About Dr. Barbera
Dr. Lucy Barbera is a New York State Licensed Creative Arts Therapist, whose clinical work spans the medical, psychiatric, and special education settings, as a Creative Arts Therapist, Art Teacher, and Special Education School District Administrator
For twenty-three years, Dr. Barbera has served on the faculty of The Humanistic Multicultural Education Graduate Program, at the State University of New York (SUNY), at New Paltz, where she developed and taught courses in Expressive Arts Therapy and Expressive Arts & Social Justice Leadership.
In 2017, Dr. Barbera launched the Post-Graduate Interdisciplinary Certificate Program in Creative Arts Therapy, a training program for licensed Mental Health Professionals, at Adelphi University’s School of Social Work, and is an Associate Faculty Member of the Person-Centered Expressive Arts Therapy Program, founded by Dr. Natalie Rogers.
Dr. Barbera facilitates trainings and lectures internationally, on the healing power of the Creative Arts, its vital role in building emotional literacy, resilience, and hope to mitigate the negative effects of trauma. Dr. Barbera maintains a private practice, using a trauma-informed, resilience-based Open Studio Model, believing that access to the arts is a basic human right and that the best forms of therapy are educational.
Awards
Dr. Barbera is the recipient of the 2010 Excellence in Scholarship Award from the Electronic Dissertation and Thesis Association (EDT) for her Doctoral Dissertation:Palpable Pedagogy: Expressive Arts, Leadership, and Change in Social Justice Teacher Education (An Ethnographic/Auto-Ethnographic Study of the Classroom Culture of an Arts-Based Teacher Education Course). She is also the author of Expressive Arts in Teacher Education: Cultivating Social Justice Leadership (2011), Lambert Academic Publishing, which is based on her dissertation.
What People Are Saying
"Dr. Barbera is both passionate and extremely knowledgeable about creative arts therapy. Humorous and inspiring in her teaching, bringing a broad range of techniques of her own and visiting practitioners to classes."
— Student
“In my experience of Dr. Barbera, as a Creative Arts Therapist. I have found her to be a highly sensitive, caring and professional.”
— Client
“Lucy, I have to tell you how much the Creative Arts Therapy Certificate Program has enhanced my toolbox as a therapist. Every time I see progress with a client through using the arts I think of you and our class. I want you to know how much I appreciate you, the work you do, and the fact that you took the time out of your busy schedule to share your wealth of knowledge with me and so many others. You are truly a blessing to the field, your students and clients.”
— Meg O'Connell-Duffy LMSW, CASAC
A Sample of Dr. Barbera’s Publications
The Expressive Arts Teacher in Education
The Expressive Arts in Teacher Education
About Dr. Barbera’s Book
How does one "teach" social justice? How can teacher educators present issues of equity that have relevance to teachers and their students? What strategies can be employed to teach this critical discipline? What inspires teachers to initiate action and lead change? Social justice advocates and educators must ask these questions if they are to succeed in teaching social justice. This book explores the power of the expressive arts to identify, examine, and address issues of inequity in the context of social justice teacher education. Current literature outlines effective social justice teacher education including identity, reflection, and dialogue. However, little has been written about the utilization and power of the arts as a pedagogical tool in general teacher education for social justice. This book provides a study of the author's journey as she develops a "palpable pedagogy" to teach social justice education through the arts. It will provide welcome insights and guidance for teacher educators and teachers on how the expressive arts can be utilized to catalyze social justice learning and leadership.
The Avatar: Masks of Hope and Healing
A chapter by Dr. Barbera in The Expressive Use of Masks Across Cultures and Healing, Edited by Susan Ridley.
What Kind Of Training Do Creative Arts Therapists Have?
"Creative arts therapists are trained in psychotherapy and in specific arts disciplines, which may include dance/movement therapy, drama therapy, music therapy, poetry therapy and art therapy. They have training in areas that include clinical practice and human development as well as the use of the creative arts to provide appropriate services, and multicultural and artistic traditions."
State Education Office of Professions