Arty Allen | he/him | LPC
Training program assistant faculty

Arty Allen is a Licensed Professional Counselor located in Savannah, GA working in both a University setting serving students and in private practice within the community. At Georgia Southern University, Arty provides students with unique group therapy opportunities utilizing EXA techniques as well as utilizing drama and narrative therapy skills to facilitate therapeutic TTRPG groups. In private practice, Arty focuses on working with diverse clients through a social justice lens, focusing particularly on LGBTQ+ and Transgender justice and Disability advocacy. Arty completed the EXA Professional Certificate Training Program with NWCEAI in 2024 and is currently pursuing certification as a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist. Arty has a background in visual arts, storytelling, music, and drama. Outside of work, Arty enjoys spending time playing RPG games with friends, cooking, camping, and spending time at the beach reading.

Anin Utigaard | She/Her | LMFT, REAT
Workshop Facilitator

Anin Utigaard is a Licensed Marriage Family Therapist and Registered Expressive Arts Therapist. She works with individuals and groups of all ages and cultures. She was a founding Executive Co-Chair for the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA) and continues to be on the Advisory Council for the organization. Anin was a faculty member with Natalie Rogers’ Person-Centered Expressive Therapy Institute for over 10 years, and uses the person-centered approach in her work with clients and students. served as adjunct faculty for the JFK University until moving in 2017. She has taught and presented her work nationally and internationally since 1992 and continues to teach with the IEXAT Masterclass Expressive Arts Therapy Training program in Hong Kong. Anin has a fine arts and professional music background, which she combines with psychology and the humanistic approach in psychotherapy. She believes that the arts are a transformative power that can change the world we live in.

Barbara Dunn | she/her | PhD, LICSW, MT-BC
Workshop Facilitator

Barbara Dunn PhD, LICSW, MT-­‐BC is a gifted presenter and musical performer who inspires her audience with a creative delivery of spoken word and song. She speaks from her heart and mind in drawing on more than 25 years of experience as a music therapist, social worker, psychotherapist, community and performing musician. She is a recipient of the Professional Practice Award in Music Therapy from the American Music Therapy Association, has recorded four musical albums, and authored the book More Than a Song: Exploring the Healing Art of Music Therapy. Her doctoral work focused on transforming conflict with music in mediation. Barbara’s educational path began with vocal studies and music therapy, which grounded her in music then led her to social work. It is there she learned more about therapy, social change, and advocacy. She traveled to the South Pacific to study ethnomusicology and learned about indigenous peoples and how other cultures use the arts to address societal and personal problems. With major conflicts exploding around our world, she wanted to use her knowledge of the power of music to heal and create change. This motivated her to engage in doctoral studies that explored the use of music as a tool for mediation. All along the way, she sang!

Beverly LaZar | she/her | M.A., K-12 Educator
Workshop Facilitator

Beverly LaZar is an artist, writer, and teacher. Midwife for the creative process, she holds space for others to know, honor, and love themselves through artistic practice.

She holds an MA in Art Education and has taught art workshops in various media for over twenty years. She especially loves collage, bookmaking, photography, and mixed-media visual journaling. Additionally, she is a special education teacher for Seattle Public Schools.

Beverly lives in Seattle, loves spending time with her adult children, and dog & cat. She loves walking through the park, sitting on the beach, feeding the crows, and taking photographs of it all.

Christa brennan | LPC, LCAT, ATR-BC, CADC
workshop facilitator & EXA Training program mentor

Christa Brennan is a licensed Creative Arts Therapist with over a
decade of experience working in outpatient Mental Health and Substance Abuse programs both as a counselor and clinical supervisor. With a special focus on grief, loss, trauma and addiction. She earned a BS of Social Work from Eastern University in 2008 and an MS of Art Therapy Counseling from the College of New Rochelle in 2012. After graduating she pursued additional training in Drama Therapy, EMDR, and is passionate about improving access to psychedelic assisted therapy. In 2020 she served on the board of the New York Art Therapy Association as their social media chair, and has been presenting at professional conferences since 2016.

In 2012 she developed Broken Bow ®, an experiential art therapy workshop based on the
Japanese philosophy of Wabi Sabi and the ancient practice of Kintsugi. Kintsugi is the
painstaking practice of repairing broken pottery with gold. These approaches treat the cycle of breakage and repair as a part of an object’s history rather than something to be discarded or disguised. The artist is guided through a process of confronting change, accepting change, and deciding how to move forward with what is left.

