Memories to Memoirs: Leaving Words on the Pages of Time
Date: 3 Mondays – 10/6,
11/3, and 11/24
Time: 7:00 - 9:00 pm [please note earlier start time than past workshops]
Program Description:
Memories of everything that has ever happened to
you are stored in your unconscious. There are hundreds of stories residing inside
you. These stories are your identity.
Using combined techniques of relaxation,
visualization, and Fast Flow Writing™ to access emotions, sensory
memories, and life experiences, Dr. Ballon will help participants
transform their memories into memoirs.
Dr. Ballon brings a unique expertise as an
international writing consultant and longtime psychotherapist in facilitating
self-exploration, self-discovery, and a powerfully authentic voice in writing.
Each workshop will involve a combination of
listening, writing, sharing, and receiving feedback. Sharing what one has
written is optional. The program is well-suited for adults and high school
students. No writing experience is necessary.
Location:
(Directions and Parking Instructions below)
UnUrban Coffeehouse
3301 Pico Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA
90404
Fee: $37 for series of three sessions . Enrollees must register for the whole series
in order to participate, because group continuity maximizes the
experience. The fee enables us to meet
our costs (space costs have increased) while capping enrollment at 30, so that
participants may have more opportunities to share their work. FREE PARKING.
Enrollment Instructions:
Instructions for registration online or by mail can
be found at www.uclartsandhealing.net/events.php. You can also get instructions for
registration by mail by calling 310-452-1439.
Checks must be received in order for registration to be complete.
This is a highly popular program, so pre-registration is
recommended in order to prevent delays at the event and to guarantee admission.
Drop-ins are advised to check the website at www.uclartsandhealing.net/events.php
for space availability on the first day of the event (the information will be noted next to the
title of the event on the event information page). There will also be a pre-recorded message
on 310-452-1439 with space availability information on it.
Items
to Bring: Paper, pen, and
something firm on which to write. Laptops are permitted, as long as they are
quiet.
Presenter(s):
Rachel Ballon, PhD, MFT
Hailed "Doc Hollywood" by the Los Angeles Times, Dr. Rachel Ballon
is a licensed psychotherapist and international writers'
consultant who specializes in personal and professional issues experienced by
writers, such as fear of rejection, success, or failure, and procrastination.
As Founder and Director of the Writer's Center, Dr. Ballon teaches and helps
thousands of writers connect with their inner cast of characters and reconnect
to their most potent creative resource - themselves. She brings her expertise
in these both fields to her seminars, workshops and books. Her innovative Fast
Flow Writing Method has enabled clients to write emotionally honest
screenplays, novels, plays and non-fiction. Their works have won awards and
many have gone on to become successful novelists, screenwriters, and writers
for children and young adults.
As a marriage and family therapist in private practice in Westwood for over
twenty-six years, Dr. Ballon has used writing therapy with her clients and has
developed specific techniques to teach mental health professionals how to use
writing with clients, individually and in group settings. She is also a
published poet and poetry therapist who studied with Dr. Arthur Lerner, the
founder of the Poetry Therapy Institute in Los Angeles.
Dr. Ballon teaches mental health and health care professionals how to use
narrative - such as theme, story structure, transformational arc and resolution
- with clients to help them transform their negative personal stories into
happy endings. She has conducted workshops at UCLA, UC Irvine and CSUN in
"The Use of Writing as an Adjunct in the Counseling Setting,"
"The Therapeutic Power of Story" and "Fast Flow Writing to
Heal" workshops. Other workshops at UCLA in the Human Development
department have included: "Be the Hero in Your Career and Life: The Use of
Writing for Growth and Change," "The Personal Journal: Write Your
Story, Right Your Life," "Visibility: Gaining Personal and
Professional Recognition," and "Creativity, Imagination and Spirit:
Unlocking the Blocks."
A master teacher and noted writing coach, Dr. Ballon has reviewed hundreds
of scripts for major Hollywood studios such as
Fox Entertainment, Fox Family Channel, UPN and Saban Entertainment. A former
Adjunct Professor in scriptwriting at USC School of Cinema and Television,
where some of her students and clients have won awards for their scripts, she
has taught writing to thousands of writers throughout the United States. She has conducted
seminars for UCLA's Writer's
Program, the American Film Institute, the Writer's
Guild of America, the Director's
Guild of America, Women in Film, Women in Theater, Northwestern University, and
major writing conferences worldwide.
Dr. Ballon has taught her screenwriting and story development methods to
executives, directors, producers and writers at RAI-TV in Rome,
Italy,
where many were produced in television and feature films. Two of her producers
were nominated for an Academy Award for best foreign short film. She also
conducted workshops on Creativity and Values in Film in Valencia, Spain. As a member of the Writer's
Guild of America, Dr. Ballon is a scriptwriter with produced television credits
on ABC-TV, and several of her scripts have been optioned by major studios. She
was a writer on an award winning documentary entitled, "Then Their Were
None," and is the author of five critically acclaimed books, Blueprint for Writing: A Writer's Guide to
Creativity, Craft and Career and The Writer's
Sourcebook: From Writing Blocks to Writing Blockbusters, Breathing Life Into
Your Characters, Blueprint for Screenwriting: A Writer's
Guide to Story Structure and Character Development and The Writers' Portable
Therapist: 25 Sessions to a Creativity Cure. Dr. Ballon is a clinical
member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists and
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, and she conducts
"Writing to Heal" workshops throughout Los Angeles.
Directions and Parking Instructions:
The UnUrban Coffeehouse is cozy, with character. It has coffee, baked goods,
and healthy homemade food (for vegetarians also). And it is affordable. Arrive
early or stay late for supper. Open 7 a.m. until midnight. 310-315-0056
The UnUrban Coffeehouse is just off the freeway near the 405 Fwy and 10 Fwy
interchange. Take the 405 Freeway to 10 West Fwy and Exit on Bundy North. Make
an immediate left onto Pico Blvd.
The UnUrban is about 1/2 mile on the right, at the corner of Pico and 33rd Street, across
the street from Trader Joe's. To
park, turn left at 33rd and make an immediate left into the U.S. Bank parking
lot. Parking is free and convenient.
Sponsors: UCLArts and Healing aims to facilitate the use of
the arts as a healing tool in the community via: 1) offering affordable experiential learning
opportunities to health professionals, educators, community workers,
caregivers, artists, and the general public, 2) designing and evaluating
programs that can be implemented broadly in educational and health care
settings, and 3) creating partnerships with academic institutions, educational
and health care institutions, community-based organizations, schools,
professional organizations, and private industry. www.uclartsandhealing.net
UCLArts and Healing is an
organizational member of the UCLA Collaborative Centers for Integrative
Medicine (CCIM) www.ccim.med.ucla.edu
which promotes education and research in complementary, alternative, and
integrative approaches to health and well-being. The CCIM represents the UCLA academic
integrative medicine community on a national and international level.
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For More Information: Please submit questions
regarding registration or the program via e-mail: info@uclartsandhealing.net.
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