The Four Pillars

The 4 Pillars are the foundation for Dr. Serlin’s education and trainings, based on 50 years’ experience in psychotherapy, dance movement therapy and the healing arts. They represent an approach that is grounded in existential-humanistic, relational and depth therapy. All courses, supervision and trainings relate to these fundamental areas; Meaning and Purpose, Embodiment, Creativity, and Connection, outlined in this diagram.

Meet Dr. Ilene A. Serlin, Ph.D, BC-DMT

My passion is to train, supervise and consult to healthcare groups and organizations, using the arts and movement, to promote individual and global healing. These are based on the 4 Pillars as seen here.

ARTICLE: Proceedings of ADTA Conference 57 October 27 – 30, 2022; Panel: Dance Therapy and Jewish Roots

This panel featured the narratives of prominent Jewish women who played an outsized role in the development of dance therapy in the United States. It is based on the recently released chapter by Miriam Berger, Marsha Kalina, Johanna Climenko and Joanna Harris in The Oxford Handbook of Jewishness and Dance called “Jewish Roots and Principles of Dance Therapy.” Participants include Miriam Berger, Marsha Kalina, Sharon Chaiklin, Susan Kleinman, Elissa White and Beth Kalish. The panel was chaired by Ilene Serlin.

ARTICLE: Marian Chace Foundation Lecture 2020: Trauma-Informed Dance Movement Therapy: Real Life Trainings with Syrian Refugees, China and US COVID-19 Hotline

Over the course of the last twenty years, I have had the opportunity to get more experience working with intergenerational trauma, starting in Israel in 1986 through Dr. Vivien Marcow Speiser and Lesley University. It was obvious there how the arts were already a powerful part of the healing process. After that, I had the opportunity to bring some of these healing arts to Istanbul, and then to Jordan to work with Syrian refugees. Using local dance forms and music, I was able to co-create opening and closing rituals for the conference and introduce movement into the women’s support group. 

BOOK EXCERPT: Collateral Damage

Color-coded terrorism alerts are issued, then lifted with no explanation. False alarms can, like crying wolf, desensitize people to a real need to be on alert. And that psychic numbing is just one effect discussed in this book by fifteen psychologists teamed up to take a critical look at the U.S. war on terrorism.

BOOK: Integrated Care for the Traumatized

Integrated Care for the Traumatized puts forth a model for the future of behavioral health focused on health care integration and the importance of the Whole Person Approach (WPA) in guiding the integration. Co-edited by Ilene Serlin, Stanley Krippner and Kirwan Rockefeller with a foreword by Charles Figley.

ARTICLE: Innovative Insights for Understanding and Overcoming the Roots of Trauma and Stress

Eight authors with six recent books on trauma combined their perspectives—as psychoanalysts, health psychologists, cognitive behavioral therapists, and researchers—during a December 4, 2020 webinar organized by APA Fellow ILENE SERLIN, PhD, BC-DMT. 

WEBINAR: Weekly Roundtables on topics of Mental Health and COVID

The presentation will speak first to how Covid-19 is experienced in the medium-security prison. Then he will give a brief overview of the treatment approach that results in an 8 percent recidivism rate after three years on parole compared to 25 percent for the wait list. In recognition of this work, California awarded him the Distinguished Service Medal. Sponsored by the Interpersonal Violence Working Group and the Whole Person Working Group.

WEBINAR: Innovative Insights for Understanding and Overcoming the Roots of Trauma and Stress

On Friday, December 4, 2020, at 1:00 – 2:30 pm, an expert panel engaged in a webinar: Innovative Insights for Understanding and Overcoming the Roots of Trauma and Stress. Watch as our expert panel examines trauma, stress, and anxiety from humanistic, cognitive-behavioral, and psychoanalytic viewpoints.

WEBINAR: Addressing Trauma, Cultivating Resilience

On January 22, 2021 Dr. Lenore Walker and Dr. Ilene Serlin presented a special SFPA support seminar for mental health providers. Following the events at the Capitol in early January 2021, many of our clients were talking about fears of violence, recurring memories of previous threatening times, difficulty sleeping, irritability, and other challenges. One of the most effective ways to address these fears is to talk about them with other people. 

ARTICLE: An Existential - Humanistic Approach to Movement: An East / West Dialogue

This article considers existential-humanistic psychotherapy in relation to concepts in Chinese culture and shows how those approaches are experienced in the body.

IACASE Global Webinar - Art and Trauma

All around the world, we are all learning to live between deconstruction to reconstruction. We who build our professional practice around breathing and embodiment are holding our breath waiting for this to pass. Watch a recording of Ilene Serlin and a number of esteemed colleagues at an event that highlighted how the arts contribute towards our understanding and work with trauma and post traumatic growth,  and in the building of resilience. (password: IACASE)

BOOK: Whole Person Healthcare, Volume 3: The Arts and Health

This volume introduces readers to the history and practices of art and healthcare throughout the ages: the history of art and health in ancient healing rituals; the relevance of rituals in the growing number of international contemporary art-in-health programs; and applications of art, music, dance, drama, and poetry therapy programs at the bedside, in groups, and in cross-cultural conflict.

