MAC, CPCS, ACS

Deepa Sai Avula, BC-DMT

Lynn Koshland, BC-DMT

Zeynep Catay

Registration:

https://www.adta.org/annual-conference

Integrative Pediatrics: From Prevention to Palliation

Date & Time:

Thursday, September 21, 2023

11:00 AM- 1:15 PM

Location:

Angelicum Conference Center

Largo Angelicum, 1, 00184 Roma

Course Description:

Alessio Fasano- Food, Pesiticides, Dysbiosis and Obesity

Monica Galanti- Digital Intoxication

Jan Vagedes- Pollution and Non communicable disease

Suzi Tortora- “Speaking the unspeakable”: The Power of Dance & Movement with Children for Healing and Wellness

Mercedes Ogal- Outpatient integrative-medicine options in pediatric palliative care

Simone Brasil de Oliveira Iglesias- Integrative practices into palliative support as holistic and multidimensional care in Brazil

Discussion Q&A

About the Instructors

Suzi Tortora, EdD, BC-DMT, CMA, LCAT, LMHC has a full-time private practice in Cold Spring, New York and NYC, specializing in parent- infant/child and family therapy; trauma; medical illness; and adult chronic pain. She is the International Medical Creative Arts Spokesperson for the Andréa Rizzo Foundation, having created and continuing to be the senior dance/movement therapist for pediatric patients at Integrative Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, NYC, since 2003. She received the 2010 Marian Chace Distinguished Dance Therapist award from the ADTA. She teaches in Europe, South America, New Zealand, Israel and Asia; holds faculty positions in the USA, The Netherlands, Chech Republic, Argentina and China; offers the Ways of Seeing International Webinar Training Program for dance/movement therapists and allied professionals; has published numerous papers about her work; and her book, The Dancing Dialogue: Using the communicative power of movement with young children is used extensively in dance/movement therapy training programs internationally.

Alessio Fasano

Monica Galanti

Jan Vagedes

Mercedes Ogal

Simone Brasil de Oliveira Iglesias

Claudia Farinelli (Chair)

Melanie Anheyer (Co-Chair)

Registration:

https://icimcongress.org/

Virtual Dance Therapy for adult cancer patients: A program evaluation

Date & Time:

Saturday, September 16, 2023

3:45 PM- 5:00 PM

Location:

Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity

107 Tunnel Mountain Drive
PO Box 1020 Banff, Alberta
Canada
T1L 1H5

Course Description:

Background: Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) is increasingly used as a complementary treatment to address psychological and physical wellbeing in adults. However, it is unknown how it can be leveraged in adult cancer care. This mixed methods program evaluation aimed to assess patient-reported benefits and satisfaction with the virtual DMT in an academic medical oncology center setting. 

Methods: We used deidentified program evaluation data to asses: (1) impact of DMT on patient-reported outcomes using a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire delivered via Zoom; and (2) patients’ satisfaction with the DMT sessions using a 10-point Likert scale questionnaire delivered via Zoom. Pre- and post-session data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a paired t test. Qualitative data were captured through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis.

Results: 39 patients participated in DMT (64.7±9.8; range 40- 81), majority were female (35; 89.7%), and had diagnosis or history of breast cancer (17; 43.6%). Participation in DMT significantly decreased anxiety [-0.42±0.76; t(25)= -2.85, p=.009] and distress [-0.35±0.80; t(25)= -2.21, p=.036]; and significantly increased sense of joy [0.73±1.18; t(25)= 3.14, p=.004]. We observed a non-significant trend in physical activity increase [0.38±0.98; t(25)= 1.99, p=.057]. Patients indicated high satisfaction with the program (20/20, 100%) and would recommend it to others (20/20, 100%). Thematic findings revealed that participation in DMT sessions helped patients (1) build connection with others and receive support; (2) freely express difficult emotions, (3) relax and improve mental state; and (4) engage in a physical activity and improve physical health. 

Conclusion: Our DMT program shows promise as a component of an integrative cancer care. This evaluation provides useful information to help generate hypotheses for future RCT studies aiming to evaluate the effect of DMT on mood and physical activity in adult cancer patients.

About the Instructors

Jennifer Whitley, MS BC-DMT LCAT CMA is a board-certified Dance/Movement Therapist (DMT) and Licensed Creative Arts Therapist who received her master’s degree, with honors, in Dance Therapy at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.  She is trained through the Ways of Seeing program at Dancing Dialogue, Certified as a Laban Movement Analyst from the Laban Institute of Movement Studies and completed training in the discipline of Authentic Movement at The New York Center for the Study of Authentic Movement with Joan Wittig. Jenn is also a Reiki Practitioner (Level II) and trained in Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy (MCP) through MSKCC. She has been a DMT at Dancing Dialogue since 2014 working with children, families, and adults incorporating all aspects her training into the Ways of Seeing psychotherapeutic multi-arts approach. She is certified provider of TeleMental Healthcare from the Telehealth Certification Institute. Jenn’s experience also includes medical DMT at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, joining the Integrative Medicine Services (IMS) team in 2012, with a focus in pediatric oncology alongside Dr. Tortora. Her work at MSKCC also expands beyond pediatrics into staff wellness and providing virtual classes and workshops for adult patients through IMS. Additionally, she provides dance/movement therapy for children with neurodiverse conditions facilitating group DMT sessions in the public school setting since 2013.  She taught as interim instructor in The New School’s Creative Arts Therapy Certification Program, worked as DMT/Choreographer for Angelight Films, and presents workshops locally, nationally, and internationally. 

