Events and Classes: January
A Winter-to-Spring Season Reception
The East Side Institute presents...
A Winter-to-Spring Season
of Revolutionary Conversation
Wednesday, January 13, 7:00 - 8:30pm
920 Broadway, 14th Floor (at 20th Street)
Join Us for a season opening reception. Stop by after work, raise a glass and join us for...
...some creative play and improvisation,
...an introduction to upcoming workshops and events,
...and an opportunity to talk to our faculty, students
and broad community.
Join the conversation on the creation of a new psychology.
Please RSVP to mmeyer@eastsideinstitute.org or 212-941-8906, ext 304.
A Winter-to-Spring Season
of Revolutionary Conversation
Wednesday, January 13, 7:00 - 8:30pm
920 Broadway, 14th Floor (at 20th Street)
Join Us for a season opening reception. Stop by after work, raise a glass and join us for...
...some creative play and improvisation,
...an introduction to upcoming workshops and events,
...and an opportunity to talk to our faculty, students
and broad community.
Join the conversation on the creation of a new psychology.
Please RSVP to mmeyer@eastsideinstitute.org or 212-941-8906, ext 304.
Introducing Social Therapeutics: A five-week online course
Introducing Social Therapeutics:
A Performatory Approach to Human Development and Learning
A five-week online course with Lois Holzman
January 18 - February 19
$75 (+$35 for reading materials)
CLICK HERE to register
Why should building groups help people suffering from emotional pain? Why should performing on stage help young people develop? Why should pointless conversation develop all of us into better learners? And why should people of all ages and places play more, no matter how busy or difficult life is? These practical questions stem from the success of social therapeutics as a methodology for human social-emotional-intellectual-cultural development in diverse settings.
For 25 years Institute director Lois Holzman has been studying and writing about social therapy, developing its applications outside of the therapy office and, with social therapy's creator Fred Newman, articulating a metapsychological critique of mainstream psychology and education. In this introductory course, you will learn that critique practically, by exploring the social therapeutic approach at work in key human environments: psychotherapy, classrooms, out-of-school youth programs, and the workplace.
Holzman, L. and Mendez, R. (Eds.) (2003). Psychological Investigations: A Clinician's Guide to Social Therapy. New York: Routledge.
Newman, F. (1999). A Therapeutic Deconstruction of the Illusion of Self. In L. Holzman (Ed.), Performing Psychology: A Postmodern Culture of the Mind. New York: Routledge.
Holzman, L. (2008). In the Classroom: Learning to Perform and Performing to Learn. In L. Holzman, Vygotsky at Work and Play. New York: Routledge.
Newman, F. and Holzman, L. (2003). All Power to the Developing! In Annual Review of Critical Psychology, Vol. 3, pp. 8-23.
A Performatory Approach to Human Development and Learning
A five-week online course with Lois Holzman
January 18 - February 19
$75 (+$35 for reading materials)
CLICK HERE to register
Why should building groups help people suffering from emotional pain? Why should performing on stage help young people develop? Why should pointless conversation develop all of us into better learners? And why should people of all ages and places play more, no matter how busy or difficult life is? These practical questions stem from the success of social therapeutics as a methodology for human social-emotional-intellectual-cultural development in diverse settings.
For 25 years Institute director Lois Holzman has been studying and writing about social therapy, developing its applications outside of the therapy office and, with social therapy's creator Fred Newman, articulating a metapsychological critique of mainstream psychology and education. In this introductory course, you will learn that critique practically, by exploring the social therapeutic approach at work in key human environments: psychotherapy, classrooms, out-of-school youth programs, and the workplace.
Holzman, L. and Mendez, R. (Eds.) (2003). Psychological Investigations: A Clinician's Guide to Social Therapy. New York: Routledge.
Newman, F. (1999). A Therapeutic Deconstruction of the Illusion of Self. In L. Holzman (Ed.), Performing Psychology: A Postmodern Culture of the Mind. New York: Routledge.
Holzman, L. (2008). In the Classroom: Learning to Perform and Performing to Learn. In L. Holzman, Vygotsky at Work and Play. New York: Routledge.
Newman, F. and Holzman, L. (2003). All Power to the Developing! In Annual Review of Critical Psychology, Vol. 3, pp. 8-23.
Creativity and Social Therapeutics
Revolutionary Conversations:
Creativity and Social Therapeutics
with Doug Balder and David Nackman
Saturdays, January 23, 30, February 6, 13, 4:00-5:30pm
Location: 920 Broadway, 14th Floor (bet 20th and 21st)
Fee: $125.00
Click here to register
Can something called "social therapeutics" have anything to do with being creative, becoming more creative, or discovering something about creativity?
