Adults

Sacramento Children’s Home
California
  • Staff & Organizational Development
  • Staff & Organizational Development
The Team Agreements workshop was conducted for department staff at Sacramento Children's Home, aimed at strengthening team communication. The department's leadership chose this workshop to enable the team to collaboratively create agreements that would support…
San Diego State University
California
  • Schools & Universities
  • Schools & Universities
I facilitated an art activity called Touchstone Journey with undergraduate college students who attend my Comprehensive Stress Management and Life Planning course at San Diego State University. Students ranged in age from 19 to 34 years old. Many of them repor…
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…
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…
Pinnacle Community Services
New York
  • Homelessness
  • Domestic Violence
  • Homelessness
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.” Together, part…
Stepping Forward LA
California
  • Facilitator Spotlights
  • Facilitator Spotlights
  • Foster Care
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
This “Innovator Spotlight” video features Pat Conlon, from Stepping Forward LA, an organization dedicated to empowering young adults aging out of foster care to transition successfully to adulthood and reach their fullest potential.  Alongside former foster…
Community Health Action of Staten Island
New York
  • Social Justice
  • Social Justice
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, engaged deep…
Jewish Family Services
California
  • Domestic Violence
  • Domestic Violence
I am a residential counselor at Jewish Family Service, a domestic violence shelter for women and children. Oftentimes, residents arrive at the shelter feeling hopeless and helpless, believing there’s nothing good in their lives. I chose to facilitate the Lette…
Los Angeles Unified School District
California
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
  • Mental Health
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
I worked with a 28-year-old Latino male who describes himself as deeply family-oriented and someone who has historically prioritized the needs of others over his own. The activity selected was Absorb and Release. Although the participant is currently engaged i…
Trauma and Healing in Color
California
  • Facilitator Spotlights
  • Facilitator Spotlights
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
This “Uplifting Voices: Facilitator Stories” video features La Shonda Coleman, LCSW, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs at Pepperdine University and Founder of Trauma and Healing in Colour, a program that fuses art, somatic based healing modalities, …
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…
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…
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…
Children's Institute, Inc.
California
  • Community Engagement
  • Community Engagement
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
  • Staff & Organizational Development
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 Mental Healt…
Garden Grove Unified School District
California
  • Mental Health
  • Mental Health
  • Schools & Universities
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
At the start of the school year, I facilitated the Journey Markers workshop for a group of mental health specialists as part of a staff development session. I chose this workshop as a way for them to reflect on their paths in the mental health field, especiall…
Helping Hands Resource Center
California
  • Facilitator Spotlights
  • Domestic Violence
  • Facilitator Spotlights
  • Self-Care & Personal Growth
  • Sexual Assault
This powerful "Uplifting Voices: Facilitator Stories" video features Karen Gonzalez, founder of Helping Hands Resource Center in Los Angeles. Karen is a domestic violence and sexual abuse survivor herself and became a Windows Facilitator in 2014. Here she shar…
The Adult Skills Center
California
  • Disability Services
  • Disability Services
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 communitie…
RUTH Facilitation
California
  • Facilitator Spotlights
  • Facilitator Spotlights
  • Mental Health
  • Staff & Organizational Development
This “Wellness in the Workplace” facilitator story is about how art workshops can thrive in unexpected places. AWBW facilitator Andy shares his experience of bringing art workshops into a high-pressure, analytical workplace. Beginning with small team sessions …
Compton Unified School District
California
Compton Unified School District
California
The Wellness Center at Compton Unified School District hosts daily activities during Mental Health Awareness Month in May. One day, we hosted an activity for staff to come during lunch and create a set of dice they could roll and see ideas for self c…
Los Angeles Unified School District
California
Los Angeles Unified School District
California
I worked with a 28-year-old Latino male who describes himself as deeply family-oriented and someone who has historically prioritized the needs of others over his own. The activity selected was Absorb and Release. Although the participant is currently…