Karolina Bryl

Jun Mao

Registration:

https://www.sioconference.org/

The Role of Creative Arts Therapies and Mind-Body Therapies in Pediatric Oncology: Clinical and Research Panel

Date & Time:

Friday, September 15, 2023

5:30 PM- 6:30 PM

Location:

Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity

107 Tunnel Mountain Drive
PO Box 1020 Banff, Alberta
Canada
T1L 1H5

Course Description:

Creative arts and mind-body therapies are vital offerings in some medical institutions and integrative services, but can be overlooked. This panel presents the variety of ways creative arts therapies and mind-body therapies support family systems in the pediatric oncology setting.  Panel members include a multidisciplinary team of creative arts therapies (dance and music) and mind-body therapies (yoga and martial arts).  This presentation includes lecture, experientials, videos, and audience participation, using clinical case studies and research available to date.

About the Instructors

Suzi Tortora, EdD, BC-DMT, CMA, LCAT, LMHC has a full-time private practice in Cold Spring, New York and NYC, specializing in parent- infant/child and family therapy; trauma; medical illness; and adult chronic pain. She is the International Medical Creative Arts Spokesperson for the Andréa Rizzo Foundation, having created and continuing to be the senior dance/movement therapist for pediatric patients at Integrative Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, NYC, since 2003. She received the 2010 Marian Chace Distinguished Dance Therapist award from the ADTA. She teaches in Europe, South America, New Zealand, Israel and Asia; holds faculty positions in the USA, The Netherlands, Chech Republic, Argentina and China; offers the Ways of Seeing International Webinar Training Program for dance/movement therapists and allied professionals; has published numerous papers about her work; and her book, The Dancing Dialogue: Using the communicative power of movement with young children is used extensively in dance/movement therapy training programs internationally.

Jennifer Whitley, MS BC-DMT LCAT CMA is a board-certified Dance/Movement Therapist (DMT) and Licensed Creative Arts Therapist who received her master’s degree, with honors, in Dance Therapy at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.  She is trained through the Ways of Seeing program at Dancing Dialogue, Certified as a Laban Movement Analyst from the Laban Institute of Movement Studies and completed training in the discipline of Authentic Movement at The New York Center for the Study of Authentic Movement with Joan Wittig. Jenn is also a Reiki Practitioner (Level II) and trained in Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy (MCP) through MSKCC. She has been a DMT at Dancing Dialogue since 2014 working with children, families, and adults incorporating all aspects her training into the Ways of Seeing psychotherapeutic multi-arts approach. She is certified provider of TeleMental Healthcare from the Telehealth Certification Institute. Jenn’s experience also includes medical DMT at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, joining the Integrative Medicine Services (IMS) team in 2012, with a focus in pediatric oncology alongside Dr. Tortora. Her work at MSKCC also expands beyond pediatrics into staff wellness and providing virtual classes and workshops for adult patients through IMS. Additionally, she provides dance/movement therapy for children with neurodiverse conditions facilitating group DMT sessions in the public school setting since 2013.  She taught as interim instructor in The New School’s Creative Arts Therapy Certification Program, worked as DMT/Choreographer for Angelight Films, and presents workshops locally, nationally, and internationally. 

Karolina Bryl

Tonia Kulp

Tina Paul

Ashley Ervin

Jeniffer Whitley

Bethany Pincus

Malik Cadwell

Registration:

https://www.sioconference.org/

Collaboration of an Integrative Pediatric Team to identify modality interventions, and assessment scales, to facilitate the design of an electronic document and optimize efficiency of data administration

Date & Time:

Thursday, September 14, 2023

5:30 PM- 7:00 PM

Location:

Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity

107 Tunnel Mountain Drive
PO Box 1020 Banff, Alberta
Canada
T1L 1H5

Course Description:

TBD

About the Instructors

Jennifer Whitley, MS BC-DMT LCAT CMA is a board-certified Dance/Movement Therapist (DMT) and Licensed Creative Arts Therapist who received her master’s degree, with honors, in Dance Therapy at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.  She is trained through the Ways of Seeing program at Dancing Dialogue, Certified as a Laban Movement Analyst from the Laban Institute of Movement Studies and completed training in the discipline of Authentic Movement at The New York Center for the Study of Authentic Movement with Joan Wittig. Jenn is also a Reiki Practitioner (Level II) and trained in Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy (MCP) through MSKCC. She has been a DMT at Dancing Dialogue since 2014 working with children, families, and adults incorporating all aspects her training into the Ways of Seeing psychotherapeutic multi-arts approach. She is certified provider of TeleMental Healthcare from the Telehealth Certification Institute. Jenn’s experience also includes medical DMT at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, joining the Integrative Medicine Services (IMS) team in 2012, with a focus in pediatric oncology alongside Dr. Tortora. Her work at MSKCC also expands beyond pediatrics into staff wellness and providing virtual classes and workshops for adult patients through IMS. Additionally, she provides dance/movement therapy for children with neurodiverse conditions facilitating group DMT sessions in the public school setting since 2013.  She taught as interim instructor in The New School’s Creative Arts Therapy Certification Program, worked as DMT/Choreographer for Angelight Films, and presents workshops locally, nationally, and internationally. 

