Adults

Norina Murphy-Verduzco & Associates
California
  • Mental Health
  • Mental Health
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
I felt compelled to share this story because the impact was so big for this client that she ended up creating an extension of this workshop on her own that I really liked and wanted to share. My client is a 28-year-old female who currently resides at home w…
Healing Through Art
California
  • Domestic Violence
  • Domestic Violence
  • Sexual Assault
This artwork was from women survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. The art was expressions of places in their heart that gave them peace. The art of the woman with teardrops was her pain from loving and not receiving love back. As the women bega…
Catalyst
California
  • Domestic Violence
  • Domestic Violence
  • Homelessness
  • Substance Abuse Recovery
Leading the workshop "Inspiration Rocks!" to introduce A Window Between Worlds to the group at the domestic violence shelter where I work just made sense. Survivors in shelter have done rock painting for far longer than my tenure at the agency. Those who jo…
Nora
California
  • Staff & Organizational Development
  • Domestic Violence
  • Sexual Assault
  • Staff & Organizational Development
I, like my colleagues, went into this field serving survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault because I have had experiences similar to our clients and have had the opportunity to heal and receive support. So I know from experience that we often put ou…
A Window Between Worlds
California
  • Community Engagement
  • Child Abuse / Neglect
  • Community Engagement
  • Facilitator Spotlights
  • LGBTQIA+
  • Mental Health
  • Schools & Universities
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
  • Social Justice
In this Artists Talk video, AWBW Founder, Cathy Salser, dives deep into the heart of AWBW’s mission and the transformative power of art in healing and community building. This special “window of time” is part of the Artists Talk series of the Southern Californ…
Jewish Family Service
California
  • Domestic Violence
  • Domestic Violence
  • Immigration
This client is a single mother of two children. She is from Mexico, came to this country seven years ago, and is undocumented. She experienced verbal, physical, and emotional abuse with her boyfriend of two years.   She is a hard-working woman who, regardle…
Families Together of Orange County
California
  • Mental Health
  • Mental Health
For this story I wanted to capture my work with clients in individual therapy.  I have been meeting with this client for over a year now. She has complex PTSD and is attending therapy for the first time in her  life. I wanted to incorporate art in our sessi…
A New Leaf
Arizona
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
  • Domestic Violence
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
Throughout my journey with AWBW, I have grown spiritually and emotionally. I have been through my own traumas from Domestic Violence and have had many life-changing situations thrown in my path. These life lessons have helped me connect with the survivors that…
Just Detention International - South Africa, Gauteng Province
  • Incarceration
  • Incarceration
We witnessed the adaptability of AWBW’s worksheets during our third workshop with women at Atteridgeville Gender Responsive Centre. We planned to facilitate a “Positive Piggies” workshop, inviting participants to consider and acknowledge their positive attribu…
Tides of Change
Oregon
  • Domestic Violence
  • Child Abuse / Neglect
  • Domestic Violence
  • Foster Care
  • Sexual Assault
These photos are of art that a survivor created during the workshop Befriending Your Feelings. This woman, in her fifties, has complex trauma beginning in early childhood and continuing into adulthood. She has shared experiences of neglect and child abuse whil…
Swain Recovery Center
North Carolina
  • Substance Abuse Recovery
  • Substance Abuse Recovery
Lauren is an AWBW facilitator at Swain Recovery Center, a residential treatment program for substance use and mental health. “Art has been a very helpful tool in building relationships between myself and clients, clients and other staff members, and the client…
Blossoms Windows
California
  • Grief & Loss
  • Grief & Loss
  • Mental Health
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
A good friend of mine, Dougie, crossed over the Rainbow Bridge at the end of May. He was only 56 years old. Within days of his passing, his widow, Sigrid, and I began talking about how brave he was – the way he handled his diagnosis, the thousand decisions tha…
Teta's Workshops
Massachusetts
  • Domestic Violence
  • Domestic Violence
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
This story is from a workshop with survivors of violence who are isolated from family and friends during this pandemic. I chose this workshop to teach the art of journaling and its use as a meditative practice. One participant shared “I wasn't very eager to…
United American Indian Involvement (UAII)
California
  • Facilitator Spotlights
  • Facilitator Spotlights
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
In this "Uplifting Voices: Facilitator Stories" video, Nikki Crow, a Prevention and Aftercare Care Coordinator at United American Indian Involvement (UAII), shares how the AWBW art workshop "Journey Footprints" honors our resilience and helped one of her parti…
Shepherd's Door Domestic Violence Resource Center
California
  • Domestic Violence
  • Domestic Violence
At Shepherd’s Door—a safe haven for survivors of domestic violence—a group of women gathered just before Mother’s Day to participate in a guided art experience centered around affirmations, identity, and healing. For many, this was more than a workshop. It was…
Lavender Healing Collective
California
  • LGBTQIA+
  • Facilitator Spotlights
  • LGBTQIA+
  • Staff & Organizational Development
Tiombe Wallace shares the powerful ways art fosters self and community care, particularly for Queer and Trans Black, Indigenous, and People of Color survivors, advocates, and hotline workers. Through AWBW’s creative workshops, staff and interns find support du…
The Willow Domestic Violence Center
Kansas
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
  • Domestic Violence
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
We have a survivor at our shelter that has really been through so much. She has been with us for about 3 months and has lost her house to a fire, her job due to her abuser, had her children in her sister's care and other family issues. Through it all she ha…
Los Angeles Unified School District
California
  • Schools & Universities
  • Immigration
  • Schools & Universities
I was invited to do a parent workshop at Cardenas Elementary School. We chose the Journey Footprints workshop and translated it into Spanish. The footprint seemed timely for the close of the workshop series. The parents created wonderful art, but when they sto…
The Way Resource Center
California
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
As a career development program, The Way helps individuals gain skills, confidence, and opportunities to thrive in the workforce. I had the pleasure of working with our Career Workforce Development Class—students who are eager to find employment and learn more…
The Adult Skills Center
California
  • Disability Services
  • Disability Services
  • Grief & Loss
I facilitated the Touchstone Journey art workshop for a group of four adults, aged 30 to 43, with developmental and intellectual disabilities. The participants’ life experiences included challenges such as the loss of parents through death or divorce and exper…
Volusia Recovery Alliance, Inc.
