LUCY BARBERA, PHD, LCAT

Lucy Barbera, PhD, is a New York State Licensed Creative Arts Therapist, an artist-researcher, and a clinical supervisor in Creative Arts Therapy.  Dr. Barbera's clinical work spans the medical, psychiatric, and special education settings, as a Creative Arts Therapist, Art Teacher, and Special Education School District Administrator. Currently, Dr. Barbera maintains a private practice in which her areas of expertise include: working with self-harming/suicidal teens, children and adults with life-threatening medical conditions, adoption/foster-care, trauma, death & dying, grief/ loss, PTSD, ADHD.

For the past twenty years, she has served on the faculty of The Humanistic Multicultural Education Graduate Program, at the State University of New York, at New Paltz, where she developed and teaches Expressive Arts Therapy and Expressive Arts in Leadership & Social Justice.  She is the Founder and Director of the Post Graduate Interdisciplinary Certificate Program in Creative Arts Therapy, at Adelphi University's School of Social Work. Dr. Barbera is a frequent presenter at the Expressive Therapies Summit in New York City, lectures widely on the healing power of the imagination, and curates exhibitions of patient art to bring awareness of the healing power of the arts to the community.

Dr. Barbera was trained in the use of Sandplay Therapy, by Dr. Agnes Bayley, one of the founding members of the International Society of Sandplay Therapists and utilizes this modality separately and in tandem with Art Therapy in her private practice.  She also trained in Expressive Arts and served on the faculty at the Person-Centered Expressive Therapy Institute, and with its founder, Dr. Natalie Rogers, pioneered the use of the Expressive Arts in mental health facilities, special needs schools, and hospitals throughout the country. Dr. Natalie Rogers has described Dr. Barbera as "... a unique teacher whose significant experience and passion, as a creative arts therapy practitioner and educator, are matched only by her dedication and belief in the power of the expressive arts as tools for healing and positive change in the world."

Speaker Disclosures:

Financial: Lucy Barbera is in private practice. She is program director at Adelphi University’s School of Social Work; and Ulster County BOCES. She is an adjunct professor at SUNY. Dr. Barbera receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc.

Non-financial: Lucy Barbera is a member of the American Art Therapy Association; and the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association.