ITA Lead to Young Chicago Authors through Mutual Link
Amongst the crowd at a Chicago Community Trust-supported Art Educator workshop, Kesha Daniels listened to Dr. Marni Rosen, ITA’s Practice Director, speak about trauma-informed therapy approaches. As the Director of Programs at Young Chicago Authors, Daniels, struck by the presentation content, sought an opportunity to bring Dr. Rosen to her staff just prior to YCA’s annual poetry festival, “Louder than a Bomb”.
The festival is described as an Olympic-Style Poetry event brings teens and young adults from across the country together to share personal stories, life accounts, and community experiences. The content can be raw, shocking, and exceptionally psychologically-demanding. Daniels recognized in previous years that students exiting and staff members facilitating the program had come face to face with traumatic stories that triggered emotional responses in need of arts-based therapeutic support.
Rosen’s newest Trauma-Informed workshop hones in on that support type, its purpose to assist the YCA staff in understanding the psychological and physical response to trauma, meanwhile developing approaches to assist students, artists, and staff experiencing emotional distress. The beauty of the Rosen-Daniels connection is the intersectional representation of the practicing artist and Creative Arts Therapy. It is an example of how ITA can aid other arts-based nonprofits to make a difference within their communities and beyond by providing trauma-informed arts approaches.
Dr. Rosen will be continuing her development of the Trauma-Informed Arts for the Arts Educator curriculum through a grant provided by the Chicago Community Trust. Pictured by Dr. Rosen is a Trauma Art Therapy piece, or Response Art, a process art therapists use to reflect upon their sessions.