Conference and Annual General Meeting from Ontario Art Therapy Association

We need art so we do not die of the truth. --Nietzsche Dr. Slavin will address the question of why we humans vitally need art -- focusing specifically on the visceral experience of both visual imagery and music. What was the universal trauma, the “original loss” -- the partial disconnection from the rest of nature-that made it essential for art and music to co-evolve with-to use as well as counterbalance -- the rest of human intelligence and language? How do art, myth and religion allow us to grieve continuously the loss of our embeddedness in nature -- to create hope, meaning, connection, agency and joy in face of human existential anxiety? Dr. Slavin’s talk begins clinically with our response to trauma, taking us through 50,000 years of human pre-history and mythology with dramatic images of ancient, sacred cave art and multiple musical examples. Then, returning to the clinical context, we focus on how patients probe their analysts’ capacity to open themselves imaginatively to a mutual, creative process that inevitably embraces the analyst’s version of the same universal, existential issues for which their patient has sought help.

This May, take a walk with the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario (SSO) throughout the province and help give Peace of Mind to the over 130,000 Ontarians who are living with schizophrenia and psychosis.

This 2 day workshop is for service providers. It is $250 for two days including breakfast, lunch and refreshments. This workshop done by Teresa Naseba Marsh will help you to understand vicarious trauma and to be able to move beyond vicarious trauma.

Join us to discuss with Dr. Gabor Maté topics like stigma, discrimination, and criminalization; the impact of trauma, well-being and self-medication; poverty, gentrification and services; and harm reduction.

Do you know how the foods you eat affect your mood and thinking? -Join us for a mini-science lesson on basic brain function and how it relates to food and mental health. -Learn how to energize yourself and support your immune system through the foods you eat. -Create easy meals and snacks for the whole family that refuel and improve the mind, body and mood.

A conference to unite those affected by PTSD.