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Directors

Rebecca Walters and Judy Swallow Recipients of the 2005 Collaborator's Award from the American Society for Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama Rebecca Walters, MS, LMHC (Licensed Mental Health Counselor), LCAT (Licensed Creative Arts Therapist), and TEP, is the founder and co-director of the Hudson Valley Psychodrama Institute (1989). Rebecca received her Masters degree in Expressive Therapies from Lesley College in 1978 and has worked with individuals and groups of children, adolescents and adults since then. With thirty years of inpatient experience, she was the Director of Child and Adolescent Psychodrama Services at Four Winds Psychiatric Hospital, Katonah, NY where she ran six psychodrama groups a week with children and with adolescents. She also supervised the psychodrama internship program at Four Winds.While at Four Winds she developed ways to effectively used psychodrama and other action methods in Dialectical Behavorial Therapy skill groups which she ran on the adolescent units several times a week. Rebecca is a sought after international trainer and is known for her expertise in the use of action methods with children and adolescents as well as in the use of psychodrama in DBT skills groups. She has brought her well received training seminars in these areas to conferences and training institutes throughout the US and abroad. She developed, along with Bill Coleman, TEP, a psychodrama training curriculum for substance abuse counselors for Daytop, NY. She has served on the faculty of Gerry Spence's Trial Lawyer College and is currently on the faculty to MD Anderson Cancer Center's I*CARE, a program for Interpersonal Communication and Relationship Enhancement that is a program of the Department of Faculty Development dedicated to improving the communication among cancer patients, their families and their providers. She is the co author of several articles on the use of psychodrama and sociodrama in medical education. Rebecca is an elected member of the Executive Council of the American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama, an organization in which she is a Fellow. She is the 2010 recipient of their Hannah Weiner Awarded which honors her years of service to the ASGPP. She is the current president of the Hudson Valley Chapter of the ASGPP. Rebecca is certified as a Trainer, Educator and Practitioner by the American Board of Examiners in Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy. She has a private practice in Highland, NY (New Paltz) and is known for her warmth, sensitivity and humor.
Judy Swallow, MA, LCAT (Licensed Creative Arts Therapist), TEP, Co-director of HVPI, She is Certified as a Trainer, Educator and Practitioner by the American Board of Examiners in Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy and was the Senior Psychodramatist at Four Winds Hospital in Katonah, N.Y. where she worked for over twenty years with inpatient and outpatient adults including the dually diagnosed. Judy is a certified family therapist and a trainer and practitioner of Rubenfeld Synergy®, one of the pioneering body/mind approaches to awareness and healing. She has had a private practice in Westchester and the Hudson Valley for over thirty years. Judy is known for her skills in integrating family work, mind/body awareness and psychodrama. She has presented on these topics at national and international psychodrama conferences as well as at USA Body Psychotherapy conferences. Judy is the past Chairperson of the American Board of Examiners in Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy and is a Fellow of the American Society for Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama. She is a founding member of Playback Theater and the director of Community Playback Theater in Highland, NY. She has been involved with the development and implementation of intergenerational arts, theater and storytelling programs and workshops for community groups and public schools. Judy is grandmother to nine grandchildren ages one to twenty seven, a role she loves dearly.

Faculty

Deborah Shaddy

Deborah Shaddy, MS, LMHP, LCPC, TEP is currently the campus counselor at the University of St. Mary in Leavenworth, KS. For the past 15 years, she maintained a private practice in Omaha, NE serving individuals, families and groups as well as providing on-site employee assistance services to a local Fortune 500 company. During that time she utilized her psychodrama and sociometry skills in her clinical practice, in the development and facilitation of spirituality retreats, and in consultations to corporate, academic, and professional groups. She is now developing training programs in Omaha and Kansas City.

Guest Faculty

Ann Hale

Ann E. Hale, M.A., TEP studied with J.L. and Zerka Moreno, graduated from the Moreno Institute and edited the student's edition of Who Shall Survive? (1995) Ann founded the Toronto Centre, Playback Theater Northwest (Seattle) and the Blue Ridge Human Relations Training Institute (Roanoke, VA). She currently is revising her book Conducting Clinical Sociometric Explorations and the accompanying CD ROM of sociometric devices. Ann resides in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Roanoke, VA and teaches drawing and painting. Ann is a past president of the ASGPP. She currently directs the International Sociometry Training Network (www.sociometry.net) and is involved in writing, exhibiting paintings and supervision of psychodramatists.

Bill Coleman

Bill Coleman, LMSW, TEP, is a certified trainer in Tucson, AZ. He is the resident Psychodramatist at Sierra Tucson directing psychodrama groups for the full range of psychiatric and addiction disorders. He has written a manual for Clinicians on the use of Mandalas in the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Bill has been a trainer with HVPI for over 10 years and has conducted sessions specifically for Substance Abuse Counselors. He worked as a Psychodramatist at Four Winds Hospital treating dually diagnosed adolescents and was an Adjunct Professor at Russell Sage College teaching a course in Theater Therapy. Bill has conducted workshops and has lectured widely including the Cleveland Clinic where he presented at their Psychiatry Grand Rounds. He is also now associated with a new intensive Outpatient Program at Desert Star Addiction Recovery Center in Tucson where he offers individual therapy and directs psychodrama groups for substance abuse and sex addiction.

