Trauma-Informed, Culturally Responsive Expressive Arts Therapy:

Multicultural Considerations in Research, Practice, and Ethics (6 CE hours)

Three Live Webinars, 2 hours each, on Thursdays 12-2pm EST/New York Time Zone. Held on April 27, May, 4 and 11, 2023/ 6 credit NBCC approved course with focus on Culturally Responsive Expressive Arts Therapy and Cultural Ethics through a trauma-informed practice lens. This 6 hour continuing education course includes a review of the current research in multiculturalism to inform your practice and promote critical thinking skills in relation to cultural ethics. Best practices will be highlighted from the instructors’ expertise, publications, and research focusing on somatically-based expressive arts therapy, blended perspectives, and “situating” multicultural counseling approaches. It centralizes a Reflexive Visual Journaling practice to explore multicultural considerations ranging who you are, your background, and upbringing; values and beliefs you hold and how they impact your clients; and an understanding of intersubjectivity and the client-therapist relationship.

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This course is geared toward counselors, psychotherapists, expressive arts therapists, educators, and practitioners who are interested in culturally responsive approaches and expressive arts approaches to work with people of all ages. To help participants learn and apply this material, each session includes didactic, informational presentations and at least one experiential--hands-on time with methods and strategies. Interact with your colleagues through large group and break-out room discussion and networking. We provide extensive readings and resources on the course site, along with replays of the sessions-- and you have access for 120 days after the last session of this webinar series to watch or catch up with the course content.

Institute Faculty

Institute Faculty | Supervisor

Elizabeth Warson, PhD

Elizabeth Warson, PhD, ATR-BC, LPC, NCC, EMDR III, EXAT, EAP II, is a trailblazing force in the integration of equine-assisted therapy and expressive arts. As the founder of American Indian Art Therapy, her work stems from extensive faculty research at George Washington University and Eastern Virginia Medical School. Currently based in northern Colorado, Elizabeth operates Healing Pathways LLC, where she combines EMDR with art and horses, drawing on her expertise as a certified EMDR practitioner and consultant, Registered Art Therapist-Board Certified, certified Eagala professional and an EquiLateral trained equine-assisted EMDR therapist. As a faculty member at the Trauma-Informed Practices & Expressive Arts Therapy Institute, Elizabeth teaches both in-person and online courses focused on polyvagal-informed, equine-assisted, nature-based, bilateral stimulation, and sensorimotor-informed expressive arts therapy. Her research interests span stress and pain reduction interventions for Native American cancer survivors, culturally responsive practices, and trauma-informed methods. Her significant contributions include receiving a 2010 National Endowment for the Arts grant for her community-driven Coharie Heritage Empowerment Project, emphasizing cultural preservation. Elizabeth’s academic journey includes a BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art, an MA in Art Therapy from Vermont College, and a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies from Colorado State University. She has presented extensively at regional and national conferences, focusing on medical art therapy and culturally-responsive interventions, and has published over 20 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. Recently, she co-authored E.Qi: Equine & Expressive Arts Inspired Qigong with collaborator Sifu Kurtis Tilley. In addition to her therapeutic work, Elizabeth is a professional artist whose sculptural pieces have been exhibited both nationally and internationally, earning her an Ohio Arts Council fellowship award. Her multifaceted approach bridges art, counseling, and equine therapy, creating impactful experiences for individuals and communities alike.

Institute Faculty Guest

Institute Faculty

Cathy Malchiodi PhD

Cathy Malchiodi, PhD, LPCC, LPAT, ATR-BC, REAT is a research psychologist, a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist, and a licensed mental health counselor. She is the executive director of the Trauma-Informed Practices and Expressive Arts Therapy Institute and is an investigator with the US Department of Education, integrating trauma-informed expressive arts into classrooms. She has also worked with the Department of Defense since 2008 to bring expressive arts therapy programming and psychotherapy to combat military and their families and Veterans with posttraumatic stress and traumatic brain injury. Dr. Malchiodi studied with Francine Shapiro and is qualified in EMDR Level I and Level II. Cathy has assisted more than 500 agencies, organizations, and institutions in developing trauma-informed programming including the United Nations, Department of Defense, Kennedy Center, Harvard, MIT, and Johns Hopkins University. An international presenter and workshop leader, she given over 750 invited keynotes and workshops throughout the US, Canada, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia. She has authored 21 books, including the bestselling Trauma and Expressive Arts Therapy: Brain, Body, and Imagination in the Healing Process and Handbook of Expressive Arts Therapy. Her books have been translated in over 20 languages. A life-long learner, Dr. Malchiodi's latest research and practice includes sensory processing and neurodiversity affirming models of psychotherapy to address trauma through expressive approaches to intervention.

Course Curriculum

Check Back -- We Are Always Adding New Resources!