Jane greene

Karolina Bryl

Holly Mentzer

Karen Popkin

Nirupa Raghunathan

Registration:

https://www.sioconference.org/

The psyche-soma connection: Helping medically ill babies tell their stories through nonverbal “bodily-felt” experience

Date & Time:

Tuesday, July 18, 2023

1:15- 2:15 PM

Location:

Spencer Dock

North Wall Quay

Dublin 1

Ireland

Course Description:

TBD

About the Instructors

Suzi Tortora, EdD, BC-DMT, CMA, LCAT, LMHC has a full-time private practice in Cold Spring, New York and NYC, specializing in parent- infant/child and family therapy; trauma; medical illness; and adult chronic pain. She is the International Medical Creative Arts Spokesperson for the Andréa Rizzo Foundation, having created and continuing to be the senior dance/movement therapist for pediatric patients at Integrative Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, NYC, since 2003. She received the 2010 Marian Chace Distinguished Dance Therapist award from the ADTA. She teaches in Europe, South America, New Zealand, Israel and Asia; holds faculty positions in the USA, The Netherlands, Chech Republic, Argentina and China; offers the Ways of Seeing International Webinar Training Program for dance/movement therapists and allied professionals; has published numerous papers about her work; and her book, The Dancing Dialogue: Using the communicative power of movement with young children is used extensively in dance/movement therapy training programs internationally.

Miri Keren, MD

Registration:

https://www.waimh2023.org/

Our Bodies Speak! Bridging Psyche and Soma Using the Creative Arts Therapies (CAT) to Support Mental Health Challenges and Heal Trauma in Children

Wednesday, June 21, 2023

12-1:30 PM

Location:

Live Online course. Students will receive a Zoom link when registered

Course Description:

It is not just what you say but how you say it - with your body - that counts. We communicate with babies, and each other nonverbally before we even say a word. Babies also talk to us right from the beginning through their facial expressions, body actions, the quality of their vocalizations and even the way they look at us. The embodied experiential nature of our interactions affect how we relate to others and how we process our own experiences.

Please join us to discuss this importance topic with Dr. Suzi Tortora, Founder & Director of Dancing Dialogue  and Dr. Miri Keren, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist. 

Infancy research states that early perception is registered through the baby’s bodily-felt engagement with the surroundings, perceived through multisensory experiences and informed by secure interactions with primary caregivers. Trauma research explains that early memory is multisensory, somatic and kinesthetic, and can be triggered by experiences reminiscent of elements of the original event and creates a wide variety of emotional experiences that are felt but difficult to verbalize. Therapeutic approaches for early trauma advocate the importance of creating a cohesive narrative to support healing. But what happens when words cannot fully explain the experience?  The creative arts therapies provide a path to healing when words hurt, and the traumatic experience is unspeakable. 

Bridging the fields of infant mental health; infant and child psychiatry; nonverbal analysis; and creative arts therapies, this workshop demonstrates how to help babies and young children bring a voice to their experiences by using their nonverbal cues to create an embodied cohesive narrative that addresses the “felt-sense” experience. Participants will learn how to use creative arts activities including movement, music, art, and dance to support the developing attachment relationship with families and children with challenges including early medical illness, attachment issues, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and other challenges during these vulnerable times.  When and why to choose a creative arts therapy approach or traditional caregiver-child psychotherapy word-focused intervention, such as Wait, Watch and Wonder (WWW) or Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) will be highlighted.

By the End of This Webinar Participants Will be Able to: 

1.  Understanding the strong link between parent-infant relationship and Infant Mental Health

2. Learn how creative arts therapies are used to create an embodied coherent narrative, facilitating psychobehavioral change

3. Reflect on when and how to choose a creative arts therapy or a traditional word-focused caregiver-child therapeutic approach.

About the Instructor

Suzi Tortora, EdD, BC-DMT, CMA, LCAT, LMHC has a full-time private practice in Cold Spring, New York and NYC, specializing in parent- infant/child and family therapy; trauma; medical illness; and adult chronic pain. She is the International Medical Creative Arts Spokesperson for the Andréa Rizzo Foundation, having created and continuing to be the senior dance/movement therapist for pediatric patients at Integrative Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, NYC, since 2003. She received the 2010 Marian Chace Distinguished Dance Therapist award from the ADTA. She teaches in Europe, South America, New Zealand, Israel and Asia; holds faculty positions in the USA, The Netherlands, Chech Republic, Argentina and China; offers the Ways of Seeing International Webinar Training Program for dance/movement therapists and allied professionals; has published numerous papers about her work; and her book, The Dancing Dialogue: Using the communicative power of movement with young children is used extensively in dance/movement therapy training programs internationally.

Miri Keren, MD is a child and adolescent psychiatrist, Assistant Professor Emeritus at Tel Aviv Sackler Medical School, past president of the World Association for Infant Mental Health, founder and past director of Geha Infant Mental Health Unit, founder and supervisor of 6 units of Infant Psychiatry across Israel. Currently in the position of Clinical and Research Consultant at the Bar Ilan University Azrieli Medical School and at the Schneider Hospital for Sick Children (in process of becoming Clinical Associate Professor).  She received the Leibovici WAIMH Award in June 2021. 

Registration:

https://registration.nytac.org/event/?pid=2&id=1015

Embodied Parenting: Activities to Engage, Soothe, and Support Young Children and Families During Stressful Times

Saturday May 13, 2023

12-2 PM EST/ 19:00-21:00 Turkey

Location:

Live Online course. Students will receive a Zoom link when registered

Course Description:

In times of extreme stress, it is crucial for caregivers to create a sense of security and order despite the uncertainty of the current situation. Accurately reading a young child's nonverbal statements and understanding how to respond to them is the primary step in creating a meaningful sense of connection and stability.

Body Parenting program, observation, play, song, dance, movement, breath and awareness

Emphasizes the important role of non-verbal communication in building relationships using activities. Through a nine-step process called Lullaby Circles, caregivers and therapists will learn specific activities that enhance body-to-body communication to create a danced dialogue with young children. Lullaby Circle activities develop the caregiver's body awareness and self-regulation style, creating a relationship and self-regulation capacity that actively adapts, calms and supports the child.

About the Instructor

Suzi Tortora, EdD, BC-DMT, CMA, LCAT, LMHC has a full-time private practice in Cold Spring, New York and NYC, specializing in parent- infant/child and family therapy; trauma; medical illness; and adult chronic pain. She is the International Medical Creative Arts Spokesperson for the Andréa Rizzo Foundation, having created and continuing to be the senior dance/movement therapist for pediatric patients at Integrative Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, NYC, since 2003. She received the 2010 Marian Chace Distinguished Dance Therapist award from the ADTA. She teaches in Europe, South America, New Zealand, Israel and Asia; holds faculty positions in the USA, The Netherlands, Chech Republic, Argentina and China; offers the Ways of Seeing International Webinar Training Program for dance/movement therapists and allied professionals; has published numerous papers about her work; and her book, The Dancing Dialogue: Using the communicative power of movement with young children is used extensively in dance/movement therapy training programs internationally.

Registration:

https://www.sanatpsikoterapileridernegi.org/afetwebinar.html

Resolving Situations Involving Questionable Ethics

Date & Time:

Thursday, April 27, 2023

8:20- 9:50 PM

Location:

Virtual Lecture.

Course Description

The ADTA Standards & Ethics Committee members spent the past year clarifying the current policies and procedures in filing an ethical issue to make the process more easily understandable and accessible. This workshop will invite participants to understand in depth what updates have been made to the procedures that involve an ethical awareness, matter, concern, or complaint. The document titled “How to Resolve Situations Involving Questionable Ethics" details specific measures that ADTA consumers and members can take in reporting, differentiating what each ethical category is and the corresponding procedures for them. The Standards & Ethics Committee members will also facilitate an experiential related to this process.

Learning Objectives

1. Participants will be able to apply the updated Standard and Ethics Policies and Procedures to ethical decision making.

2. Participants will be able to use the updated Standard and Ethics Policies and Procedures in addressing an ethical concern of a colleague.

3. Participants will be able to differentiate what each ethical category is and the corresponding procedures for them.

About the Instructors

Jennifer Whitley, M.S., BC-DMT, LCAT, CMA, is a board-certified Dance/Movement Therapist (DMT) and Licensed Creative Arts Therapist, graduating from the Pratt Institute in 2012. She is a Ways of Seeing practitioner, Level II Reiki trained, certified as a Laban Movement Analyst from the Laban Institute of Movement Studies and has trained at The NY Center for the Study of Authentic Movement. Ms. Whitley began working at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in 2012 with a focus on medical DMT in pediatric oncology and dance-focused wellness/mindfulness classes and workshops at Integrative Medicine Services for adult patients and MSKCC staff. She also provides group dance therapy sessions for children with special needs and works in private practice at Dancing Dialogue with adults, children and families.

Selena Coburn BC-DMT, LMHC, LCPC is a mental health and dance/movement therapist in Great Falls, Montana and an adjunct professor at Lesley University. She is a descendent of Blackfeet, Klamath, and Pitt River tribes. She earned her BFA in Dance from SUNY Purchase College in Purchase, NY. Selena's dance/movement therapy training includes the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan, NY, and Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Selena is serving the ADTA as the Standards and Ethics Chair..

Neha Christopher, MS, LCAT, BC-DMT, is a passionate artist and advocate for The Arts in Wellness. As a dance therapist, Neha has worked in, USA, Dominican Republic (intern) , Nepal and India. She is currently pursuing her PhD in DMT and works as a DMT tutor (Methods 1) at The University of Melbourne. Neha serves as a member of the S&E committee of the ADTA and is a founding board member and of The Indian Association of Dance Movement Therapy.

Neha strongly identifies and resonates with the healing elements of dance. She believes in the importance of de-colonizing mental health by acknowledging the indigenous practices that have focused on wellness through the arts for generations before it gained Eurocentric nomenclature. 

Douglas Cornman, MA, BC-DMT, is the Director of Island Outreach for Maine Seacoast Mission in Northeast Harbor, Maine. He is crew aboard the MV Sunbeam V, a 74 ft steel-hulled boat that cruises the coast of Maine providing holistic healthcare services. His work with islanders focuses primarily on emotional and spiritual healthcare, substance abuse, and coping with the challenges associated with living in remote and isolated rural island communities.  

