The Art of the Heal: How Creativity Inspires Resilience and Healing to Overcome Stress

Shoshana Averbach, LMSW, MA, social worker and music therapist, shares how the world of creative arts and creativity offers tools for resilience and healing from trauma. While trauma shuts a person down, creativity infuses life-enhancing energies for reclaiming, healing, and nurturing the self. The webinar will focus on recognizing creative means to nurture client spirit, enhance sense of self, and address the detrimental effects of stress. Participants will gain insight into the role and importance of creativity in resilience and the healing process, creativity and the brain, and overcoming resistance and barriers to creative expression. Several user-friendly techniques from various creative-arts modalities (e.g., music therapy, art therapy) will be discussed as well so clinicians can easily implement them into their clinical practice.

Shoshana Averbach, LMSW, MA, MT-BC, LCAT, CDP, CCM, BCP3, CMIP, earned 2 master's degrees in music therapy and social work from New York University and Yeshiva University, respectively, and is a Certified Dementia Practitioner, Licensed Creative Arts Therapist, Board- Certified Music Therapist, Case Manager, and has accreditation as a healer through the Jewish Association of Spiritual Healers. She also is a certified practitioner of the Emotion Code, Body Code, and Belief Code and studied other numerous holistic healing modalities for client self-healing. For over 35 years, she has worked with primarily geriatrics as a social worker, music therapist, and recreation leader in nursing homes, hospice, short-term rehabilitation, dementia, senior center, and home care. She has provided music therapy services and has performed in over 85 geriatric facilities in the NYC area. Shoshana produced two CDs of original, healing songs and musical compositions: The Time Is Coming (2011) and I Reclaim My Heart (2015). Shoshana currently works in private practice as a social worker, music therapist, and healer in the NYC area in addition to teaching psychology courses as an adjunct professor. For more information, see her website, www.authenticradiance.life.