(Self-Study, 1.5 CEs) The Heroine's Journey (Part II): Applications in Practice
A Creative Arts Therapies Approach to Working with Women's Depression and Anxiety
Applicable for self help and mental health professionals.
(1.5 Self-Study, continuing education contact hours for LCATs in New York State.)
In a modern, fast-paced world, many women today experience a painful disconnect from the deep Feminine. Raised on psychologies that examine a woman's femininity as a reaction to a male paradigm, as opposed to her own inherent trajectory, women have become lost and unable to find our way back to center, leading to the highest rates of depression and anxiety ever recorded.
This course offers an introduction to a dynamic model for understanding and embracing a feminine identity through the framework of “The Heroine’s Journey,” by Maureen Murdock.
This presentation explores:
- A case study examined through the framework of The Heroine's Journey
- 3 creative arts therapies techniques that may be applied in treatment
- An introduction to an 8-week treatment protocol, Embracing the Feminine.
- A Guided Meditation Experiential
This course is right for you, if you are...
- A creative arts therapist
- A mental health professional
- Seeking self-help
- Seeking creative inspiration
The framework of The Heroine's Journey, and the practices in this challenge are primarily focused on the experiences of cisgendered women. However, I do believe that the work we cultivate around the "womb space," which is also the sacrum or sacral chakra, can apply to all who wish to cultivate their feminine aspects.
The sacral chakra is associated with receptivity, emotional intelligence, affect regulation, the embracing of dualities, sexuality, pleasure, play, and creativity. It is where we first explore and learn to organize our sensuality and felt experiences. Exploring this part of the self as represented by the energetic or spiritual body is a benefit to all, even if the physical "parts" may be different than that of a cisgendered woman, or have been surgically altered, removed, or damaged.
Now, before you say, "I'm fine"...
Ask yourself if you feel:
- Nervous or "empty"
- Guilty or worthless
- Very tired and slowed down
- You don't enjoy things the way you used to
- Restless and irritable
- Like no one loves you
- Like life is not worth living
- Constantly questioning yourself or your decisions
- Panicky or restless for no reason
Or if you are:
- Sleeping more or less than usual
- Eating more or less than usual
- Having persistent headaches, stomach aches, or chronic pain
- Constantly in motion
- Always have to be “productive” or doing something
- Avoid stillness and silence as much as possible
- Turn to stimulating activities or distractions to avoid your own thoughts
If these symptoms keep occurring and are interfering with your daily life, they may be signs of depression or anxiety.
Approximately 12 million women in the United States experience clinical depression each year (nearly twice the rate of men). About one in every eight women can expect to develop clinical depression during their lifetime. Additionally, depression occurs most frequently in women aged 25 to 44, and girls ages 14-18 have a consistently higher rate of depression than boys at this age.
There is an interrelationship between the bio-psycho-social-spiritual aspects of life, and we must approach treatment from this integrative perspective.
With this course, women will tap into a resource for healing all of the above factors. It involves shifting from an overemphasis on external strivings and an essential disconnect from your “true self,” to focusing on your spiritual core, and reintegrating your feminine aspects with the masculine.
As you engage with the practices in this course, I hope you become empowered to take ownership of your journey to self-discovery, which will allow for the manifestation deeply loving and intimate relationships.
Participants of this event will be able to identify the following on a multiple choice quiz and learning assessment, which will be part of the course evaluation:
- Identify at least two stages of the Heroine’s Journey.
- Identify two creative arts therapies techniques in implementing guided meditation.
- Identify at least one Mindfulness-Based, Creative Arts Therapies directive in Working with Women’s Depression and Anxiety.
In order to obtain the 1.5 continuing education contact hours for LCATs in New York State, you will need:
- To complete a course evaluation through Survey Monkey.
- To complete a graded learning assessments for both the self-study modules, and the live modules (you must answer at least 75% of the questions correctly; this score will trigger the release of your certificate by email).
A reminder about self-study and continuing education:
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If you have any problems or technical difficulties, please contact Briana MacWilliam at [email protected]
CreativeArtsTherapiesOnline.com is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Creative Arts Therapists. (#CAT-0014.)
Your Instructor
After graduating with a BFA in Illustration and a minor in psychology, Briana MacWilliam moved to New York City where she earned her Master’s in Professional Studies and Creative Arts Therapy (MPS) from Pratt Institute.
For over a decade, Ms. MacWilliam has practiced as a Licensed and Board Certified Creative Arts Therapist (ATR-BC, LCAT) in various healthcare settings throughout New York City, working predominantly with traumatized women and addiction. For the past four years, she worked as a research coordinator at the Amen Clinics Inc., an agency focused on using brain scans and SPECT technology to provide accurate diagnosis and integrative treatment for mental health problems, poor nutrition, and other obscure conditions.
Dr. Amen has been a guest on CNN, PBS, Dr. Oz, Entertainment Television, Dr. Phil, The View, TedX, Rachel Ray, Larry King, and more. To learn more about The Amen Method, which focuses on the biological, psychological, social, and spiritual aspects of life and treatment, click here. To take an online brain health assessment, click here.
Currently, in addition to private practice, Ms. MacWilliam is a professor for Pratt Institute’s Graduate Creative Arts Therapies Department, where she teaches personality development, thesis research and clinical supervision.
Writing, drawing, and painting have always been her passion, and she strongly believes in the curative powers of the creative process.
To learn more, please visit her website at brianamacwilliam.com. Or her community blog for artists and writers at Yellow Bricks. You can also follow her weekly posts on mindfulness and artmaking on Instagram or her Facebook Page.