Douglas earned his dance therapy degree from Allegheny University (now Drexel University) and his undergraduate degree in Theater Performance from Messiah College in Grantham, PA. He is a former company member of Trapezius Ariel Dance, Philadelphia and The New Haven Ballet. He currently dances with Motion Collective, an improvisational dance company based on Mount Desert Island.   

Hang Yin Candy Lo, MA, BC-DMT, RDT/BCT, CCLS, is a Board-Certified Dance/Movement Therapist, a Registered Drama Therapist/Board Certified Trainer and a Certified Child Life Specialist. Currently the President of both Hong Kong Child Life Association and Hong Kong Dance Movement Therapy Association; Candy has been serving at the ADTA’s  Standard and Ethics committee since 2017;  co-leads the Asian and Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Affinity Group (AAIPDA) and is member of the BC-DMT Task Force.

After graduating from Antioch University New England, Candy started her private practice; Piece of Sky in Hong Kong. Her passion lies in serving the medical professionals, both paediatric and adult patients in the medical settings. She taught the Medical Humanities program (Performing Arts Module developed by AFTEC) at the School of Medicine at HKU.

Candy has been teaching at the Expressive Arts Therapy program at the University of Hong Kong since 2014 and is an Adjunct Faculty at Lesley University and Antioch University New England.

Nancy Herard-Marshall is an African-centered dance/movement psychotherapist, authentic movement practitioner, Kemetic reiki practitioner, Kukuwa® African dance fitness instructor, wife and mother living in NYC.  As a licensed creative arts therapist, she has clinical experience working with diverse populations such as inpatient acute psychiatric care, outpatient co-occurring addiction and mental health conditions, HIV/AIDS and chronic illness, special needs populations, and behavioral disorders.  She has worked with individuals suffering from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety, autism, ADHD, depression, sexual abuse, dementia and Alzheimer’s.  Her approach to psychotherapy blends expressive arts, attachment theory, transpersonal theory, optimal conceptual theory and other African-centered psychologies. Among her areas of expertise are treatment interventions for culturally diverse populations with an emphasis on the African Diaspora.  Nancy has taught Intro to Dance Movement Therapy at The College of New Rochelle, and is a visiting instructor and curriculum consultant in the Creative Arts Therapy Department at Pratt Institute.  

Nancy is empathic, motivated, compassionate, and provides a positive outlook throughout treatment. She believes that each individual possesses self-healing powers and will work to guide you in harnessing yours to optimal capacity in order to create and achieve attainable goals.

Megz Roberts, MA, R-DMT, RMT, CPT is a entrepreneurial therapist who currently incorporates dance/movement therapy and Reiki energy techniques into their sacred sexuality and spiritual healing private practice. Megz built a power-sharing ethical decision-making model that is used to help therapeutic relationships, companies and communities navigate culturally embedded ethical dilemmas. Their model is currently published in the Journal of Dance Therapy. Megz embodies this ethical model in their own private practice and travels across states educating others on how to incorporate this model in their work.

Lauren Milburn, BC-DMT, LMHC, LCPC (she/they) completed her Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling Masters at Columbia College Chicago, and gained clinical experience supporting survivors of trauma and individuals living with conditions across the spectrum of mental health concerns. Their approach is grounded in relational/cultural theory, pleasure activism, harm reduction, and disability justice principles. In sessions, Lauren invites deep listening to the body’s innate wisdom, resourcing the nervous system’s resilience to generate self-compassion, untangle harmful internalized patterns, and embrace creative and contemplative meaning-making practices. It is Lauren’s hope that by engaging healing processes held within relational webs of care, we can build the capacity to transform social conditions into sanctuary spaces and promote life-affirming reciprocity.

Registration

https://adta.memberclicks.net/2023-spring-summit-landing-page

Book Talk: Dance/Movement Therapy for Infants and Young Children with Medical Illness: Treating Somatic and Psychic Distress

Time:

Monday, March 20, 2023

2-3 PM

Location:

In-Person. Open only to members of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center community.

Event Description:

Book Talk on Dance/Movement Therapy for Infants and Young Children with Medical Illness: Treating Somatic and Psychic Distress by Dr. Suzi Tortora and Dr. Miri Keren hosted by the Memorial Sloan Kettering Kids Pediatric Oncology Journal.

About the Instructors

Suzi Tortora Ed.D., BC-DMT, CMA, LCAT, LMHC, NCC, is the Founder/Director of Dancing Dialogue, a private creative arts psychotherapy practice in Cold Spring, NY and NYC, specializing in parent- infant/child and family therapy; trauma; medical illness; and adult chronic pain. She is the International Medical Creative Arts Spokesperson for the Andréa Rizzo Foundation, having created in 2003, and is the senior dance/movement therapist for Integrative Medicine Service, MSK Kids, NYC. She teaches & holds faculty positions nationally and internationally and offers an International Webinar Training Program for dance/movement therapists and allied professionals. She has published extensively and her book, The Dancing Dialogue: Using the communicative power of movement with young children is used widely in DMT training.

Miri Keren, M.D., was the founder and past director of the community-based infant mental health unit, affiliated to Geha Mental Health Center in Petah-Tiqwa (1996-2020). She implemented and supervised 6 units of Infant Psychiatry across Israel. She is in the position of Clinical and Research Consultant at the Bar Ilan University Affiliated University Hospital, at the Beit Izi Shapira Center for disabled infants and toddlers, and at the FTT unit of the Schneider Hospital for Sick Children. Dr. Keren served as President of the World Association of Infant Mental Health (WAIMH) in the years 2012-2016, and received the WAIMH Leibovici Award in June 2021.