Social Therapeutics is an approach to seeing, understanding and creating human development, initiated and advanced by Fred Newman and Lois Holzman over the past four decades. It has been applied in a wide variety of contexts - including an emergent practice of postmodern, developmental, often collective creativity and design that has involved/impacted/transformed the work of a growing number of creative artists.
Join two of these artists for a unique series of dialogues that will be both an exploration and the practice of creativity.
David Nackman is an actor, director, improvisational comedian, visual artist, instructional designer, and organizer of radical community. Twenty years ago he left a successful acting career to build progressive, community-based institutions - he has been a member of the Castillo Theatre ensemble since 1989 - and is currently the creative director of theater-based executive education company Performance of a Lifetime. As a director of groups, Nackman sees the social therapeutic approach as a transformative influence in his work - challenging his individualistic bias as an artist, and providing the methodological engine for his company's creative work in designing innovative growth experiences for corporations and non-profit organizations around the world.
Douglas Balder is an architect, fundraiser and political activist with a 25-year commitment to building grassroots political and cultural institutions. He was a founder of the non-profit All Stars Project and a national field organizer for Dr. Lenora B. Fulani's 1988 and 1992 U.S. presidential campaigns. Working closely with All Stars CEO and president Gabrielle Kurlander and philosopher Fred Newman, he designed the All Stars' youth development and performing arts center on 42nd Street. Balder has worked with some of the world's leading designers and designed internationally recognized museum exhibitions and learning environments, including the Dinosaur Halls at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, The Indiana State Museum Permanent Exhibition, and the Museum of Prehistory in Taiwan.
Through case studies of selected projects, this class will explore questions of collective creativity, emergent design, creating environments for discovery/creativity, and the relationship between process and product, among other potential topics that we discover along the way.
Creativity and Social Therapeutics
with Doug Balder and David Nackman
Saturdays, January 23, 30, February 6, 13, 4:00-5:30pm
Location: 920 Broadway, 14th Floor (bet 20th and 21st)
Fee: $125.00
Click here to register
Can something called "social therapeutics" have anything to do with being creative, becoming more creative, or discovering something about creativity?
Social Therapeutics is an approach to seeing, understanding and creating human development, initiated and advanced by Fred Newman and Lois Holzman over the past four decades. It has been applied in a wide variety of contexts - including an emergent practice of postmodern, developmental, often collective creativity and design that has involved/impacted/transformed the work of a growing number of creative artists.
Join two of these artists for a unique series of dialogues that will be both an exploration and the practice of creativity.
David Nackman is an actor, director, improvisational comedian, visual artist, instructional designer, and organizer of radical community. Twenty years ago he left a successful acting career to build progressive, community-based institutions - he has been a member of the Castillo Theatre ensemble since 1989 - and is currently the creative director of theater-based executive education company Performance of a Lifetime. As a director of groups, Nackman sees the social therapeutic approach as a transformative influence in his work - challenging his individualistic bias as an artist, and providing the methodological engine for his company's creative work in designing innovative growth experiences for corporations and non-profit organizations around the world.
Douglas Balder is an architect, fundraiser and political activist with a 25-year commitment to building grassroots political and cultural institutions. He was a founder of the non-profit All Stars Project and a national field organizer for Dr. Lenora B. Fulani's 1988 and 1992 U.S. presidential campaigns. Working closely with All Stars CEO and president Gabrielle Kurlander and philosopher Fred Newman, he designed the All Stars' youth development and performing arts center on 42nd Street. Balder has worked with some of the world's leading designers and designed internationally recognized museum exhibitions and learning environments, including the Dinosaur Halls at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, The Indiana State Museum Permanent Exhibition, and the Museum of Prehistory in Taiwan.
Through case studies of selected projects, this class will explore questions of collective creativity, emergent design, creating environments for discovery/creativity, and the relationship between process and product, among other potential topics that we discover along the way.
You're the Smartest Person in the Room - Now What?
Revolutionary Conversations:
You're the Smartest Person in the Room - Now What?
with Maureen Kelly
Wednesdays, January 27, February 3 and 10, 7:00 - 9:00pm
Location: 920 Broadway, 14th Floor (betw. 20 & 21 Streets)
Fee: $125.00
Click here to register
Our culture deeply values being smart - being successful means having expertise, knowing your industry, knowing the latest research and, more often than not, knowing the right answer. No doubt we need to know some things, but what if all of this knowing is getting in the way of creativity and innovation? Has the enormous amount that is known about the world led to creative solutions to personal, cultural and global crises?
Join Maureen Kelly, a successful executive education consultant and coach, in challenging our love affair with knowing (and all that we get from doing it). We will study and explore how social therapeutics - an improvisational, group-based and philosophically informed approach to learning and development-has helped thousands of professionals across disciplines break out of the "knowing box" in the service of becoming more creative and powerful leaders and learners.
