“Play is the highest form of research.”
— Albert Einstein
I became interested in research while I was working within psych hospitals — I saw that there were processes and forces working there that were outside of my view as a clinician. Ultimately my interest in research and teaching led me to the CUNY Graduate Center, where I ultimately completed a PhD in Social Welfare.
My research focuses on the experiences of individuals who have traumatic life events, and the professionals who work with them. While researching adolescents’ experiences in a trauma-informed program, I heard stories from the staff members of how the work had changed them for the better, not just the clients.
Inspired, I conducted my dissertation on the phenomenon of Vicarious Resilience; the positive effects that clinicians can witness in themselves when they work with clients who have had traumatic experiences.
Currently I am an adjunct professor at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. I teach research design and implementation to second year MSW students, as well as “Social Work and the Creative Arts,” a course I developed for them which explores how the arts can be incorporated into clinical practice, research, and social activism.
In the past I have developed courses on Clinical Practice with Trauma and Current Approaches to the Treatment of Mental Illness; and taught courses relating to core clinical practice, substance use and addictions, and working with clients with HIV, cancer, and chronic illnesses.
Students from the Taiwan training cohort
For five years I have been working with a group of extraordinary students and clinicians in Taipei, Taiwan, developing a training program in Developmental Transformations Drama Therapy, building on the work of Randy McCommons and Eddie Yu. I also teach this method within the NYU Drama Therapy master’s program, and through my teaching/training venture, Curious Rebels.
Playing with clients improvisationally and with the use of one (and sometimes two) translators to help the play cross language barriers, has been a powerful way of exploring both the method of drama therapy, as well as the pedagogy we use to teach it in its country of origin.
Working in Taipei (and to a lesser extend in Khaosiung and Tainan, in southern Taiwan) has also expanded my awareness of the cultural humility required to bring an American-grown method in an ethical way to another culture.