Adults

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…
Los Angeles Unified School District
California
  • Schools & Universities
  • Schools & Universities
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
I facilitated a monthly staff self-care workshop which consisted of the "Heart and Soul Self-Care Coupons" art workshop. This year has been so stressful at my school because we have many students at our school with severe behavior problems. Several teachers…
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…
Turningpoint for Victims of Domestic and Sexual Violence
Wisconsin
  • Domestic Violence
  • Domestic Violence
  • Sexual Assault
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 got to say,…
Riverside County District Attorney's Office
California
  • Domestic Violence
  • Domestic Violence
Kintsugi, the art of repairing broken pottery with gold metals, is a powerful metaphor for life and personal growth. The fragments of broken pottery symbolize the challenges and trauma in our life journey. We acknowledge that our scars do not diminish our wort…
Oregon State University-Cascades
Oregon
  • Schools & Universities
  • Mental Health
  • Schools & Universities
I facilitated Touchstone Journey for Resident Assistants (RAs) who were navigating the aftermath of a significant conflict within their residence hall and team. This group of students came from a variety of backgrounds but shared the challenge of processing th…
Families Together of Orange County
California
  • Homelessness
  • Child Abuse / Neglect
  • Domestic Violence
  • Homelessness
  • Mental Health
I co-facilitate a group called Healthy Relationships for residents of Yale Navigation Center, a 24 hour shelter for people experiencing homelessness in Santa Ana. While at Yale, residents are provided with resources to help in the transition to permanent housi…
Los Angeles Centers for Alcohol and Drug Abuse
California
  • Substance Abuse Recovery
  • Mental Health
  • Substance Abuse Recovery
I work at a dual diagnosis substance use treatment center and mental health services outpatient facility with adults. Many of our patients are court mandated to treatment and have been previously incarcerated. Most patients have mental health diagnoses along w…
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…
Safe Passage, Inc.
Indiana
  • Domestic Violence
  • Domestic Violence
  • Sexual Assault
This workshop had two participants, both in their mid-fifties. Both ladies are starting completely over after having survived domestic violence and sexual assault. One has just moved into her own housing and the other will be moving into her own apartment by t…
Wichita Artworx, Inc.
Kansas
  • Mental Health
  • Community Engagement
  • Domestic Violence
  • Mental Health
  • Physical & Terminal Illness
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
My Permission Canvas represents “Permission to Succeed.” I started having hearing trouble when I was a teen, and I was always made fun of because of it. I was “the deaf girl.” I went totally deaf about 8 years ago and it was devastating. Fortunately, I was …
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…
Students Turn 4 Greatness
California
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
One day we were creating masks as part of the “Revealing Power and Beauty” workshop. As usual, everyone was fairly quiet as they worked. Suddenly, in the middle of the workshop, Terry thrust her mask down and began crying. She said, “I hate this.” She reach…
YWCA - San Gabriel Valley
California
  • Domestic Violence
  • Domestic Violence
Abuse had been a part of my life since childhood. There was no place in which I could express myself, no person to whom I could reveal what was happening. My family told me that what happens at home stays at home. At 21 I met my husband, a policeman, and I …
Insight Human Services Women’s Recovery Center
North Carolina
  • Substance Abuse Recovery
  • Court & Legal System
  • Substance Abuse Recovery
Lissa is an AWBW facilitator who works at Insight Human Services Women’s Recovery Center in North Carolina. She holds a weekly art group with women who are often mandated by the court or the Department of Social Services to participate in substance use treatme…
Para Los Ninos
California
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
  • Staff & Organizational Development
As the School Support Services Coordinator at Para Los Niños, one of my key roles is to train and supervise master’s-level social work trainees.  A focus of this training is equipping them to support our students’ social-emotional learning. Our student populat…
Just Detention International & SC Department of Corrections
South Carolina
  • Incarceration
  • Incarceration
  • Sexual Assault
  • Social Justice
In 2020, AWBW founder Cathy Salser and our program partner Just Detention International (JDI) began a collaboration with incarcerated women and staff at two prisons in South Carolina on a project called #PrisonersToo — using art as a way to address the sexual …
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…
YWCA - San Gabriel Valley
California
  • Domestic Violence
  • Domestic Violence
Ceirra and Melissa are AWBW facilitators who work in the WINGS (Women in Need Growing Strong) Domestic Violence Program at YWCA San Gabriel Valley. They provide educational support groups in both emergency and transitional shelter settings, as well as through …
University of Missouri – Kansas City
Missouri
  • Facilitator Spotlights
  • Facilitator Spotlights
  • Schools & Universities
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
This "Uplifting Voices: Facilitator Stories" video features Arzie Umali, MPA, who is the Senior Assistant Director of the Women's Center at University of Missouri - Kansas City. As students return to school, it is essential to acknowledge the value of self-…
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…
Child and Family Services
New York
Child and Family Services
New York
This “Uplifting Voices: Facilitator Stories” video features Lucy Tschachtli, one of our longest serving facilitators. She first experienced art as a tool for healing in 1991, on AWBW Founder Cathy Salser’s first tour across the country sharing art as…
Richstone Family Center
California
Richstone Family Center
California
This “Uplifting Voices: Facilitator Stories” video features Jaymie Miller, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist at the Richstone Family Center in Hawthorne, California. A Windows Facilitator since 2016, Jaymie shares about one of her favorite wor…
Homeboy Industries
California
Homeboy Industries
California
This “Uplifting Voices: Facilitator Stories” video features Vivian Jojola, Domestic Violence Prevention Specialist at Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, California. A Windows Facilitator since 2023, Vivian shares about her work with formerly incarcer…
Los Angeles Centers for Alcohol and Drug Abuse
California
Los Angeles Centers for Alcohol and Drug Abuse
California
I work at a substance use disorder treatment facility, supporting adults in an outpatient setting. I facilitate a group specifically for clients with co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders. Recently, I facilitated the Lotus Flower …
Children's Institute, Inc.
California
Children's Institute, Inc.
California
The Community Health Programs at Children’s Institute support care coordination, system navigation, and a full range of support for health services to improve day-to-day living and wellbeing. These programs include Enhanced Care Management, United Me…
Families Together of Orange County
California
Families Together of Orange County
California
I co-facilitate a group called Healthy Relationships for residents of Yale Navigation Center, a 24 hour shelter for people experiencing homelessness in Santa Ana. While at Yale, residents are provided with resources to help in the transition to perma…

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