Stefanie D. Belnavis - Resume - March 2017

Stefanie D Belnavis, R-DMT 175 Fulton Street, Medford, MA 02155 267-334-5431, stefanie.d.belnavis@gmail.com PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY AREAS OF EXPERTISE Dedicated dance movement therapist and early childhood clinician with two years experience in outpatient community mental health, providing relational-based assessment, treatment planning, and therapy services to young children and their families struggling with a range of symptoms related to trauma, disrupted attachments, domestic and community violence, racial injustice, homelessness, and other significant life stressors Early Childhood Mental Health Early Childhood Systems Trauma & Toxic Stress Family Therapy EDUCATION School-based Consultation Play Therapy Institute of Non-Profit Practice Program, Boston, MA 2016 - Present In affiliation with the Jonathan M Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University CORE Fellow Dance Movement Therapy Expressive Arts Therapy Social Justice Advocacy Community Outreach Arts Advocacy Lesley University, Cambridge, MA Masters of Clinical Mental Health Counseling Specialization in Dance Movement Therapy 2015 Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK Bachelor of Arts, Contemporary Modern Dance 2008 CLINICAL MENTAL HEALTH EXPERIENCE The Home for Little Wanderers Boston, MA Preschool Outreach Program Diversity Advocate Aug 2016 – Present • Ensure the clinician perspective is reflected in the HFLW agency wide initiatives and priorities with a focus on racial equality and diversity across the 60+ agency programs and the communities we serve, LICENSURE Registered Dance Movement Therapist (R-DMT) May 2015 Clinician and Mental Health Consultant License-Eligible Mental Health Counselor Candidate • • LANGUAGES English Jamaican Patois (Dialect) Spanish (Basic) • • ! ! ! ! • • June 2015 - Present Provide clinical services to young children (ages two to seven) and their caregivers Treatment modalities used include individual play therapy, dance movement therapy, sand tray therapy, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Child-Parent Psychotherapy, Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL),!and, Sensory Motor Arousal Regulation Therapy Serve as mental health consultant to assigned preschools and childcare centers in the Boston area, providing teacher and staff consultation, parent and teacher trainings, school-based therapy, classroom and student observations, feedback sessions, and crisis intervention services when needed Implemented of a trauma-informed expressive arts therapy playroom through the use a variety of instructional and experiential arts-based methodologies to engage clients, caregivers, collaterals and clinicians through this creative therapeutic modality within the field of early childhood mental health, to further support early childhood development, trauma informed care, promoting social and emotional development, and responding to challenging behaviors Develop trainings and serve as consultant on topics including trauma informed practice, early childhood development, managing challenging behaviors, and self care Manage caseload of 20+ clients, meeting productivity expectations of 24 hours per week, and collaborating with appropriate collaterals (caseworkers, in-home therapy teams, wraparound supports, schools, etc.) as needed Responsible for administering early childhood assessments and completing all required documentation, including progress notes, agency paperwork, insurance authorization extension requests, clinical assessments, treatment plans, and quarterly assessments Empowerment Through Integration (ETI) Dance Movement Therapy Program Manager • • Develop trauma-informed dance movement therapy curriculum for annual inclusion summer camp program hosted by ETI for blind and sighted Lebanon youths Serve as a consultant and trainer for ETI staff and volunteers on topics including trauma informed practice, disability advocacy, child development, resiliency, managing challenging behaviors, and self care The Diahann Project Founder & Dance Movement Therapy Consultant • Boston Children’s Hospital Early Intervention Program Clinical Dance Movement Therapy Graduate Intern 2016 • 2016 Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) 2016 Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) • • 2015 Sensory Motor Arousal Regulation Treatment (SMART) 2015 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) • The Massachusetts Department of Public Health ‘Safe to Infant Sleep Practices’ Training 2014, 2015 & 2016 American Dance Movement Therapy Conference • • • • Aug 2014 – May 2015 Boston, MA Aug 2013 – June 2014 Implemented arts-based psychotherapy treatment plans specific to the needs of at-risk children aged 7-14 year of various ethnic, racial and socioeconomic backgrounds within this Boston-based community after-school educational setting to enrich their academic curriculum and social emotional functioning Conducted weekly individual dance/movement and play therapy sessions with children with a range of symptoms related to attachment disorders, regulation concerns, and, intellectual learning disabilities Conducted weekly movement-based groups, which included visual arts projects, photography, movement and verbal storytelling, bibliotherapy, puppetry, roleplaying and age-appropriate games, which explored culturally diverse forms of dance and movement to develop and inform their cultural understanding of the origins of movement Perkins School for the Blind Dance Movement Therapy Graduate Intern • Boston, MA Observed and co-led dance movement therapy and infant-parent psychotherapy developmental interventions for individual home or daycare therapy sessions for developmentally delayed infants