Play as Primer Part 3 – Dr Francesca Bernardi

This is the third workshop in a series of three events: Silence as Primer, Kindness as Primer, Play as Primer.

‘Play as Primer’ is a joyful provocation towards play practices for eliciting memories and past experiences that can help clarify the present and give the inner child permission to be, contributing to self-discovery and healing.

This session offers a space to explore a range of definitions of play and practical opportunities to extend these ideas to working with clients of different age groups. The emergent possibilities of play can also be applied to working within a group dynamic, in communities and in business, and with individual clients who may prefer creative modalities for action and healing.

Defining and re/defining play, intentionally, can elicit unexpected solutions, priority-setting and therapeutic pathways. Play can serve as a method for interaction and intervention that has the potential to engage clients’ creative authority and participation, with and beyond words. Play also allows for an appreciation of aesthetic, transformational and material possibilities, emerging in concrete and poetic ways, that can (and should) remain inexplicable, mysterious, even sacred.

Learning Objective Participants Can Expect From This Event

• Expect an interactive space for reflection and action that offers a series of ideas to ponder upon as well as ‘playful’ statements that invite a material response from each member of the group. For this purpose, please bring with you (small) found objects, for example: paper cutouts from magazines and newspapers, paper cups, bus tickets, business cards, jam jars (almost anything…). This way you may experience the playful and divergent possibilities for self-expression, surprise and reflection, which can become primers for the therapeutic encounter.
• By identifying different definitions of play, inspired by process over talk, these ideas can be integrated in your approach to therapy, coaching and practices for self-healing.
• Participate in a three-part facilitated gathering to share ideas and shape these in ways that are relevant to you, re-imagining what it means to play, drawing on experiences to engage your originality and resonances from the collective.

Who is This Workshop Appropriate For?

• Anyone hoping to engage in reflection and collective meaning-making; therapists, coaches and socially-engaged practitioners.

How May This Workshop Impact Your Practice?

• We often think of play as an age-bound recreational process or activity, yet play is at the centre of our inner joy, in collectiveness and in solitude. Play can be a primer for the therapeutic encounter with adults and children. This workshop welcomes the creative synergies of the group and offers you some techniques for generating ideas, looking to the joy of play as a source of inspiration.

Please bring with you: (small) found objects, for example: paper cutouts from magazines and newspapers, paper cups, bus tickets, business cards, jam jars (almost anything…).

RECORDING 

This event will be recorded and you can use the ticket function to pre-purchase the recording before the event. This will be useful for colleagues who are not able to attend the event live and also for those who attend the event live and want to watch it again.

ZOOM 

This event will be hosted on the Zoom meeting platform where we will use our cameras and microphones to interact with each other as a group.

SELF-SELECT FEE

The self-select fee is a radical inclusion policy to open learning for all colleagues. The guide price for this event is £20.00, however, we appreciate that income varies greatly in different locations and circumstances. Please contribute what you can to help us maintain inclusive professional training.

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At Onlinevents, we and the presenters we collaborate with are committed to working in a way that aligns with the ethical codes and frameworks of our respective professional organisations. We expect all colleagues attending our events to uphold the ethical principles of their professional membership.

If you are not a member of a professional organisation, we ask that you participate in a way that is both authentic and respectful, fostering a space of mutual learning and professional engagement.

By registering for this event, you agree to be present and interact in a manner that reflects these principles.

Dr Francesca Bernardi

Francesca Bernardi, PhD, is an independent researcher, MA supervisor, dis/ability advocate, coach, and community artist. Francesca has a background in education and outreach, having worked as a teacher and artist-in-residence with children and adults in diverse settings, such as schools, alternative provision, further education, museums, and public spaces (including Tate and the RSA.org). Francesca trained in Art and Design Education, Arts Administration, and Arts Therapies.

Francesca works internationally, focusing on co-creating arts-informed practices with marginalized communities and for those in the helping professions. She is dedicated to establishing environments that foster non-hierarchical, critical, and participatory work, nurturing creativity, civic engagement, and personal agency.

She has published her research on autism, arts-informed methodologies, childhood, and children’s rights, in books and journals (Bloomsbury, Routledge, Taylor and Francis). Recent collaborations include projects with the William Temple Foundation and Spaces of Hope, Queen’s University Belfast, and the University of Surrey with the Leverhulme Trust.

Francesca is the Founding Chair of the Antonio Gramsci Society UK, Editorial Board Member of Disability & Society, Board Member of the Disability Without Abuse Project – Los Angeles, and Associate Member of CATA (the Canadian Art Therapy Association).

Website | www.frabeart.carrd.co