Originally from New York, Christa now resides in Portland, OR with her cat. When not working in private practice, she enjoys planning her next backpacking trip or attending music festivals.

Courtney Taylor | Phd, lmhc, reat
EXA Training Program Faculty & REAT Supervisor

Courtney Taylor is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), certified as an Eco-Therapis through the Earthbody Institute, a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist (REAT) with a PhD in Cognitive Psychology and recently completed a year-long training through Integrative Psychiatry Institute to become a certified Psychedelic-assisted therapy provider. Courtney completed NWCEAI’s Professional Training Program in 2019. Courtney currently works in private practice out of Wenatchee, WA working with all ages predominantly focusing on integrating expressive arts into healing.

Originally from Colorado, I have rooted in the state of Washington. While here I have taken flight with my career and building my family. I passionately enjoy spending time outside and exploring. I have experience working for non-profit organizations as a therapist and have even dipped my hands in community mental health. Working for a community mental health agency is what inspired my dissertation topic, which was on vicarious resilience. I am so curious and as a result I am always learning and extending training.

Debbi Odell | she/they | Phd, lmhc, reat
EXA Training Program Faculty & REAT Supervisor

Debbi Odell is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and alumni of the NWCEAI EXA Professional Certificate Training Program. Debbi offers a blend of somatic work, parts work, expressive arts therapy and EMDR to individuals, couples and groups in clinical practice. Populations served include adolescents, adults and couples dealing with relationship issues; trauma and dissociation; identity; attachment; anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Additionally,
Debbi has created and facilitated expressive arts therapy groups on multiple topics, including grief processing, identity exploration, EMDR resourcing, movement, and more! She currently co-facilitates an expressive arts group for alumni and fellow creative therapists.

They received a Master’s in Clinical Psychology with Somatic Concentration from Antioch University Santa Barbara and an Expressive Arts Therapy Professional Certificate from Northwest Creative & Expressive Arts Institute (NWCEAI). Based in Central California, she offers therapy and creative experiences throughout California via Zoom.

Darcie Davis-Gage | PhD, LMHC
Workshop Facilitator

Darcie Davis-Gage is a licensed mental health counselor in Iowa and a counselor educator at the University of Northern Iowa. Dr. Davis-Gage has over 20 years experience as a counselor, clinical supervisor, and counselor educator. She graduated from the Northwest Creative and Expressive Art Institute as an Expressive Art Therapist.

Dr. Davis-Gage actively collaborates in numerous interdisciplinary research and service endeavors and frequently publishes and presents nationally and internationally on expressive art therapy, wellness and self-care, and trauma informed design.

She is a member of the International Expressive Art Therapy Association and the Association of Creativity in Counseling. She currently provides expressive art counseling and wellness services in the community.She integrates expressive art into clinical supervision and consultation services at Hero Haven. This non-for-profit serves first responders and firefighters experiencing compassion fatigue and occupational stress. She is also training in Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART-Basic) which is an evidenced based eye movement treatment for trauma and other mental health issues.

She also enjoys an active art practice in dance, movement, drama, and mixed media.

Jacqueline Smith | (she/her) | MA, LMHC
Workshop Facilitator

Jacqueline Smith is a licensed therapist, trauma-informed facilitator, and expressive arts practitioner who has been supporting individuals and communities in healing and transformation for over 20 years. While she continues to offer therapy, her work is increasingly focused on coaching and creative facilitation helping caregivers, therapists, and parentified adults reconnect with play, joy, and nervous system resilience. Her integrative approach draws from parts work, polyvagal theory, mindfulness, and the expressive arts to create soulful, inclusive spaces for personal and professional renewal. Jacqueline is the founder of Playfully Alive, a project devoted to reclaiming creativity and inner vitality as a radical act of care—for ourselves and the world. She is passionate about helping those who have long carried too much return to what makes them feel most alive.

Kitsiri DeSilva | B.A.
Workshop Facilitator

With over thirty years of experience, Kitsiri DeSilva brings unique expertise to facilitating creative expressive therapy programs. He has experience leading staff development art therapy workshops for drug and alcohol rehabilitation services; youth mental health services, and for mental health organizations’ staff who cater to adults with depression and anxiety.

