The National Association for Poetry Therapy Presents
"Celebrating Queer Joy with Poetry Therapy"
facilitated by
Jenna Robinson, MA, LMFT, PTR
and
Ashley S. Schaaf, APCC
“The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers, which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat of their difference.”
– Audre Lorde
Description:
Join us as we explore using poetry as a means to center joy, and how joy through the arts has become an act of resistance within the queer community.
To cultivate joy as a radical act in the face of discrimination and trauma from a society that often denies your right to exist.
To cultivate joy as a declaration that we deserve to thrive and be loved as our authentic selves.
This workshop is for anyone who wants to cultivate more joy, hope, and play in their lives as well as in the lives of others.
About the Facilitators:
Jenna Robinson (she/her), MA, LMFT, PTR is a queer biracial poetry therapist and performance poet located in the Bay Area. Jenna is a steadfast advocate for empowering people at the margins to author their stories of resistance and resilience using written and oral traditions. She has been performing and teaching spoken word workshops to youth and adults since 2011. She is a two-time grand slam champion of Hawaii Slam and placed second in the nation at the 2015 National Poetry Slam in Oakland, CA. She received her M.A. in Expressive Arts Therapy from the California Institute for Integral Studies (CIIS), where she developed an approach melding narrative therapy, expressive arts, and spoken word poetry. Jenna has piloted and facilitated trauma-informed writing workshops with individuals, youth, and families throughout the Bay Area and Hawai'i, including survivors of intimate partner violence and system engaged youth. She currently runs a small private practice and an intergenerational therapeutic writing program for youth, families, and intergenerational community groups through Bay Area Creative. She is a professor in the Expressive Arts Therapy M.A. program at CIIS and in the counseling psychology M.A. program at the Wright Institute. empowerednarrativestherapy.com.
Ashley Schaaf (she/her), MA, APCC is a poet and expressive arts (EXA) therapist based in San Francisco, CA. She is also an adjunct instructor in the Master’s in Counseling Psychology program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She is currently training to become a Certified Poetry Therapist under the supervision/mentorship of Dr. Barbara Bethea. As a therapist, she is influenced by EXA, psychodynamic, Buddhist, and liberation psychologies. Ashley currently provides intensive case management and psychotherapy services to folks with severe mental illnesses, substance use challenges, and current or historic involvement with the criminal legal system. Passionate about prison abolition and dedicated to amplifying the voices of those who have historically been silenced, Ashley has conducted poetry workshops in Michigan correctional facilities to share the power of language and its potential to act as a catalyst for connection, increased understanding, empathy, and awareness of the magic of living.
Date: March 23, 2025 — Sunday
Time: 2:00pm - 4:00pm (EDT)
Venue: Zoom
Facilitators: Jenna Robinson & Ashley Schaff
Registration: https://poetrytherapy.org/event-6095805
Members — $15
Non-Members — $25
* All proceeds support our various scholarship funds.