Registration:

This event is not open to the general public.

The psyche-soma connection: Helping babies with medical illness and their families tell their story through their nonverbal “bodily-felt” experience

Time:

Thursday, March 16, 2023

9- 10:30 AM

Location:

Hybrid event offered in-person at the Rutgers University Robert John Woods School of Medicine in New Brunswick, NJ and online on Zoom.

Course Description:

Dr. Suzi Totora and Dr. Miri Keren present work from their new book, “The psyche-soma connection: Helping babies with medical illness and their families tell their story through their nonverbal “bodily-felt” experience” at psychiatric grand rounds at Rutgers University Medical School.

About the Instructors

Suzi Tortora Ed.D., BC-DMT, CMA, LCAT, LMHC, NCC, is the Founder/Director of Dancing Dialogue, a private creative arts psychotherapy practice in Cold Spring, NY and NYC, specializing in parent- infant/child and family therapy; trauma; medical illness; and adult chronic pain. She is the International Medical Creative Arts Spokesperson for the Andréa Rizzo Foundation, having created in 2003, and is the senior dance/movement therapist for Integrative Medicine Service, MSK Kids, NYC. She teaches & holds faculty positions nationally and internationally and offers an International Webinar Training Program for dance/movement therapists and allied professionals. She has published extensively and her book, The Dancing Dialogue: Using the communicative power of movement with young children is used widely in DMT training.

Miri Keren, M.D., was the founder and past director of the community-based infant mental health unit, affiliated to Geha Mental Health Center in Petah-Tiqwa (1996-2020). She implemented and supervised 6 units of Infant Psychiatry across Israel. She is in the position of Clinical and Research Consultant at the Bar Ilan University Affiliated University Hospital, at the Beit Izi Shapira Center for disabled infants and toddlers, and at the FTT unit of the Schneider Hospital for Sick Children. Dr. Keren served as President of the World Association of Infant Mental Health (WAIMH) in the years 2012-2016, and received the WAIMH Leibovici Award in June 2021.

Registration:

Zoom link to attend: https://rutgers.zoom.us/j/92084523132?pwd=UGJnZW1tN2J3a0k2S2VSWGJ0Rkt1QT09

 Meeting ID: 920 8452 3132 

Password: 429545 

New York Zero-to-Three Book Party Event

Time:

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

6:30- 8:00 PM

Location:

Hybird event offered in-person at the Bank Street College Auditorium in New York City and online on Zoom.

Course Description:

Bridging Soma and Psyche: Celebrating three new books that bridge infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH), sensory processing and medical illness to assist parents and professionals caring for young children.

Join us and meet the authors of three important new additions to literature in the 0-5 field that will be celebrated at a NYZTT sponsored book party. Long-time NYZTT board member Dr. Suzi Tortora along with Dr. Miri Keren, have published a new book entitled Dance/Movement Therapy for Infants and Young Children with Medical Illness: Treating Somatic and Psychic Distress; Dr Gilbert Foley NYZTT advisory board member & Susan A. Stallings-Sahler, will release the second edition of Sensory Integration and Self-Regulation in Infants and Toddlers: Helping Very Young Children Interact with Their Environment; Linda Garofallou and Dr. Louisa Silva will publish, An At-Home Guide to Children’s Sensory & Behavioral Problems: Qigong Sensory Treatment for Parents & Clinicians. Come learn about these topics as we hear from the authors themselves while celebrating their accomplishments!

___________________

Book Title: Dance/Movement Therapy for Infants and Young Children with Medical Illness: Treating Somatic and Psychic Distress

Authors: Dr. Suzi Tortora & Dr. Miri Keren

Summary: This book supports the baby and family through this vulnerable time, bridging infant mental health; psychiatry; nonverbal movement analysis; and dance/movement psychotherapy. It explains how to help babies voice their experiences using their nonverbal actions to create an embodied coherent narrative. Through an innovative lens the psychic and somatic aspects of medical illness are addressed, providing a window into the young pediatric patient’s emotional “felt-story” within the context of treating the whole family system.

___________________

Book Title: Linking Sensory Integration and Mental Health: Nurturing Self-Regulation in Infants and Young Children

Authors: Dr Susan A. Stallings-Sahler and Dr. Gilbert M. Foley

Summary: This book builds bridges among ideas, disciplines, interventions, professionals and caregivers. The Occupational Therapy/sensory integration (SI) and Psychology/infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) perspectives are paralleled and integrated to illuminate linkages between sensation and mentation -soma and psyche. This book synthesizes theory, empirical evidence and clinical insights into practical SI/IECMH applications for clinic, classroom and daily life of infants and young children with sensory processing and mental health risks and disorders.

___________________

Title: An At-Home Guide to Children’s Sensory & Behavioral Problems: Qigong Sensory Treatment for Parents & Clinicians

Authors: Linda Garofallou, MS, IMHS E®III & Louisa Silva, MD, MPH

Summary: This book offers a unique perspective on the critical role of a parent’s touch in organizing sensory experience and ultimately, in behavior and self-regulation itself. Parents learn an effective 15-minute touch treatment along with a new ‘sensory language’ to tailor their touch to their child’s specific responses. Included is a wealth of techniques, resources and the support of a year-long series of weekly letters that encourage parents with real-time guidance along the way.

