I’ve worked with arts based practices for over forty years, using them in teaching, in community development and also with my own healing. I’ve worked with art as therapy for 30 plus years, and have my own creative practice writing and making art. I’m a published writer – creative and academic (see below), and have exhibited my artwork locally. I also have my own mindfulness practice.
I’m a passionate learner and ever curious – which is evident from my details below. I’m always learning – about my own personal and professional learning edges, my community and the world. Social justice and supporting others in finding their voices drives me.
I’m a nationally awarded teacher and taught for 40 plus years in traditional and alternative schools, as a classroom teacher and as district-based Iterant Support Teacher Behaviour working with children with challenging behaviours, their teachers and school community. I worked with indigenous communities in implementing the Aboriginal Education Policy across 3 school districts. I continue to teach at Western Sydney University, currently in the Master of Art Therapy program.
I spent 14 years as a creative arts- based teacher and researcher in Social Ecology at the University of Western Sydney where I also taught in teacher education.
From 2015 in addition to ongoing private practice with individual clients including adults and children, I was contracted by Western Sydney University, to teach into the Master of Art Therapy. This included:
- 2015 Spring Semester: Guest Lecturer in Art Therapy: Application to Client Groups, Challenging Binaries: art therapist as members of client groups.
- 2016 Autumn Semester Short Term Contract (2days a week) including Coordinator, Lecturer and tutor in Art Therapy: Histories, Theories, Groups.
- 2017 – 2021 Lecturer and Course Adviser, (2days a week). Tenured
- 2020 – current Experiential Art Therapy Training Group Facilitator; Guest Lecturer in Further Clinical Studies
I continue to work with Cancer Wellness Support facilitating 6 and 8 week art therapy groups for people living with cancer.
2015 also saw me contracted by the College of Complementary Medicine to revise assessments across the Advanced Diploma of Transpersonal Art Therapy and Advanced Diploma of Transpersonal Counselling.
I am currently co-editor of JoCAT (jocat-online.org) (Journal of Creative Arts Therapies) and on the editorial team of the (Australian) Hakomi Association Newsletter.
My educational qualifications include a PhD, a Master of Applied Science (Social Ecology), a Graduate Certificate in Art Therapy, an Advanced Diploma in Transpersonal Art Therapy, and a Diploma of Teaching.
My training in therapy over the last 35years in addition to my educational qualifications is rich and varied. This allows me to bring a depth and breadth of experience to what individual client needs. In 2021, I completed training in Intentional Peer Support in the mental health field https://www.intentionalpeersupport.org/trainings/?v=b8a74b2fbcbb. In 2016, I completed 2 year Professional Training in Hakomi Somatic Method. I have completed short Hakomi courses: From Trauma to Dharma, HEART – Learning through Relationship, and The Challenge of Connection. I am constantly engaged in professional development, attending various courses for eg., Expressive Arts Therapies with Traumatised Children; Contemplative Care for the Dying and Broken Structures, Broken Selves: Complex Trauma in the 21st century.
I am an ANZACATA https://www.anzacata.org/ approved Art Therapy Supervisor with 40hours Supervision Training.
In my thirties and prior to returning to higher education studies, I completed an Infant Observation within family and related Supervision Group at the Institute for Psychotherapy – 2 hrs / week over 18 month period. I also trained with Jerry Jampolsky in Attitudinal Healing training over 2 year period. In my early thirties, I participated in the Institute of Counselling’s 2 year Part-Time Training in Counselling, including Theory of Approaches to Counselling, Skills Based Group Work and Interactional Group Work. I also completed short courses in Sand Tray, Its Magic with Children with Maureen Ledlan.
I have participated in a wide range of creative arts courses including: a two year training in story-telling, clowning, improvisation and mask work at the Drama Action Centre, Sydney; Choreographic Theatre training with Pantheatre in France and the USA; and a variety of short art courses including glasswork, stone sculpture, clay-work and painting at various Sydney centres. My ongoing professional development includes various creative arts therapies courses focussed on creative arts practices.
As a classroom teacher I participated in numerous professional development courses with a focus on working with children with challenging behaviours, Autism Spectrum Disorders and Child Protection as these areas most interested me in terms of social justice, and were also my speciality. I like working with children described as ‘difficult’, I like getting underneath the difficulties and supporting them in becoming engaged and confident learners.