Benefits Assistance Clients’ Urban Project
California
Benefits Assistance Clients’ Urban Project
California
I recently facilitated a Heart Stories workshop with a group of young adults ages 21–30 at BACUP. The Benefits Assistance Clients’ Urban Project is a program that provides benefits assistance and peer support for people living with mental illness. …
San Diego State University
California
San Diego State University
California
I facilitated an art activity called Touchstone Journey with undergraduate college students who attend my Comprehensive Stress Management and Life Planning course at San Diego State University. Students ranged in age from 19 to 34 years old. Many of …
Radiant Futures
California
Radiant Futures
California
These drawings were created by a participant who sought services due to a history of family violence. For this participant, I used inspiration from the Touchstone Journey and The Monster in Me workshops. For this piece, a single pencil became a tool …
Radiant Futures
California
Radiant Futures
California
This artwork, titled “La Sabiduría de Amar,” or “The Wisdom of Love,” was created by a 57-year-old woman with a physical disability who sought support to process the recent loss of her dog who was her support animal. Noticing that she struggled to ex…
Safe Parking LA
California
Safe Parking LA
California
At the Safe Parking LA Women’s Lot, we serve female-identifying individuals and families experiencing vehicular homelessness. During this co-led AWBW session, we served two female-led households with daughters ages 10 and 7, along with six single wom…
YWCA Greater Los Angeles
California
YWCA Greater Los Angeles
California
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), and in honor of standing in solidarity with survivors of sexual assault, we facilitate "Teal Tuesday" workshops. We invited survivors to join us in creating "Butterflies of Healing.” One of the butterfl…
UCLA Health
California
UCLA Health
California
For our Spring project, I wanted to incorporate the idea of blossoming and hope. Initially, a colleague of mine brought up the idea of planting flowers/plants, which then sprung on the idea for this project.  Personally, I spent the last year doin…
Safe Parking LA
California
Safe Parking LA
California
Tina is a 26 year old woman who never thought she would find herself experiencing homelessness and living in her vehicle. A falling out with her family and lack of community support left her fending for herself. Tina had big dreams of finishing her d…
Adapt Integrated Health Care
Oregon
Adapt Integrated Health Care
Oregon
The room was quiet in that familiar, almost sacred way it often became during group—somewhere between nervous energy and honest reflection. The sign on the whiteboard read: Getting Back in the Zone. Markers, pastels, and blank paper were spread ac…
Native Connections
South Dakota
Native Connections
South Dakota
We did a women's wellness event for the tribal community that was open to all women. Since our entire community has the shared intergenerational trauma of being survivors of genocide, the assumption is that we can all benefit from creating shared hea…
Safe Place for Youth
California
Safe Place for Youth
California
This past Christmas Eve, I facilitated a “Who’s With Me?” workshop with three members from Safe Place for Youth, all in their early twenties. Participants were invited to create artwork representing a higher power, guardian angel, guiding light, or s…
Arts Connection
California
Arts Connection
California
For this workshop I had my partner do the “Cup of Gratitude” activity. I chose this activity for my partner because he typically works in a stressful environment at work and I wanted to bring a sense of calmness to his mind and space by doing this wo…
Yoga & Art for Recovery and Healing
California
Yoga & Art for Recovery and Healing
California
It had been a long time since my girlfriends and I had all been able to gather together. We are each in different seasons of life, with some raising kids, some caring for pets, and all of us, including me, balancing busy schedules and responsibilitie…
Families Together of Orange County
California
Families Together of Orange County
California
This quarter, I wanted to facilitate a workshop for my local women’s group, Ladies Mingle. This group was created to help women in Orange County and nearby cities find joy. I found the group while on maternity leave and seeking connection with other …
Adapt Integrated Health Care
Oregon
Adapt Integrated Health Care
Oregon
Entering recovery from substance use can feel overwhelming, especially in the earliest days, when emotions resurface and the future feels uncertain or undeserved. The Celebrating Firsts workshop allowed participants to create space and reflect on som…
Su Casa
California
Su Casa
California
Through my work at a domestic violence emergency shelter, I had the pleasure of incorporating the AWBW framework via monthly Art of Healing workshops with participants who were actively fleeing the person who caused them harm. One of the workshops th…

Registered 501(c)(3). EIN: 95-448606

© 2021-2022 A Window Between Worlds