Life presents challenges and although we do our best to meet those challenges, we often become stuck, frustrated and overwhelmed.
Therapy can help by providing a safe place for unloading stored up thoughts and emotions, and for unlearning destructive or unproductive habits. There are many ways to accomplish this, many kinds of therapy and therapists, many modalities and methods.
My job as your therapist will be to create the structure best suited to facilitate your process of healing and change. The approach I use brings together the perspectives of expressive arts therapy, social work, and psychoanalysis, emphasizing whichever works best for you in any given session.
Clay is at the heart of the studio-based work I do, especially upstate, where I have a fully equipped studio. Clay is dense, weighty, and malleable; it can become anything. Forms may be representational or abstract or somewhere in between; they may become fixed and permanent, be fired and even glazed, or be crushed and rolled back up in a ball.
Both in New York City and upstate, I offer other art materials and playful approaches in addition to clay, such as sand play, role play, movement exploration and storytelling. All of these expressive modalities provide relief from stress, stimulate the imagination, and through journaling and discussion, connect the intuitive and the analytical functions of the brain. For those who do not wish to engage in expressive modalities, imagery and visual thinking can be used to enhance a mostly verbal approach.
Work at the Clay Field
Work at the Clay Field is little known outside of Germany and Australia. It was developed in Germany in 1972 by Heinz Deuser and has only recently been available to non-German speakers, primarily through the trainings offered in Australia by Deuser's long-time student Cornelia Elbrecht, whose book Trauma Healing at the Clay Field was published in 2013. International trainings in English became available only in 2016.
Michelle's love affair with clay began at the age of 5, when she attended the Queen Street Settlement in Philadelphia. It continued through high school, college and beyond, including apprenticeships to potters in Japan. She has taught ceramics at Hofstra University and Wagner College.
As a therapist Michelle has experience working with all ages in psychiatric hospitals, clinics, residential settings and private practice and has a special interest in the use of clay, sandplay, and other non-verbal approaches to trauma treatment. A Board Certified Art Therapist, NY State Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Nationally Certified Psychoanalyst, Michelle maintains a private practice at her Deep Clay Expressive Therapy Center in Gardiner NY. She is currently completing her professional training in Work at the Clay Field.
Psychotherapy & PsychoanalysisAdults
For those seeking to enliven their personal journey, anchor their healing in concrete expression, relieve stress, neutralize and transform toxic energy, and get in touch with their dreams, individual sessions offer a combination of talk with clay work, drawing, painting, sandplay, or movement. Sessions are usually weekly or twice weekly for 60 - 90 minutes. Individual "Dreamfigures" sessions are available for both men and women. (Please see description under Group Work).
Teens
"Self-initiated Therapy" is the way one teen described my way of working. You can talk if, how, and when you want. If you don't feel like talking, you can focus on your art project, write in your journal, create a scene in the sand tray, or express yourself through movement. You're not put on the spot. Having a chance to do something physical or creative usually makes talking easier.
Children
Play therapy, art therapy, storytelling and sandplay are the primary modalities I use with young children. Social, educational, behavioral, and family issues are additionally addressed through meetings with parents and school personnel.
Parent Counseling
Sometimes situations arise that can cause anguish or confusion for even the best of parents. One or two counseling sessions are often all that is needed for parents to regain clarity and peace of mind.
Group Work
Dreamfigures, A Women's Clay Group
Offered at Deep Clay Expressive Therapy Center, Gardiner, New York
The group is open to those who identify as female, including all LGBTQ, non-binary, questioning, and non-conforming individuals who wish to participate.
Dreamfigures are the images and forms which inhabit our dreams, fantasies, and the wordless depths of the unconscious. This group process encourages opening to these personal and collective images and allowing them to make themselves known through clay or other art materials. Group members practice being in dialogue with the unconscious and gain strength from witnessing and being witnessed in the creative non-judgemental sessions. In addition to structured exercises and time for free artistic exploration, the Dreamfigures group experience includes journal writing, sharing of personal stories, and experiencing oneself and one's creations within the supportive circle of the group. Basic instruction in clay technique is offered as needed.
After two or three introductory individual meetings, participants may sign up for a series of six to ten group sessions. On alternate weeks, each group member meets with me or with another therapist of her choice for individual sessions.
The "Dreamfigures" process can also be experienced in individual sessions.
Supervision
Meetings are geared toward supporting the use of imaginative and expressive modalities in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy and embrace cognitive, mindfulness, body-mind based and relational approaches. Studio sessions allow for the integration of expressive means into the supervision experience. On-line supervision is also available when the limitations of time and geography rule out in-person sessions.
Methods & Materials
Expressive, creative and playful modalities are my specialty. These include play therapy for children, Guided Drawing, Work at the Clay Field and for all ages the use of miniatures for both wet and dry Sandplay.
Sessions also offer opportunities for drawing, painting and sculpting with a variety of materials and inter-modal expressive therapy integrating movement, art, writing, and voice.
Guided Drawing is a process of tuning in to and being guided by sensorimotor impulses using drawing materials on a large sheet of sturdy paper. Closing one's eyes is while drawing is recommended for this process, to avoid critical judgment and to free awareness to focus on and express deeply felt sensorimotor needs.
Clay Field Therapy is a another sensorimotor approach to trauma healing. Originated in Germany in 1972 by Heinz Deuser, since that time Clay Field therapy has been in continuous development by him and those whom he trained. Intensive international trainings, taught in English by Cornelia Elbrecht, became available in 2016. I was fortunate to be included in the first cohort of international students attending, and completed the four-year training in 2019.
Sandplay with miniatures provides an opportunity for all ages to enjoy expressive play that combines depth sense with tactile, visual, and narrative elements.