VIDEO: Dance Movement Therapy

Dance Movement Therapy for Women with Breast Cancer is an 11-minute educational tape about the use of dance therapy in a 12-week support group for women living with breast cancer at California Pacific Medical Center’s Institute of Health and Healing. It was supported by a grant from the Marian Chace Foundation of the American Dance Therapy Association.

ARTICLE: Marian Chace Foundation Lecture 2020: Trauma-Informed Dance Movement Therapy: Real Life Trainings with Syrian Refugees, China and US COVID-19 Hotline

Over the course of the last twenty years, I have had the opportunity to get more experience working with intergenerational trauma, starting in Israel in 1986 through Dr. Vivien Marcow Speiser and Lesley University. It was obvious there how the arts were already a powerful part of the healing process. After that, I had the opportunity to bring some of these healing arts to Istanbul, and then to Jordan to work with Syrian refugees. Using local dance forms and music, I was able to co-create opening and closing rituals for the conference and introduce movement into the women’s support group.

BOOK EXCERPT: Collateral Damage

Color-coded terrorism alerts are issued, then lifted with no explanation. False alarms can, like crying wolf, desensitize people to a real need to be on alert. And that psychic numbing is just one effect discussed in this book by fifteen psychologists teamed up to take a critical look at the U.S. war on terrorism.

BOOK: Integrated Care for the Traumatized

Integrated Care for the Traumatized puts forth a model for the future of behavioral health focused on health care integration and the importance of the Whole Person Approach (WPA) in guiding the integration. Co-edited by Ilene Serlin, Stanley Krippner and Kirwan Rockefeller with a foreword by Charles Figley.

WEBINAR: Weekly Roundtables on topics of Mental Health and COVID

The presentation will speak first to how Covid-19 is experienced in the medium-security prison. Then he will give a brief overview of the treatment approach that results in an 8 percent recidivism rate after three years on parole compared to 25 percent for the wait list. In recognition of this work, California awarded him the Distinguished Service Medal. Sponsored by the Interpersonal Violence Working Group and the Whole Person Working Group.

WEBINAR: Innovative Insights for Understanding and Overcoming the Roots of Trauma and Stress

On Friday, December 4, 2020, at 1:00 – 2:30 pm, an expert panel engaged in a webinar: Innovative Insights for Understanding and Overcoming the Roots of Trauma and Stress. Watch as our expert panel examines trauma, stress, and anxiety from humanistic, cognitive-behavioral, and psychoanalytic viewpoints.

WEBINAR: Addressing Trauma, Cultivating Resilience

On January 22, 2021 Dr. Lenore Walker and Dr. Ilene Serlin presented a special SFPA support seminar for mental health providers. Following the events at the Capitol in early January 2021, many of our clients were talking about fears of violence, recurring memories of previous threatening times, difficulty sleeping, irritability, and other challenges. One of the most effective ways to address these fears is to talk about them with other people. 

ARTICLE: An Existential - Humanistic Approach to Movement: An East / West Dialogue

This article considers existential-humanistic psychotherapy in relation to concepts in Chinese culture and shows how those approaches are experienced in the body.

IACASE Global Webinar - Art and Trauma

All around the world, we are all learning to live between deconstruction to reconstruction. We who build our professional practice around breathing and embodiment are holding our breath waiting for this to pass. Watch a recording of Ilene Serlin and a number of esteemed colleagues at an event that highlighted how the arts contribute towards our understanding and work with trauma and post traumatic growth,  and in the building of resilience. (password: IACASE)

BOOK: Whole Person Healthcare, Volume 3: The Arts and Health

This volume introduces readers to the history and practices of art and healthcare throughout the ages: the history of art and health in ancient healing rituals; the relevance of rituals in the growing number of international contemporary art-in-health programs; and applications of art, music, dance, drama, and poetry therapy programs at the bedside, in groups, and in cross-cultural conflict.

VIDEO: Dance Movement Therapy

Dance Movement Therapy for Women with Breast Cancer is an 11-minute educational tape about the use of dance therapy in a 12-week support group for women living with breast cancer at California Pacific Medical Center’s Institute of Health and Healing. It was supported by a grant from the Marian Chace Foundation of the American Dance Therapy Association.

Courses & Workshops
These provide short informational experiences that introduce participants to some of the main themes and new resources in arts and healing.

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Continuing Education & Webinars
These are intended to fit educational models for ongoing learning in existential / humanistic psychology, psychology of women, embodiment, and the healing arts.

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Videos & Training Materials
New technologies developed during COVID allow participants across the globe to participate in practical trainings for self-care and working with others.

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Supervision
Individual and group supervision helps both early  careerists and experienced clinicians present cases and find ways to integrate creative and somatic practices into their ongoing work. 

Contact Dr. Ilene Serlin to learn more…

Consultation
Arts- and trauma-informed clinical practices can increase the reach and effectiveness of organizations bringing them to communities in need.

Contact Dr. Ilene Serlin to learn more…

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