Through experience of combining play with a trauma-informed approach in art therapy and within professional mental health settings, Kitsiri has created a strength-based approach, integrating play with depth.

In his practice and research he is particularly drawn to embodiment, symbolism, and narrative therapy.

Kitsiri earned an Advanced Diploma in Transpersonal Art Therapy and a Bachelors of Arts Psychotherapy from Ikon Institute.

Kriya Kaping | M.A.
Workshop Facilitator

Kriya Kaping is a multimedia creative director and educator with over 15 years of experience supporting organizations and individuals in creating and sharing personal narratives that foster community involvement and interpersonal connection. She has worked with federal, state and local agencies to promote programs centered on civic awareness, cross-cultural competency, and scientific discovery.

Kriya has worked regionally and internationally creating trainings and adult education initiatives, webinars, workshops, panels, and roundtables. Kriya is a seasoned storyteller and facilitator who has collaborated on a number of workshops and courses with Bobbi Kidder for the NW Creative & Expressive Arts Institute and Antioch University in Seattle, WA. Kriya has performed her personal narrative stories for the stage with Portland Storytellers’ Guild, Portland Story Theater, Speakeasy DC, and Living Stages.

Luz Bratcher
Workshop Facilitator

Luz Bratcher is a therapeutic artist and educator. After spending over 20 years in design, she left the tech industry to found Golden Repair where she is creating spaces for art as a form of healing and self-discovery. Luz teaches youth how to be curious and adults how to be youthful again through painting, printmaking, embroidery, and more. Her current creative explorations include large-scale mixed media, spontaneous embroidery, and looking for new textures for gel plate prints.

Martha McCaughey | PhD, REACE®
EXA Training Program Faculty

Martha McCaughey is a Registered Expressive Arts Consultant and Educator (REACE), an author, teacher, and consultant. She earned a doctorate in sociology and graduate certificates in both expressive arts therapy and women’s studies. A retired university professor, some of Martha’s academic work used arts-based research methods for understanding women’s empowerment. She has been teaching workshops in visual journaling for about ten years, including at NWCEAI.

Rakefet Hadar | M.A.
Workshop Facilitator

Rakefet Hadar is an art therapist, author, and artist. She holds a BA and MA in Design from Beckingshire University, England, and a MA in Art Therapy from Lesley College.

Over the past 15 years, since her return to Israel, Rakefet has worked as an art therapist and developed the SoulPages™ Method, which combines therapy and art in a Visual journal. In 2015, Rakefet established the “Creative Journeys School”.

Today Rakefet trains facilitators in her Art Journaling unique method, SoulPages™ all over the world. 220 facilitators have since been certified and work with various groups and individuals. Rakefet also teaches the SoulPages™ method in the US, UK, Italy, Greece, and other countries worldwide.

Her book “Layers of Meaning-Elements of Visual Journaling” was published in 2018. It is the first publication to compile all elements of the SoulPages™ method. You can find more about the book on her website: https://soul-pages.com/ .

Sofiya Kostareva | SHE/HER | LMHC, REAT
Workshop Facilitator

Sofiya Kostareva is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Registered
Expressive Arts Therapist. As a first generation Ukrainian-American and queer woman she’s passionate about helping people understand the impact of systemic trauma and intersectionality on their lived experience. She runs a private practice based in Seattle that centers women and queer people, provides supervision to aspiring expressive arts therapists, and facilitates trauma-informed writing, movement and visual arts workshops. Though she is passionate about all forms of self-expression, dance and writing are her favorite creative outlets.

Theresa soltzberg | she/her | MA, LMFT
Workshop Facilitator & SoulPages® Facilitator Training Mentor

Theresa Soltzberg is an Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist living outside of Santa Cruz, CA. She has also been a licensed coach since 2011. Theresa has completed level two IFS certification from the IFS Institute. She is also an alum of the NWCEAI Professional Training Program. She has also completed a yearlong trauma certificate from JFK university. Theresa has an extensive art and writing background as well as over 20 years’ experience as a corporate trainer in addition to a master’s degree, an MBA in Organization Development. She has been focused on leading expressive art journaling groups focused on IFS parts work for the last five years and has completed facilitation training in this method from an art therapist who created the SoulPages® approach. She previously also completed facilitation training in the Jungian focused Soul Collage method.

Vidhu Singh | PhD
EXA Training Program Faculty

Vidhu Singh is an Expressive Arts Facilitator (NWCEAI), a Social Emotional Arts Facilitator (UCLA’s Arts & Healing Initiative), and a SoulPages® Facilitator, who is training in NarrARTive Expressive Arts Coaching. The Expressive Arts field showed up in her life as an unexpected gift of the pandemic. She is devoted to poetry, expressive writing and visual journaling practices that nurture discovery, creativity, personal and collective wisdom.

As a theater artist, Vidhu’s fluency in a variety of cultural and aesthetic forms, her dramaturgy, her scholarship and advocacy for South Asian theater have made her contribution to the American theater unique. Cal Shakes recognized this uniqueness by honoring Vidhu with the 2020 Luminary Award in dramaturgy.

She holds a Masters degree in Dramatic Art from UC Santa Barbara and a doctorate in Asian Theatre from UH Manoa. Her doctoral work provides a vital contextual foundation to regional experimental theater in India. A graduate of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors’ Lab, Vidhu is a core member of Theatre without Borders; a founding member of World Wide Lab; the founder and artistic director of RasaNova Theater; an advisory committee member with DNAWORKS; an ensemble member with Aviva Arts and a resident artist at Brava Theater.

Alison Bartley | LCSW
Workshop Facilitator

Alison Bartley is a licensed clinical social worker serving in the metro area of the nation’s capital. Alison received her master’s in social work from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia and her bachelor’s degrees in French Language and Literature, English Language Arts Education, and Foreign Language Education from the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio. She is also an alumnus of the Northwest Creative and Expressive Arts Institute’s Expressive Arts Therapy Professional Training Program and has a certificate in Dreamwork.

Alison works in the public schools, providing mental health services and advocating for students and their families to receive appropriate support for their mental health and wellbeing. She has had the pleasure of working with children, adolescents, and their families in clinical and educational settings for over a decade and her work with youth and adults is influenced by her background as an educator.

Alison also works in her own private practice, offering expressive arts therapy to teens and groups in the community. She specializes in helping clients experiencing anxiety, ADHD, trauma, self-harm, and suicidality. Alison is a member of several professional organizations, including IEATA, and keeps up on current research regarding neuroscience that enlightens the therapeutic work of expressive arts therapy in healing the effects of trauma.

Angela Lehr | She/her | Ed.D., BCC, LPC
Workshop Facilitator

Dr. Angela Lehr is a leadership facilitator, transformational coach, licensed counselor, clinical supervisor, consultant, and adult educator. She works with individuals, organizations, schools, and communities to cultivate resilience, promote holistic well-being, and center humanistic leadership as a vital pathway to navigating uncertainty and changing societal norms. She blends humor, heart, and practicality in her work with others. Her personal and professional guiding values are connection and authenticity, weaving together wholehearted leadership, relational generosity, and reflective awareness.
Angela has a background in Psychology (B.A.), Counselor Education (M.S.), and holds a Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.) in Interdisciplinary Leadership from Creighton University, emphasizing the synergy and creativity that arises when people from various backgrounds, disciplines, and perspectives join together to learn, lead, and grow. Her doctoral dissertation is entitled, The Care and Keeping of Teachers: A Phenomenological Study on Educator Self-Care.
Angela is a published writer, international presenter, and social science researcher
focused on operationalizing humanistic leadership, creating cultures of care in
organizations, fostering vibrant communities of practice, and supporting educators and school leaders in navigating the complex contextual stressors faced daily in the U.S. She is passionate about helping individuals and groups to lead and live authentically in the post-Covid world.
Beyond her professional identity, Angela was raised in a multiracial, Mexican American household in the rural West and learned early on how to appreciate and build bridges between cultures, languages, perspectives, and realities. She enjoys life on the coast of the Pacific Northwest, loves time with her family, and is energized by travel and new experiences. She deeply values the resilience of the human spirit and the power of courageous self-exploration!

Bobbi Kidder | M.A., RDT
director of drama therapy in EXA Training Program

 Bobbi Kidder is a drama therapist, facilitator, and teacher. Her emphasis is story, devised and scripted performance, therapeutic improvisation, and mindfulness. She believes in multimodal arts therapies to promote healing and has collaborated with visual, dance and movement, poetry, music, and narrative arts therapists to create breakthroughs for individuals, educators, families, and communities — from her home base in the Pacific Northwest to around the world.

Bobbi is on the faculty of NWCEAI and since 2011, she’s been on the Drama Therapy faculty at Antioch University in Seattle where she is now Affiliate Faculty. She leads local, national, and international workshops on Resolving Conflict and Active Learning. She is emeritus faculty at Rogue Community College and served as Executive Director of Southern Oregon Impact Theatre. She has served on the Executive Board of the North American Drama Therapy Association and is currently chair of the Board-Certified Trainer committee.

Carly Gilliland | MM, MT-BC
Workshop Facilitator

Carly Gilliland is a board-certified music therapist and passionate music educator based in Steamboat Springs, CO. She is driven by a deep belief that music is a universal language, capable of fostering connection, healing, and joy for everyone. Carly’s mission is to make music accessible to all, creating inclusive environments where people from diverse backgrounds and abilities can explore and experience the power of music. In her therapeutic work, Carly engages individuals of all ages in the interactive use of music to address a wide range of domains, including social, emotional, physical, cognitive, and mental health needs. Carly enjoys playing violin, guitar, piano and singing, as well as writing, recording, and performing her own original music. Additionally, she is passionate about art, nature, social justice, and sustainability, all of which inform and inspire her creative & therapeutic practices.

Cleopatra Bertelsen | PhD, LMHC, NCC, LMP, MHP, RYT-200
EXA Training Program Faculty

Cleopatra Bertelsen graduated with a MA in Drama Therapy and Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Antioch University, and a BFA in Theatre and Original Works from Cornish College of the Arts. Cleopatra’s work in private practice with adult clients is influenced by her background in theatre, art, and holistic wellness practices, as a registered yoga teacher, counselor, counselor educator, and artist. She utilizes creative arts modalities, mindfulness, and depth psychology through the lens of empowerment and liberation.

Currently, Cleopatra is writing her dissertation on Multiracial Counselors experiences with race while in counseling programs, and working towards her Ph.D. in Counseling Education and Supervision (CES) with a Creative Arts Cognate from Antioch University. She is the recipient of the CES Social Justice and Multicultural doctoral fellowship.

Cleopatra graduated from the NWCEAI professional training in June 2022. Cleopatra is an avid learner, knitter, cook, and creative. In her free time, she spends time in nature and exploring new ways for creative expression.

Courtney Oliver | PhD, LMHC, SUDP
Workshop Facilitator, EXA Training Program Mentor

Courtney Oliver is a licensed mental health counselor and substance use disorder  professional in Washington, with extensive experience in non-profit and private settings, working with diverse clientele since 2006. In 2020, she completed the Northwest Creative and Expressive Art Institute’s professional training and has since served as a mentor, facilitating workshops and the training program. Outside of work, Courtney enjoys engaging in various art activities, hiking, completing jigsaw puzzles, and spending quality time with her family.

Constance Fields | M.A., LPC, NCC
Assistant to EXA Training Program | EXA Training Program Mentor

Constance Fields is in private practice working with individuals, couples, adults, teens utilizing expressive arts techniques. Constance is also at a crisis stabilization unit. Constance has a performing arts background and additional expertise in REBT, CBT, DBT, and group therapy.

Hunter Paulson-Smith | they/them | LICSW
Workshop Facilitator

Hunter Paulson-Smith holds a Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Washington and is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW). With a background in community mental health, they’ve been practicing as a mental health practitioner for three years and has a decade of experience in social services and social work. In their practice, they draw from various modalities and frameworks, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), expressive arts therapy, as well as mindfulness and somatic-based approaches.

Israt Audry | (they/them) | MSW, LICSW
Workshop Facilitator

Israt Audry is a Bangladeshi, Muslim, queer, non-binary therapist (licensed in WA & NY) committed to supporting individuals in navigating their intersecting identities and experiences. With over 8 years of community organizing experience and a current role as a full-time clinical oncology social worker, Israt offers a trauma-informed, anti-oppressive approach to healing, with a focus on the impacts of race, class, gender, and sexuality. Drawing from both clinical expertise and a community-centered approach, Israt prioritizes working with BI&POC individuals, immigrants, LGBTQIA+ people, and survivors of violence, helping them reclaim joy and engage in collective healing.