Regina Peterson

Regina Peterson, MSC, LCSW, TEP is a psychodramatist at St. Cabrini's Home in West Park, a residential school for adolescent girls. She has an undergraduate degree in art, and actively incorporates her interest in art and creativity in her work with the young women at West Park. Her work at Cabrini's also includes integrating DBT as part of milieu therapy. Regina's previous experience includes working as a social worker at hospitals and nursing homes, as well as being the director of the undergraduate social work program at Cabrini College in Pennsylvania. During 2005, Regina worked extensively with the Red Cross and Department of Social Services to service the needs of the April flood victims in Ulster County.

Donna Little

Donna Little, M.S.W., TEP has been a psychodrama trainer for twenty-eight years and completed training in systemic family constellation with Heinz Stark through Healing Heart and Soul, LLC in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She resides in Toronto, Ontario, where she is a psychodrama trainer with the Toronto Centre for Psychodrama and Sociometry. Donna is vice-chairperson of the American Board of Examiners in Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy. She is also co-author with Ann Hale of a monograph entitled Sociometric Processing of Action Events (2004) The joy she has in her role of grandparent is reflected in her writing and poetry and the work with trainees and clients.

Susan Aaron

Susan Aaron is the founder of Psychodramatic Bodywork®. She is an internationally respected expert on emotions, the body and spirituality. For 18 years Susan's workshops and training have transformed people across Canada, England and the United States, teaching them about the relationship between the body and the healing journey. She consults and conducts workshops for agencies and organizations internationally. Susan is a Canadian Director of Psychodrama, a Psychotherapist, a Registered Massage Therapist and a clinical member of the Ontario Society of Psychotherapists (OSP). Susan is the recipient of the 2006 Innovator’s award, presented by the American Society of Group Psychotherapy & Psychodrama (A.S.G.P.P.). This award acknowledges her innovative work in combining psychodrama and bodywork.For more information about Psychodramatic Bodywork visit: www.youremotions.com

Dorothy Baldwin Satten, Ph.D., Mort Satten, Ph.D.

Dorothy Baldwin Satten, Ph.D.

Dorothy is Founder and Director of Westwood Institute. She has served on the American Board of Examiners in Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy and is a Certified Trainer, Educator, Practitioner (TEP). She is a Fellow of the American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama, and is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Dorothy conducts training in focused and effective action methods for mental health, government, religious and social service agencies. Dorothy was the plenary speaker at the ASGPP Conference in Santa Fe, May 2003. Click here to visit the Westwood Institute.

Mort Satten, Ph.D.

Mort is Associate Director of Westwood Institute and a psychodramatist trained at the Moreno Institute. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama. He teaches graduate level courses in psychodrama and specializes in 12-step recovery programs for people with addictive behaviors. Mort is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist.

Zerka Moreno

Zerka Moreno, with her husband Dr. J.L. Moreno, was the creator and developer of today's methods of Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy. Zerka Moreno is especially identified by her teaching of the classic model of psychodrama. She is the oldest living representative of Moreno’s ideas and has brought his message around the globe.

Liz White, MS TEP

A former Life Skills coach and trainer with the YWCA, Liz is certified as a Trainer, Educator, Practitioner by the American Board of Examiners in Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy, on which she has also served as an elected member.

For twenty-five years, Liz has pioneered in psychodrama training, first in Toronto and now in a new Centre in Saskatchewan. In addition to her psychotherapy practice in Toronto, she is highly regarded internationally as a lively and seasoned trainer, consultant and educator.

Liz has been in independent practice for thirty years

Jonathan Fox

Jonathan Fox, MA, TEP is a Fellow of the American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama and was winner of the Innovator's Award of the ASGPP. He was keynote speaker at the Society's annual meeting in 2006. The founder of playback theatre, he has practiced in many different cultural contexts. Jonathan is also the director of the School of Playback Theater which attracts students from all over the world every summer. He also recently served as the Co-director, Brandeis International Program, Recasting Reconciliation
through the Arts and Culture, Brandeis University.

Jonathan is author and/or editor of numerous books and articles on Playback Theater and Psychodrama, including: The Essential Moreno:Writings on Psychodrama, Group Method, and Spontaneity (1987); Acts of Service: Spontaneity, Commitment, Tradition in the Non-scripted Theatre (1994); Gathering Voices: Essays on Playback Theatre (1999), and a chapter on playback theatre in Africa for the forthcoming book, Compendium of Applied Theatre. His books and articles have been translated into many languages including German, Japanese, and Bulgarian.

Jonathan is an internationally renowned trainer and within the last year has taught at New York University, University of Windsor (Canada), and Manhattanville College, as well as institutes in Finland, Japan, Germany, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the Netherlands. He is also a sought after keynote speaker.