Author Archives: Priya Senroy

Cross Cultural & Diversity Quotes

Posted by: Priya Senroy on July 21, 2011 3:09 pm
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In this blog I would like to share quotes about cross culture and diversity. As a counselor and practitioner working with diverse population, these quotes have become ‘teachable moments’ for me whenever I face challenges, roadblocks or dilemmas while interacting with my clients.

Here are some quotes that I found that are both inspirational as well as eye openers for me.

 “A Senegalese poet said ‘In the end we will conserve only what we love. We love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught.’ We must learn about other cultures in order to understand, in order to love, and in order to preserve our common world heritage.”
–Yo Yo Ma, White House Conference on Culture and Diplomacy

“Strangers in a new culture see only what they know.”
-Unknown

“We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors. But, they all fit nicely into the same box.”
-Unknown

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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Hello Readers!

Posted by: Priya Senroy on July 8, 2011 1:24 pm
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In this July blog, I continue to share with you some amazing work happening in other parts of the world in the field of using creative arts as a counselling process.

This video illustrates how classes in acrobatics may be combined with group counselling concerning setting and obtaining goals in life within the realms of
social work. It provides guidelines for those in charge of acrobatics and counselling classes.

The facilitators recommended that if this combination methodology is meant to be used with a specific group of participants over a number of classes in acrobatics ideally over a period of at least a few months, involving at least 10 classes organized at regular intervals. Classes in acrobatics will help build confidence and self-esteem of participants. The counseling methodology is designed to capitalize on learning points classes in acrobatics provide concerning how to set and obtain goals in life.

Again this is for facilitators who are skilled in the language of acrobatics and for others who may want to get inspired to combine an art form that they are experts in with counselling.

 




*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Back to Basics

Posted by: Priya Senroy on June 22, 2011 2:03 pm
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I found an interesting read in the article written below about Cultural Diversity and Successful Counseling By Jewell Hankins.

Immigrants of today seem to differ from past generations in that they seek to retain many of their cultural values and are less interested in becoming homogenized within the U.S. culture. (Rubaii-Barrett & Back, 1993) This distinctness can create a potentially complex situation for both the client and therapist who may differ substantially in their own cultural values. For successful therapy to take place, it is important for therapists to be culturally sensitive of clients and avoid stereotyping. Stereotyping is detrimental to the client/therapist relationship involving certain religions, or pertain to specific races, ages, or genders, and still others can relate to non-verbal cultural gestures that may mean different things to different cultures. Although therapists cannot possibly be experts on all cultures and their specific customs, it is important for therapists to recognize potential biases that cultural differences can create in the assessment process. (Ayonrinde, 2003)

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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Digital Art Therapy

Posted by: Priya Senroy on June 13, 2011 10:35 am
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Continuing on exciting happenings in the field of Creative Arts, this blog is inspired by an article published by Art therapist, Cathy Malchiodi on the topic- Art Therapy Meets Digital Art and Social Multimedia, Art therapy goes digital in the 21st century…well maybe.

Cathy’s opening paragraph caught my attention as did this video I saw on the internet. According to her, traditional materials of 20th century visual arts-drawing, painting, sculpture, and collage or mixed media–have defined the field of art therapy for the past 50 years. But as digital technology has become more accessible and straight-forward, practitioners of art therapy are gradually including digital media as a method and means for client self-expression.

Now whether art therapists are going to use this medium or not is dependent on individuals- will it be covered by insurance etc and be seen as important as face to face sessions or not will probably will take time as, again according to Cathy, first, the field of art therapy will have to catch up with fast-moving changes in digital and social media as well as develop research studies to evaluate the benefits of these media with the hands-on activities such as drawing, painting, modeling, constructing, and assembling.

For those who are interested, this video demonstrates how traditional and non- traditional formats of using art therapy with clients can be intermixed to make the medium more accessible and interactive at the same time.

You can also join an ongoing lively discussion, Digital Art Therapy, is via the social networking service LinkedIn and hosted by media expert Ginger Poole to get more information.