Maureen Kelly's work (and life!) has been informed and guided by the discoveries and practices of social therapeutics. Trained in psychotherapy, organizational development and improvisational performance, she has helped thousands of executives across all industries to build their teams and organizations continuously and creatively. She is currently a principal with Performance of a Lifetime (POAL), a theater-based executive education company. Prior to joining POAL, she held positions with Citibank and JPMorganChase. She earned her MA in Organizational Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University, and completed her postgraduate studies and clinical work in psychology at the East Side Institute for Group and Short Term Psychotherapy.
You're the Smartest Person in the Room - Now What?
with Maureen Kelly
Wednesdays, January 27, February 3 and 10, 7:00 - 9:00pm
Location: 920 Broadway, 14th Floor (betw. 20 & 21 Streets)
Fee: $125.00
Click here to register
Our culture deeply values being smart - being successful means having expertise, knowing your industry, knowing the latest research and, more often than not, knowing the right answer. No doubt we need to know some things, but what if all of this knowing is getting in the way of creativity and innovation? Has the enormous amount that is known about the world led to creative solutions to personal, cultural and global crises?
Join Maureen Kelly, a successful executive education consultant and coach, in challenging our love affair with knowing (and all that we get from doing it). We will study and explore how social therapeutics - an improvisational, group-based and philosophically informed approach to learning and development-has helped thousands of professionals across disciplines break out of the "knowing box" in the service of becoming more creative and powerful leaders and learners.
Maureen Kelly's work (and life!) has been informed and guided by the discoveries and practices of social therapeutics. Trained in psychotherapy, organizational development and improvisational performance, she has helped thousands of executives across all industries to build their teams and organizations continuously and creatively. She is currently a principal with Performance of a Lifetime (POAL), a theater-based executive education company. Prior to joining POAL, she held positions with Citibank and JPMorganChase. She earned her MA in Organizational Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University, and completed her postgraduate studies and clinical work in psychology at the East Side Institute for Group and Short Term Psychotherapy.
PHILM: Philosophy & Film @ the Institute
Philm: Philosophy and Film at the East Side Institute
Solaris (1972)
with Chris Helm and Rafael Mendez
Friday, January 29, 6:30pm-9:00pm
Location: 920 Broadway, 14th Floor (at 20th Street)
Suggested donation: $12.00
CLICK HERE to register
Join in for a sociable evening of film … it’s Friday-night-at-the-movies with a philosophical and methodological twist! Enjoy a favorite film, followed by some playful, philosophical conversation.
Solaris (1972)… Travel via this beautifully crafted film to a planet where a sentient sea turns cosmonauts’ desires into reality — an exploration of what it means to be human.
Christine Helm earned an M.A. in Anthropology and Education and an M.Ed. in Applied Anthropology at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is director of the Enterprise Center at the Fashion Institute of Technology/State University of New York and teaches at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Chris is a faculty member for the Institute’s International Class and Therapist Training Program.
Rafael Mendez is an associate professor and coordinator of psychology at Bronx Community College, his alma mater. He earned his doctorate in Clinical-Community Psychology at Boston University in 1983 and was a Clinical Fellow at Harvard Medical School at Children's Hospital in Boston. He's a trained social therapist practicing at the Brooklyn Social Therapy Group and is on the faculty of the East Side Institute where he assists in leading Fred Newman's Developmental Philosophy Group.
Solaris (1972)
with Chris Helm and Rafael Mendez
Friday, January 29, 6:30pm-9:00pm
Location: 920 Broadway, 14th Floor (at 20th Street)
Suggested donation: $12.00
CLICK HERE to register
Join in for a sociable evening of film … it’s Friday-night-at-the-movies with a philosophical and methodological twist! Enjoy a favorite film, followed by some playful, philosophical conversation.
Solaris (1972)… Travel via this beautifully crafted film to a planet where a sentient sea turns cosmonauts’ desires into reality — an exploration of what it means to be human.
Christine Helm earned an M.A. in Anthropology and Education and an M.Ed. in Applied Anthropology at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is director of the Enterprise Center at the Fashion Institute of Technology/State University of New York and teaches at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Chris is a faculty member for the Institute’s International Class and Therapist Training Program.
Rafael Mendez is an associate professor and coordinator of psychology at Bronx Community College, his alma mater. He earned his doctorate in Clinical-Community Psychology at Boston University in 1983 and was a Clinical Fellow at Harvard Medical School at Children's Hospital in Boston. He's a trained social therapist practicing at the Brooklyn Social Therapy Group and is on the faculty of the East Side Institute where he assists in leading Fred Newman's Developmental Philosophy Group.
Click on event title for more information.