We found this nest while picking blackberries, it was so exciting to see it, to discover it. What a great home created by this bird, protected by thorned blackberries and yet with a food source right there! Often I think this metaphor may be too narrow for my research and that I should broaden the scope to include nature sculpture or holding environments......then , as when I found the nest, I was reminded of how powerful the image is and how important it is to be in flux, to broad - too narrow....this is qualitative research!

The Conversation(s)

I'm still working on my website, and as I add pages, contacts, art and resources I'm reminded of Karen's provocation in my Creative Imagination class...who are we having these conversations with about Expressive Therapy? The options are endless, however to not overwhelm us, Karen presented these communities: Philosophy, Education, Psychology, Arts, Humanities, and later I added Medical. Because my pilot study involved children, metaphor, artmaking, storytelling, attachment psychology and strength based components....I think, at this moment, the communities I need to connect with are early childhood, education, arts and psychology. Fortunately I will be meeting with my doctoral commitee next week for some simplifying ...

Research Tools

In class we've decided to analyze research tools for expressive therapy data representation. We are looking at Prezi, Websites created in Yola, Blogs, and Voicethread. I'm looking forward to spending more time examining these tools more closely. After this course I think there will be an expressive therapy research digital explosion!

Even though I created this blog in 2008, this is my first post...I am excited to begin this blog as a reflective journal into my research process. Above is a Context Map that I created in class. A quick sketch reorienting me to my research question that examines the creation of nature based sculpture, namely a bird's nest, by children to further understand their expereince of care, nurturance and protection.