___________________

This workshop is free for NYZTT members and $15 for non-members. If you're not already, you can become a NYZTT member for $60 when you register for this workshop. Membership enables you to attend this and all workshops at no charge.

About the Instructors

Suzi Tortora Ed.D., BC-DMT, CMA, LCAT, LMHC, NCC, is the Founder/Director of Dancing Dialogue, a private creative arts psychotherapy practice in Cold Spring, NY and NYC, specializing in parent- infant/child and family therapy; trauma; medical illness; and adult chronic pain. She is the International Medical Creative Arts Spokesperson for the Andréa Rizzo Foundation, having created in 2003, and is the senior dance/movement therapist for Integrative Medicine Service, MSK Kids, NYC. She teaches & holds faculty positions nationally and internationally and offers an International Webinar Training Program for dance/movement therapists and allied professionals. She has published extensively and her book, The Dancing Dialogue: Using the communicative power of movement with young children is used widely in DMT training.

Miri Keren, M.D., was the founder and past director of the community-based infant mental health unit, affiliated to Geha Mental Health Center in Petah-Tiqwa (1996-2020). She implemented and supervised 6 units of Infant Psychiatry across Israel. She is in the position of Clinical and Research Consultant at the Bar Ilan University Affiliated University Hospital, at the Beit Izi Shapira Center for disabled infants and toddlers, and at the FTT unit of the Schneider Hospital for Sick Children. Dr. Keren served as President of the World Association of Infant Mental Health (WAIMH) in the years 2012-2016, and received the WAIMH Leibovici Award in June 2021.

Susan A. Stallings-Sahler, Ph.D., OTR, FAOTA, is an occupational therapist and educational psychologist, and director of Developmental Research and Educational Consultants, LLC in the Tampa Bay Area. She served as professor and project coordinator at Gannon University’s (FL) Occupational Therapy Doctoral Program and held professorships at Rush and Brenau Universities. Dr. Stallings-Sahler was professor and founding OT program director at Lenoir-Rhyne University. She completed advanced postgraduate training at USC, studying with the late Dr Jean Ayres. She has taught certification courses on sensory integration nationally and internationally. She is author of Screening Assessment of Sensory Integration (SASI) and over 40 scholarly articles and chapters. Dr. Stallings-Sahler is a fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association.

Gilbert M. Foley, Ed.D., IMH-E serves as consulting clinical psychologist at the New York Center for Child Development (NYCCD) and is clinical co- director of the New York City Early Childhood Mental Health Training and Technical Assistance Center (TTAC). He is a core faculty member of the Psychodynamic Institute for Clinical Social Work and is a retired tenured faculty member in school-clinical child psychology at Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology. He completed a visiting fellowship at the Yale Child Study Center and served as chief psychologist in pediatrics at the Medical College of Pennsylvania (Drexel). Dr. Foley writes extensively and teaches and lectures widely.

Linda Garofallou, QST Therapist and adjunct faculty at the Center for Autism & Early Childhood Mental Health, Montclair State University, where she runs a grant program providing parent trainings in Qigong Sensory Treatment and teaches the Tactile & Sensory Foundations of Child Development. She has developed a wide range of community pediatric sensory programs for at-risk children & families, including 14 years at Children’s Hospital of NJ Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. Linda holds a Master’s degree in physiology, a Level III Specialist Endorsement in Infant Mental Health®, licensed in the Shanker Method® of Self-Reg and faculty trained in Brazelton’s Touchpoints.

Louisa Silva, (1954-2018) was a physician integrating Western and Chinese medicine with public health. She created the Qigong Sensory Treatment and was the lead researcher for 20 university-based research studies, including a large federally funded 3-year study confirming the effectiveness of QST in the treatment of autism. Dr. Silva received her medical degree from UCLA in 1979, her Chinese medicine training in 1989 and her MPH in 2003. She was a visiting professor at the Teaching Research Institute, Western Oregon University. Dr. Silva was the founder of the Qigong Sensory Training Institute and also founded the Guadalupe Clinic, a nonprofit community health clinic in Salem, OR.

Registration:

Registration is available here.

Embodied storytelling: Using movement, play and storytelling to support visual-spatial processing, self-expression and develop sense of self

Date & Time:

Sunday, February 5, 2023

2:15-2:45 PM & 4:00-5:30 PM

Location:

Virtual Workshop

Course Description

TBA

Instructors

Suzi Tortora, ED.D., BC-DMT, CMA, LCAT, LMHC

Registration

https://profectum.org/profectum-2023-conference-visual-spatial-processing/

The Spectrum of Visual-Spatial Pathways Across Developmental Domains

Date & Time:

Sunday, January 29, 2023

3:35- 5:15 PM ET

Location:

Virtual Panel Discussion

Course Description

TBA

Instructors

Moderator:

Cortney Grove, MA, CCC-SLP, I/ECMH-C

Panelists:

Carrie Alvarado, PhD, OTR

Mona Delahooke, PhD

Gil Foley, EdD, IMH-E

Mehrnaz Azimi Green, OD, FCOVD

Cortney Grove, MA, CCC-SLP, I/ECMH-C

Karen McDowell

Traci Swink, MD

Suzi Tortora, ED.D., BC-DMT, CMA, LCAT, LMHC

Rosemary White, OTR/L

Serena Wieder, PhD

Registration

https://profectum.org/profectum-2023-conference-visual-spatial-processing/

Supporting Our Youngest Patients Psychic and Somatic Distress: Psychiatric and Pediatric Medical Dance

Date & Time:

Thursday, January 19, 2023

11 AM- 12:30 PM ET

Location:

Virtual Lecture

Course Description

Trauma research demonstrates that early memory is multisensory, somatic, and kinesthetic. In this workshop participants will learn how psychiatry and dance/movement therapy professionals collaborate within the integrative medicine service multidisciplinary team to support pediatric patients and their families. The principles of infant mental health provide a lens to understanding the complex role medical illness plays in the young child’s psychic and relational development. Dance/movement therapy (DMT) provides a way to address how children’s embodied experience during medical procedures affects development on all levels. The use of DMT for self-expression and coping, self-regulation, pain management, trauma prevention, and family intervention are highlighted. The presenters address the role of infant mental health and provide an overview of the history and research of the pediatric medical DMT field.

Instructors

Suzi Tortora, Ed.D, BC-DMT LCAT LMHC CMA

Miri Keren, MD

Dr. Sharon Goodill

Dr. Karolina Bryl

Registration

https://integrativeonc.org/knowledge-center/sio-webinars

Embodied Parenting: Dance/Movement Therapy with Babies, Young Children and Their Families During Stressful Times

Date & Time:

Saturday, November 26, 2022

7- 8:30 PM

Location:

Virtual Lecture

Course Description

TBA

Instructors

Suzi Tortora, Ed.D, BC-DMT LCAT LMHC CMA

Registration

https://japan-aimh.smartcore.jp/M021/forums

The Roots & Future of Child DMT 19th Early Childhood Forum: Telehealth Video Animation Healing

Date & Time:

Saturday, October 29, 2022

10:15AM- 1:15 PM

Location:

Le Centre Sheraton Montreal Hotel

1201 Boulevard Rene-Levesque West, Montreal, Quebec H3B 2L7 Canada

Course Description

This forum is dedicated to tracing the roots and evolution of DMT with children, focusing this year on the leap we made moving our deeply embodied work to a virtual platform. What we learned by entering family environments of this youngest population is highlighted. Through discussion and experientials, participants explore the strengths, challenges, and innovations we discovered, including creating new video and animation props to engage children and how intercultural communication/competency from the diversity, equity and inclusion lens bridged the gap in understanding and supporting caregiver/child relationships by attuning to the lived experiences of the families and children we support.

Instructors

Suzi Tortora, Ed.D, BC-DMT LCAT LMHC CMA

Dr. Renee Ortega

Registration

https://www.adta.org/adta-57-conference-landing-page

Dance/Movement Psychotherapy Animated! Telehealth with kids during COVID and beyond

Date & Time:

Saturday, September 24, 2022

4:45- 6:15 PM

Location:

fabrik Potsdam

Schiffbauergasse 10, 14467 Potsdam, Germany

Course Description

When the pandemic hit in March 2020, we had to quickly find a way to transition from in-person to remote work, while still maintaining a sense of embodied connection with our clients. Preserving this connection with our youngest population, toddlers and early elementary age children added an additional challenge, due to their kinetic energy and varying abilities to focus their attention. Based on the conference theme “From Far to Close” this workshop presents how this DMT bridged the growing isolation gap, by creating a shared remote space with her young patients. Starting with imaginative stories using themselves and their stuffed animals to dance out their feelings, participants will learn how these stories were transformed into captivating visual narratives, through this DMT’s collaboration with a professional animation artist/film producer. Through experientials and videos, the DMT and the artist will share their process using technology to reach children in their digital world.

Instructors

Suzi Tortora, Ed.D, BC-DMT LCAT LMHC CMA

Grant Collier

Registration

https://eadmt.com/conferences/4th-eadmt-conference-2022-how-far-is-far-how-close-is-close-choreographing-a-new-world

Creating Synergy through our Dancing Community: The diversity and universality of DMT-online training during the pandemic

Date & Time:

Saturday, September 24, 2022

12:00- 1:30 PM

Location:

fabrik Potsdam

Schiffbauergasse 10, 14467 Potsdam, Germany

Course Description

This two-year international DMT-based training program has been taught online since 2012. When the pandemic hit, and ALL our lives suddenly became remote, online learning took on a new depth. Isolation and genuine health risks of exposure to the virus created complexities, prevented students from working in-person with their clients, requiring the program director to both revise teaching the program and provide support for her students as they navigated this emerging new world. Differences in how different countries handled the pandemic also came into focus. Through discussion and experientials this presentation demonstrates what aspects of the training translated well and which didn’t, discussing how we supported the client populations – early childhood/families, teens and adults – and the synergy that grew between us as professionals, from China, Romania, South Africa, USA, Canada, and Czech Republic, coming from a variety of fields including music therapy, DMT, elementary school teaching and somatics.

Instructors

Suzi Tortora, Ed.D, BC-DMT LCAT LMHC CMA

Kim Hamadani

Iveta Koblic

Missy Hall,

Sorina Petrescu,

Tara Stepenberg

Iro Stempa

Violaine Bonnassies

Registration

https://eadmt.com/conferences/4th-eadmt-conference-2022-how-far-is-far-how-close-is-close-choreographing-a-new-world