*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Cross-Cultural Dialogue Through the Arts

Posted by: Priya Senroy on May 27, 2011 10:55 am
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This 2010 video highlights the project which was done with a partnership between the International High School at LaGuardia Community College in the US and employed theatre educators, oral historians, musicians and hip hop artists to teach and direct immigrant and refugee youth in performance and writing about their lives.

Cross-Cultural Dialogue through the Arts, developed and created collaborations between disparate communities. Conceived and directed by Judith Sloan, Cross-Cultural Dialogue Through the Arts (CCDTA) is a training and mentorship program for high school students to work under the direction of professional artists. The program offered a unique hands-on opportunity for graduate and undergraduate college students to work in teams as mentors and performance collaborators with new immigrant teenagers through a multi-media arts and theatre project at the International High School at LaGuardia Community College in Queens. Students from 50 different countries, speaking almost as many languages and dialects, populate the international high school.

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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Capoeira and Yoga as Therapeutic Interventions

Posted by: Priya Senroy on May 16, 2011 9:01 am
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I have been watching some interesting videos on You tube while trying to bring different kinds of didactic presentation materials into these blogs. So in the coming months, I would like to share different drama, theater, visual art, dance and other art forms which are being used as counselling techniques in various parts of the world. Some of the techniques are unusual while other are well know tools of the trade.

These two featured presentations talks about using the dance/movement forms as counseling technique. As a drama and movement therapist myself, I am always looking for unique and traditional dance forms that can be used in various combinations while working with clients groups.

The first feature goes on a journey to India and talks about combining Yoga and Dance into a cutting edge format for expression as well as performance. This feature pulled on my heart strings as I come from India and have myself at many times incorporated my Indian classical dance background in my counselling work.

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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

You Are Not One Of Us

Posted by: Priya Senroy on May 6, 2011 8:54 am
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A few years ago, I was trying to set up a focus group of lesbians for a counselling project and yes I did face many challenges in getting this project going. Working in a Scarborough community, after months of doing outreach, we finally got a group of four women interested. That number does not accurately reflect an estimated 450,000  gay or lesbian residents of the GTA. When trying to find out from this core group of women as to what was stopping the lesbians in Scarborough to take part in a focus group-my preconceived answer was met with the statement- “You are not one of us.”

Here I was thinking about society stigma, taboo being the reason but I had never thought my personal gender orientation would become a barrier in delivering a much needed service in the area.

Trained as a Creative Arts Therapist, we were taught about cultural diversity from a counselling perspective, but no one told me that I had to be of a specific group in order to work with them. And I know that at this point in time, I do not have the option to change my gender orientation or have a specific disability or have suffered a specific medical condition just to work as counsellor with any group.

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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Multicultural Infused Counselling : The Canadian Mosaic

Posted by: Priya Senroy on April 4, 2011 10:49 am
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It is a little argued fact that since its inception in 1971 multicultural policy has shaped Canada’s national identity and its international image, and has drastically altered the country’s demographic landscape. In response to these changes, counselling programs nationwide have become increasingly aware of the need to understand and respect diversity. As a result, there is a growing need for educational resources and curriculums that critically explore culturally sensitive approaches to therapy.

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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Intergenerational Life Drama

Posted by: Priya Senroy on April 4, 2011 10:40 am
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The concept of Life Drama was originally inspired by Dr. Robert Butler’s (1967, 1975), who mentions that life review is a major task of aging, an imperative for older people who often feel their lives have been meaningless. This philosophy can be found these days with the youth of the present generation who  are at risk.

Intergenerational Life Drama is an interesting approach while working with these two population groups.  One type of enactment that is often enjoyed is that of those who are in a group with a similar sub-cultural or ethnic makeup, because they can talk about the foods, the music, the sub-cultural heroes, legends, the old country, the traditions, superstitions, jokes, and other elements that make for the richness of a cultural identity (Wilder, 2006).

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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA