On Another Note...

What you may not know about me is that I am a licensed social worker and I work with adolescents experiencing major mental illness at an outpatient day treatment center. At the program, we run various therapeutic groups, and last year, I created the curriculum for a therapeutic photography group called Finding Focus. The curriculum is researched-based and asks the group members to make photographs based off of various prompts I give them. Here is the purpose of the group: 

Finding Focus is a therapeutic photography group that allows for group members to create visual representations of their thoughts, feelings, interpretations, and beliefs of their own reality. This group promotes self-discovery, creative expression, self-esteem development, and uses the group format to foster mutual aid, relatedness, and interpersonal relationships.

This past April, I facilitated a workshop on Finding Focus at the International Association for Social Work with Groups (IASWG) Massachusetts Chapter conference. Last year, I presented this group as a poster at the IASWG 35th Annual Symposium in Boston. After the Symposium last year, I wrote a paper for publication in the Symposium "Proceedings" and I was informed this past week that it was accepted and will be published. 

I'm super excited about this news and super happy that "Academia" is accepting photography as an effective therapeutic modality.