My services promote mental/Emotional wellness for the Black body and spirit, in all walks of life.
Together, let’s increase your capacity for finding and maintaining wellness within.
FOR YOU Creative Keys To Healing
All Creative Keys to Healing workshops coax and nurture creative expression (no arts expertise required) and feature a range of guided conversations addressing self concepts, personal challenges and triumphs.
These workshops focus on exploratory self care and personal development. In this space, you are invited to explore your creativity, your insights and the narrative of your life.
Our goal is to increase self-understanding, self-love, personal effectiveness and both your capacity for joy and your ability to protect and nurture it.
I will show you how to create a safe space to centralize yourself and creatively express yourself in powerfully liberating ways
“I was looking for a space outside of home where I could create. I had no other plan in mind but to have fun. My sessions with Belinda turned out to be much more. She helped me work through some of my blocks by expressing my feelings using various art mediums.
She is compassionate, gentle, encouraging and patient…a gifted artist who was always willing to share her knowledge – present in a way that was not crowding or intimidating.”
Kim Marsen, Toronto
FOR YOURS HEARTREACH
HeartReach is mental health relief for our loved ones and ourselves. Part mental health training, and part healthy relationship training, this workshop is designed to address Black wellness.
If you’ve ever felt lost or powerless while trying to help someone you love cope with an ongoing stress, this workshop will give you actionable knowledge to draw on as you help them to better help themselves
It can be stressful and anxiety-causing to witness a loved one suffer. What if we make a situation worse? Or add more stress?
What can we do? A lot.
- Learn a little more about what’s happening
for the person - Share strategies that could be useful
- Learn how to listen and witness
- Get familiar with resources the person might benefit from
- Take care of yourself as you do it
You will be set up for success and equipped with what you need to reduce your stress – be it information, strategies, or moral support.
HeartReach explores what regular folk can offer and aims to empower you to do what you can, safely and respectfully.
Topics Covered
- How to have difficult conversations in low-pressure ways
- Addressing and removing blocks to
understanding and being understood - How to offer your support in respectful,
consensual ways that are mutually beneficial - Contemplative art making
- Take-home resources
- Self care for you
You learn all of this with the support of other Black folk who also want the same thing — the very best for their loved ones, to see them return from a state of raised anxiety and distress.
Join the mailing list to find out when the next program launches.
“I love watching Belinda teach the Side by Side (child with adult) art making courses at the Art Gallery of Ontario. She is thoughtful and conscientious in her preparation and pure magic when working with students.”
Tiana Roebuck
Associate Curator, Studio Programming & Learning, Art Gallery of Ontario
FOR YOUR COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONAL CO-CREATE
Consulting for organizations, service providers and agencies interested in Arts in Health approaches to wellness.
Depending on your intended audience, consultations, workshops and programs are available for:
COMMUNITY-FACING PROGRAMMING
Arts in health has many applications for organizations and community groups who offer programs for the public.
Are you an organization committed to improving the health outcomes of African / Caribbean / Black individuals and want culturally relevant experiences that really hit home?
Arts-based programming can do that!
Do you have a Mental Health and Addictions Strategy and want to improve the quality of your services and deepen their impact.
Contemplative arts and mindfulness could be great additions to your programs.
My Method
Through attention-holding creative activities, supportive discussion and constructive dialogue, we can create dynamic online programming that stands out from the typical virtual meeting format, transforming your services from the “expected” to compelling and engaging for your clients.
In English or in French.
How I help (à la carte or full turn-key)
- Vision and problem solving
- Design a program
- Train your facilitators
- Implementation
- Add more creativity to existing programs
- Help you transition your arts in health
program online
Arts in health programming offers your clients an accessible entry point into the full range of your services. It is an effective and enjoyable pathway to raising community awareness and creating meaningful dialogue around sensitive or difficult topics — art works!
Contact me for a chat about how we can collaborate.
“Belinda has a keen sense of working effectively and compassionately with groups. She has a warm and grounded presence, great intuition and an ability to combine head and heart in a way that is authentic and effective. As an educator and facilitator, I trust and greatly enjoyed co-training alongside Belinda.”
Betty Ann Rutledge
Professional volunteer manager and grief educator
I’ve had the pleasure of working with a variety of client organizations including
INTRA-ORGANIZATIONAL WORKSHOPS
If your organization wants to create memorable staff training experiences, or offer creative programs for staff or volunteer wellness, then arts in health programming may be the perfect solution for your team or department.
A workplace wellness workshop for employees can cover self-leadership, self-awareness/mindfulness training/stress reduction, self-care strategies and non-violent communication (NVC) for the workplace, with a strong creative/ art-making component.
For any organization, from a bottom-line perspective, the primary benefit of a wellness program is a significant reduction in healthcare costs.
The happy facts are that employees who are nurtured and given tools for self-care become even more connected to team goals, and are more productive for longer periods — everyone benefits from fewer sick days.
I have created internal workshops for professional development days, conferences and staff training sessions.
Let’s talk about a new way to elevate and extend your team dynamic and effectiveness.
“In the hustle and bustle of engaging in community work as a service provider, it was empowering to participate in a wellness program designed with MY wellness at the forefront. Each week, I learned a little bit about artistic technique, and a little more about my colleagues. Drawing Together created a safe space for me to connect with my coworkers and explore our shared experiences as people first; not just as professionals.”
Vijay Saravanamuthu
Community Health Worker, TAIBU Community Health Centre
I’ve had the pleasure of working with a variety of client organizations including
Join the mailing list to be first to know about new courses, event updates and special offers. Your privacy is my honor to protect — your name/address will never, ever be sold or lent to another party. Period.
Yes! Sign me up for occasional updates!
ABOUT ME
I design and deliver high-quality, high-value programs that are adaptable and portable with lasting impact.
For more than 20 years, I have introduced my speciality to support community health centers, social justice groups, educational institutions, community centers and cultural institutions, helping them design and offer their clients/membership truly engaging workshops and programs.
I’d love to help you too.
Contact me for consultations and collaborations that transform.