and toddlers to years old and their families from various ethnic, racial and socioeconomic backgrounds, within the early intervention program Facilitated weekly toddler-parent developmental playgroups as a co-lead, which consisted of gross motor stretches, simple rhythmic movements, visualizations, storytelling, symbolic play, snack time and circle time Collaborated with other developmental specialist clinicians and mental health professionals within a transdisciplinary developmental team to formulate, implement and monitor therapeutic goals for individual clients and their caregivers, along with administer the Battelle Developmental Inventory II assessment to existing and new clients to determine eligibility for early intervention services The Paraclette Academy Dance Movement Therapy Graduate Intern 2015 Boston, MA May 2015 - Present Developed a trauma-informed and culturally empathetic performance art and community mental health collaborative to facilitate the intersectionality of the arts, culture, mental health and disability advocacy within communities throughout the Caribbean to Diaspora ADDITIONAL TRAININGS & SEMINARS New England Association for Play Therapy Annual Conference Boston, MA Sept 2016 – Present Watertown, MA Jan 2013 – May 2013 Observed, developed and co-led expressive therapy groups that focused on the use of movement and song whilst implementing arts-based treatment interventions specific to the children between the ages of 3-12 years old with visual, hearing, and physical impairments, and, developmental delays Documented and implemented treatment recommendations for three individual children of varying ethnic, racial, socioeconomic and disability backgrounds Consulted bi-weekly with educational teachers and other professionals to ensure the execution of collaborated treatment care practices for each child INTERNATIONAL MENTAL HEALTH EXPERIENCE Lesley University La Romana, DR Expressive Arts with Trauma Affected Populations Course Graduate Student Volunteer Mar 2015 • AWARDS 2015 The Lesley University Student Association of Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences (S.A.G.) Student Leadership Award 2015 The Lesley University Norma Canner Scholarship Award Dance Movement Therapy Graduate Student Award 2014 - 2015 The New England American Dance Therapy Association (N.E.A.D.T.A.) Penny Lewis & Norma Canner Student Scholarship • • • • Consulted and collaborated with Dominican educators and mental health professionals regarding the historical and current socio-political framework surrounding xenophobia and racism between persons of Haitian and Dominican descent coexisting in the Dominican Republic Examined and mediated the challenges of providing culturally sensitive therapeutic interventions within “marginalized communities”, namely the people of Haitian descent currently residing in La Romana, Dominican Republic Collaborated with community leaders and local community artists regarding the implementation of culturally sensitive trauma informed arts-based treatments, and, the post-colonial implications of introducing expressive arts mediums in an international context Developed and co-led three expressive therapy groups with the children of Fundacion Crecimiento Comunitario Fucpe that utilized a variety of treatment techniques, including visual art, role-playing, movement, singing and ageappropriate games to help children recognize and work through their feelings surrounding their identity Developed an understanding of the importance of self-care as it related to vicarious trauma and countertransference in clinical and community-based expressive therapies practice within the context of a developing country Expressive Arts Place Service Learning Program Expressive Arts Service Learning Volunteer • 2012 - 2013 The Lesley University Dean’s Merit Scholarship Award Graduate Student Award • • • ! ! La Vallee/Jacmel, Haiti June 2014 Organized and the facilitated the execution of a two week cultural and artistic exchange in a rural Haitian community of La Vallee, which culminated with a weeklong expressive arts therapy summer camp for 15 local teachers and over 60 elementary students from local schools to introduce the experiential approach of expressive arts in to their current academic curriculum Developed and co-led five expressive arts therapy groups with Haitian adolescent children and local teachers, which helped to pioneer a social-skills group that allowed children to act as leaders and collaborators with their peers, whilst utilizing a variety of treatment techniques, including body-based movement, visual art, role-playing, singing and culturally sensitive interventions to build resiliency and self-love Collaborated with local teachers, community leaders and Haitian educational translators to understand and encourage the importance of the use of the arts in rural Haitian schools to develop psycho-educational support and emotional support for the students and educational practitioners Collaborated with local elementary schools and residents to install bio-sand water filters for the Volunteers For Peace’s clean water initiative along with other art-based community projects  ... arts-based psychotherapy treatment plans specific to the needs of at-risk children aged 7-1 4 year of various ethnic, racial and socioeconomic backgrounds within this Boston-based community after-school... developed and co-led expressive therapy groups that focused on the use of movement and song whilst implementing arts-based treatment interventions specific to the children between the ages of 3-1 2 years... sensitive trauma informed arts-based treatments, and, the post-colonial implications of introducing expressive arts mediums in an international context Developed and co-led three expressive therapy