Florida
Volusia Recovery Alliance, Inc.
Florida
I am a former Firefighter and was gifted a scholarship to become an AWBW facilitator. With that I have been able to take AWBW into the Fire Department. Classes always range in size and there is usually someone that will stop in and end up opening up …
Volusia Recovery Alliance, Inc.
Florida
Volusia Recovery Alliance, Inc.
Florida
Identity Masks is a workshop that is all about reflecting on the different aspects of our life and all the roles we play as a friend, husband/wife, brother/sister, mom/dad, and/or our role at work. I have done this workshop with first responders, …
The Artistry Circle
North Carolina
The Artistry Circle
North Carolina
Values Ornaments was a workshop centered on reconnecting with the qualities that guide, ground, and inspire us, especially as we move into a new year. Together, our community explored how personal values shape our choices, our relationships, and our …
The Artistry Circle
North Carolina
The Artistry Circle
North Carolina
Our Healing Hands was a workshop centered on celebrating our sense of touch and bringing awareness to all the creative and connective ways we use our hands. The session incorporated the Japanese healing art of Jin Shin Jyutsu, which aligns each finge…
Radiant Futures
California
Radiant Futures
California
These drawings were created by a participant who sought services as part of the requirements to reunify with her child who was removed by DCS, as well as to heal from the trauma stemming from her experiences with domestic violence and childhood sexua…
Counseling Partners LLC
Indiana
Counseling Partners LLC
Indiana
John* grew up in a single parent home and shared he has experienced some trauma throughout his life. He went to college and onto getting his master’s, then he worked in the physical world of sports and training. He is proud of all of the work he has …
Pinnacle Community Services
New York
Pinnacle Community Services
New York
Our healing art facilitator partnered with a local housing program to deliver an empowerment workshop with an opportunity for a healing art project afterwards.  She chose to walk participants through the “At the Core Community Mural Project.” Toge…
Arts Connection
California
Arts Connection
California
I worked with my mother who is 62 years old on the Heart Stories workshop activity. She wanted to participate in this activity because as a retired nurse she enjoys participating in workshops that highlight mental health awareness.  With this work…
Safe Place for Youth
California
Safe Place for Youth
California
On September 24, 2025 I facilitated the AWBW workshop “I Am Strong Because." Both art workshop participants have had domestic violence experiences that left them dealing with trauma and have experienced housing insecurity. With this workshop the i…
Stepping Forward LA
California
Stepping Forward LA
California
I facilitated a 30-minute virtual workshop for Stepping Forward LA’s paid internship program, which serves young adults ages 18 to 27 who have experienced foster care. Many participants are single parents or navigating housing instability while balan…
Community Health Action of Staten Island
New York
Community Health Action of Staten Island
New York
On September 20th, in Kathmandu, Nepal, 35 graduate students pursuing their Master’s in Mental Health Counseling participated in a Touchstone art workshop. These students, many of whom are preparing to become frontline mental health professionals, en…
Families Together of Orange County
California
Families Together of Orange County
California
For this story I wanted to capture my work with clients in individual therapy.  I have been meeting with this client for over a year now. She has complex PTSD and is attending therapy for the first time in her  life. I wanted to incorporate art in…
Shelter from the Storm
California
Shelter from the Storm
California
Ksenia fled a domestic violence situation with her spouse and has been on a journey of building herself up and finding herself and her voice again, as in her relationship she was very controlled. She is also doing work to find her place in the U.S. a…
Para Los Niños
California
Para Los Niños
California
As the new school year began, a group of school social workers and case managers gathered together after returning from summer break. These team members provide vital social-emotional support for students in grades TK–8 and spend much of their time h…
Just Detention International
California
Just Detention International
California
This "Uplifting Voices: Facilitator Stories" video features Linda McFarlane, Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Executive Director of Just Detention International. In this video, Linda shares about her experience as a Windows Facilitator and the pow…
Richstone Family Center
California
Richstone Family Center
California
This "Uplifting Voices: Facilitator Stories" video features Jaymie Miller, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist at Richstone Family Center in Hawthorne, California. In this video, Jaymie shares about her work as a Windows Facilitator and how she us…
The Artistry Circle
North Carolina
The Artistry Circle
North Carolina
Window to My Soul was a workshop centered on self-reflection through the lens of language, community, and creativity. In the days leading up to the event, participants were encouraged to engage in a gentle self-inquiry: bringing one word that best…
Turningpoint for Victims of Domestic and Sexual Violence
Wisconsin
Turningpoint for Victims of Domestic and Sexual Violence
Wisconsin
I created an activity called Reclaiming Your Voice Sunbeams, as a durational art activity for my Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault support group. With this project I invite survivor support group attendees to identify words and phrases they never g…
The Adult Skills Center
California
The Adult Skills Center
California
I facilitated the Community Agreements art workshop for a group of individuals aged 30–57 with developmental, intellectual, and mental health needs. The participants shared the common experience of overcoming hurdles in order to integrate into their …
Nora
California
Nora
California
I, like my colleagues, went into this field serving survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault because I have had experiences similar to our clients and have had the opportunity to heal and receive support. So I know from experience that we of…

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