  1. 1

    • Syllabus, Goals and Objectives of this Course

    • Walk through this Live Webinar Site and Its Features

    • ▶️ ZOOM LIVE format: notes and tips!

    • About Your Instructors

    • Special Note About Art Materials and Expressive Arts Assignments!

    • Disclaimer

    • Optional: Introduce Yourself Here!

    • Visual Journaling Supplies
  2. 2

    • ▶️ ZOOM Link and Supplies!

    • Self-Reflexive Social Justice

    • The MSSS Model of Expressive Arts

    • Expressive Arts Therapy as Culturally Relevant Practice

    • Expressive Therapies Continuum: Three-Part Healing Harmony

    • Cultural Safety | Reflexivity

    • Intersectionality Life Grid

    • Multicultural Praxis | Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies

    • Indigenous Social & Emotional Wellbeing

    • BIOPIC Art Therapists

    • Racial Bias | Art Materials

    • Response Art

    • Multicultural Expansion | Art Materials

    • REPLAY Part 1: Lecture

    • REPLAY Party 2: Experiential

    • Please UPLOAD* and POST to Discussion! *Required

    • Warson PPT | Session 1
  3. 3

    • ▶️ ZOOM Link and Supplies!

    • Cultural Appropriation: A Short Film

    • Addressing Framework

    • Expressive Arts Therapy and Mestiza Consciousness

    • Multicultural Music Therapy

    • Black Aesthetics

    • Indigenous Art Therapy | Literature Review

    • Healing Pathways (Warson)

    • Maria's Story (Warson)

    • American Indian Medicine (Warson)

    • Dibaajimowin (Johnson-Fuller & Warson)

    • Transgenerational Trauma

    • First Nations Perspective | Hierarchy of Needs

    • Indigenizing Art Therapy

    • Replay Session Two

    • Please UPLOAD* and POST to Discussion! *Required

    • Warson PPT | Session 2

    • Trauma-Informed Yoga Holds

    • Art Therapy & Anticolonialism
  4. 4

    • ▶️ ZOOM Link and Supplies!

    • Multicultural Counseling and Social Justice Competencies

    • Person-Centered Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling

    • Multicultural Counseling Competence

    • Art Therapists of Color

    • Anti-Blackness | Music Therapy

    • Ethical Art Therapy Practice with Indigenous People

    • Interrupting Privilege Series

    • Replay Session Three

    • Please UPLOAD* and POST to Discussion! *Required

    • Warson PPT | Session 3

    • Facebook Group
  5. 5

    • IEATA | International Expressive Arts Therapy Association

    • ICDO | International Cultural Diversity Organization

    • Racism | American Counseling Association

    • Canadian Art Therapy Association | Indigenizing Art Therapy

    • American Dance Therapy Association | Social Justice Position

    • Dance Movement Association in Canada | Diversity, Inclusion & Accessibility Committee

    • Canadian Association of Music Therapy | Social Justice

    • Queering Music Therapy

    • AATA | American Art Therapy Association | Multicultural Committee

    • We Al-li | Culturally Informed Trauma Integrated Healing Approach

    • Amber Elizabeth Gray | Human Rights Psychotherapy

    • Addressing Framework

  6. 6

    • Final Steps to Your Certificate

    • Course Evaluation

    • Regarding the Use of Material in this Course

    • Final Question

    • Thank you! (Certificate)

Continuing Education Information

Counselors/National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC). Trauma-Informed Practices and Expressive Arts Therapy Institute has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6557. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC are clearly identified. Trauma-Informed Practices and Expressive Arts Therapy Institute is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. 

Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors. Trauma-Informed Practices and Expressive Arts Therapy Institute is an Approved Continuing Education Provider by the Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors.

Art Therapy Credentials Board [ATCB]. The ATCB recognizes a variety of CEC activities, including those in the areas of professional and mental health counseling. These activities are clearly outlined in their recertification standards provided to all ATR-BCs in their recertification year and on their website. A minimum of six CECs must be earned in the area of ethics each cycle. If you are licensed as an art therapist in your state, please check with your state board to verify what types of CEC activities are acceptable for license renewal.

California Marriage and Family Therapists, Social Workers and Professional Counselors. As of July 1, 2015, the State of California /Board of Behavioral Sciences [BBS] amended its regulations for continuing education providers to include National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) as a "board-recognized approval agency." If you are licensed as a marriage and family therapist, social worker, educational psychologist or professional clinical counselor in California, NBCC Approved Continuing Education Providers are recognized by the BBS to fulfill continuing education requirements. As of July 1, 2015, required CE hours can be accumulated through self-study and distance learning. 

PACFA. Many of our Australian participants indicate that these hours are accepted by PACFA---Psychotherapy and Counseling Federation of Australia. Please check with PACFA to verify this and let us know if you require any additional information for this organization to qualify your professional development hours.

Trauma-Informed Expressive Arts Therapy

An Approach That Centralizes Cultural Responsiveness