Jennifer Levine | she/her | MFA
Workshop Facilitator

Jennifer Levine is a puppeteer, doll maker, visual artist, and arts educator. She has an MFA from SUNY New Paltz and is currently doing postgraduate work at the New Studio York School. For over thirty years, she has worked with children as a teacher and school principal in Jewish settings. Jennifer is also a graduate of the San Francisco School of Circus Arts.

Jennifer founded “The Peace Garden Song and Mural Project,” a mural arts residency program in New Jersey (peacegardenproject.com). To date, she has worked with over 1,000 New Jersey schoolchildren. She is currently a teaching artist with various organizations.

View her work at: Jlevinestudio.com

Kat McIver | PhD
EXA Training Program Faculty & Workshop Facilitator

Kat McIver is a working ceramic artist who has shown her work in cities throughout the world.

Kat holds a Masters degree in Spirituality from the Institute of Creation Spirituality at Holy Names College in Oakland, Ca, and a PhD in Transpersonal Psychology from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, California, with an emphasis in creativity and clay.

Kat has taught masters level courses in transpersonal psychology, creativity and innovation, and expressive arts workshops as well as offering individual sessions in expressive arts therapy and supervision for IEATA.   “I love facilitating the awakening of creativity and enlivening the connection to the soul’s journey through the heart-center with the artistic medium of clay and embodied spiritual practices.”

Find Kat’s work at Welcome to Moon Center Arts-Ceramic Sculpture: www.katmciver.com.

Kyle Brandt-Lubart | she/they | MSW, LCSW
EXA Training Program Faculty

Kyle Brandt-Lubart is an integrative mental health practitioner, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, community arts organizer, and multimedia maker who resides in St. Louis, Missouri. She owns and operates Tiny Postcards Counseling & Creative Arts, an independent practice which focuses on offering holistic, accessible mental health services to queer, trans, and non-binary folx, neurodivergent individuals, and lower-income community members. Her therapeutic philosophy is rooted in anti-oppression, empowerment, and recovery-focused frameworks. She is inspired by efforts to de-institutionalize health/wellness spaces, peer-led movements, and the principles of liberation psychology.

She is trained in Expressive Arts Therapy, EMDR, CBT, DBT, and mindfulness-based therapy and has a Post-Master’s Certificate in Assessment and Treatment of PTSD in Adults. Kyle’s creative practice weaves together and wanders between mixed-media visual art, poetry, music-making, movement work, video, and installation. She experiences the act of engaging with the arts as visceral, textural, whimsical, archival, and socio-political. Kyle is a former Regional Arts Commission Community Arts Training Institute Fellow and Dear Butte writer-in-residence. Her visual art has been featured in a variety of galleries and her poetry has appeared in online publications, print magazines, and anthologies. She is co-author/illustrator of the mixed-media chapbook, It Made A Sound, and co-hosts a monthly poetry open mic. She is dedicated to supporting grassroots initiatives in her community, and especially in the Dutchtown neighborhood of St. Louis, which is where she calls home. She is on the Dutchtown Main Streets Board of Directors and currently serves as Chair of the Design Committee. She earned her MSW from the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University, graduating with an individualized concentration in Community Arts and Mental Health, and has a BA from Oberlin College where she majored in History and Sociology. She originally hails from Brooklyn, New York.

Leitcia nieto | She/her | PsyD, LMFT, TEP
workshop facilitator

Leticia Nieto is a leadership coach, psychotherapist, and educator specializing in liberation, cultural responsiveness, motivational patterning, and evolutionary creativity. Her 2010 book, Beyond Inclusion, Beyond Empowerment: A Developmental Strategy to Liberate Everyone, is an accessible analysis of the dynamics of social location that offers readers ways to develop skills to promote social justice.

Dr. Nieto brings an enlivening approach to coaching, training and facilitation, drawing on expressive techniques and embodied practices to involve participants deeply and create opportunities for insight and change. Since 1980 she has successfully brought her skills to higher education and other learning communities (including three decades teaching in a graduate program in counseling), to service providers in helping agencies, to workplace teams, and to many community groups. Dr. Nieto’s activism, scholarship, and consulting work are informed by living at the borders of intersectional experience. In addition to degrees in clinical psychology and human development, she is a certified Trainer in Action Methods, including Psychodrama, Playback Theater, and Theater of the Oppressed. Leticia is a Senior Faculty at the International Tele’Drama Institute (ITI).  She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (WA) and was an AAMFT Approved Supervisor (2018-2024).

Dr. Nieto is internationally recognized for her expertise addressing social justice concerns from a developmental ecological perspective including orienting to systemic transformation, survivance, song and poetry, relational repair, joy, radical rest, intersectional coalition, and reparative and restorative justice. You can find out more on her website: https://beyondinclusionbeyondempowerment.com.

Shoshana Simons | she/her/femme | PhD, RDT
Workshop & NarrARTive Coaching Certificate Program Facilitator

Shoshana Simons, is a Registered Drama Therapist, Professor, and former Program Chair of CIIS’s MA in Counseling Psychology, Expressive Arts Concentration, and Interim Chair of the Community Mental Health Concentration where she teaches Family & Couple Dynamics, Multicultural Counseling & the Therapeutic Relationship & Narrative Expressive Arts Family Therapy. She is a voice actor and arts-based coach & consultant with Key of Life Academy. She is also adjunct faculty at the Northwest Creative & Expressive Arts Institute, Seattle, WA, where she is offering a Certificate in NarrARTive Expressive Arts in Coaching. Shoshana has 35+ years of experience working in multicultural settings with children and adults in the fields of play, education, antiracism, counseling psychology, organizational development, and community work.

Originally from London, UK, Shoshana came to the USA in 1990 to complete a clinical traineeship at The Stone Center, Wellesley College, MA. She returned to the Stone Center in 1998 as Training Director for The Open Circle Program, training elementary school teachers to implement a ground-breaking SEL curriculum using a whole systems approach.

Shoshana has worked as a therapist in the UK and USA and has taught in the fields of counseling psychology and intercultural relations at Goddard College, VT, University of Vermont, and Lesley University, MA.

Shoshana’s interests include narrative and systemic expressive arts practices, indigenous healing traditions, Jewish mysticism and Jewish shamanic healing, the role of expressive arts in leadership, and arts-based research methods.

Shoshana holds a MA degree in Sociology & Social Policy from London Metropolitan University, a MA degree in Human Development, and a PhD in Human and Organizational Systems from The Fielding Graduate Institute, CA. She is a graduate of the Omega Transpersonal Drama Therapy Program in Boston, MA and Wisdom of the Whole Coaching Academy.

Topaz Weis | REACE®
EXA Training Program Facilitator & Mentor

Topaz Weis began her sojourn through the world of expressive arts in her teens as a dancer/singer/thespian. She studied theater and dance at Indiana University. She earned her BA in Expressive Therapies by completing a MA program in Expressive Therapies from Antioch University Seattle in 1987. After 8 years in private practice as an Expressive Arts Therapist, and two decades of offering workshops combining expressive arts, mythology and earth-based spirituality with her company Travelling Temple. She has also completed Certificates 1 and 2 in Intermodal Expressive Arts Facilitation from Expressive Arts Florida Institute.

Topaz has now been a practicing Expressive Arts Facilitator for over 30 years. She is the Founder and Creative Director of Expressive Arts Burlington, LLC which she founded in 2013. In 2018 Topaz earned her REACE® credential and in 2019 became co-chair of the REACE® Professional Standards Committee for the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association. Topaz currently facilitates expressive arts sessions, workshops and training with individuals, groups, organizations, institutions and corporations. Populations she works with span a diverse spectrum of all ages and abilities.

Vida Vasaitis | she/her | MA, LMFT
Workshop Facilitator & Training program faculty

Vida Vasaitis earned her Master’s degree in counseling psychology from Antioch University Seattle. The degree was inclusive of drama therapy and creative arts in therapy. She works with individuals, couples & relationships, and families. She is also an alumni of the 2023-2024 Northwest Creative and Expressive Arts Institute program. Vida is licensed in Washington State as a Marriage & Family Therapist. Vida is multiculturally informed, sex positive, and a feminist-minded professional with a passion for social justice. Vida holds active membership in several associations including American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, Washington Mental Health Counselors Association, as well as North American Drama Therapy Association.