During my years as a teacher I was privileged to be given a number of awards. The Australian Learning and Teaching Council, Australian Awards for University Teaching, Citation for outstanding Contributions to Student Learning recognised the safe spaces I co-created with students. Spaces which allowed students to experiment using creative arts and creative learning approaches, and which in turn transformed students’ understanding of themselves as agents of change. The University of Western Sydney, College of Arts Teaching Excellence Award recognised my outstanding contributions to student learning using creative teaching-learning approaches. The University of Western Sydney, College of Arts Teaching Excellence in Teaching Grant was awarded for my consistently receiving the highest score – across the College of Arts – that students could give for their semester’s teaching-learning experience. As a classroom teacher, I was also nominated by Abbotsford School Community for a National Excellence in Teaching Award.
Publications
Sole Authored Book
Camden-Pratt, C. (2006). Out of the Shadows: daughters growing up with a ‘mad’ mother. Sydney: Finch Publishing.
You can listen to me to being interviewed by Richard Aedy on ‘Life Matters’ on ABC radio here – http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2006/08/lms_20060821.mp3
Co-edited Book
Wright, D., Camden-Pratt, C. E. & Hill, S. B. (Eds). (2011). Social Ecology: Applying Ecological Understanding to our Lives and our Planet. Gloucestershire, UK: Hawthorn Press.
Digital On-line PhD Thesis
Camden-Pratt, C. (2002). Daughters of Persephone: legacies of maternal madness. University of Western Sydney. Available on-line and in hard copy.
Sole authored Chapters
Camden- Pratt, C. (2011). Becoming with/in social ecology: writing as practice in creative learning. In Social Ecology: Applying Ecological Understanding to our Lives and our Planet. David Wright, Catherine E Camden Pratt and Stuart B Hill. (Eds). Gloucestershire, UK: Hawthorn Press. (pp. 202-213)
Camden-Pratt, C. (2009). Relationality and the art of becoming. In Pedagogical Encounters, Bronwyn Davies and Susanne Gannon, New York: Peter Lang. (pp 53-68)
Camden Pratt, C. (2007). Creative Arts and Critical Autobiography: challenges of blending the deeply personal and the academic. In Being Critical and Creative in Qualitative Research. Joy Higgs, Angie Tichen, Debbie Horsfall & Hilary B Armstrong, (Eds). Sydney: Hampden Press.(pp 248-260)
Sole Authored Creative Works
Camden-Pratt, C. (2014) Highway Man. In Other States of Mind: Stories of Mental Health. Rag and Bone Press, Melbourne. Victoria.
Camden-Pratt,C. ( 2010) Ashes. In The Green Fuse. The Picarro Press Poetry Prize. Carmel Williams. (Ed) (p. 12)
Co-Authored Chapters
Horsfall, D., Bridgman, K., Camden Pratt, C., Kaufman Hall, V., & Pinn, J. (2011). Playing creative edges: Reflections From women out to lunch 5 years on. In Creative Spaces for Qualitative Researching: Living Research. J. Higgs, Angie Titchen, Debbie Horsfall & Donna Bridges. (Eds.) Sydney: Sense Publishers (Chapter 24).
Ellwood, C., & Camden-Pratt, C. (2009). Becoming Blossom, Becoming Oddbod: clowning as transformational process. In Pedagogical Encounters, Bronwyn Davies and Susanne Gannon, New York: Peter Lang. (pp 89-104)
Davies, B., Camden-Pratt, C., Ellwood, C., Gannon, S., Zabrodska, K., & Bansel, P. (2009). Second skin: The architecture of pedagogical encounters. In Pedagogical Encounters, Bronwyn Davies and Susanne Gannon, New York: Peter Lang. (pp 131-150)
Davies, B., Gannon, S., Zabrodska, K., Bansel, P. & Camden-Pratt, C. (2009) Reflections on a day in the art class in Pedagogical encounters, B Davies, S Gannon, New York, In Pedagogical Encounters, Bronwyn Davies and Susanne Gannon, New York: Peter Lang. (pp 105-130)
Horsfall, D., Bridgeman, K., Camden-Pratt, C., Kaufman Hall, V., & Pinn, J (2007). Playing Creative Edges: Performing Research – Women out to Lunch. In Being Critical and Creative in Qualitative Research, Joy Higgs, Angie Tichen, Debbie Horsfall & Hilary B Armstrong, (Eds). Sydney: Hampden Press. (pp 136-151)
Sole Authored Journal Article
Camden Pratt, C. (2008). Social ecology and creative pedagogy: using creative arts and critical thinking in co-creating and sustaining ecological learning webs in university pedagogies. In Transnational Curriculum Inquiry 5 (1) 2008 Vol. 5 No. 1 (2008): Eco-learning: an Australian gathering | TCI (Transnational Curriculum Inquiry) (ubc.ca)
Co- Authored Journal Articles
Jewell, M. & Camden-Pratt, C. (2021). Advocating therapist Lived Experience: Towards an Australian peer art therapy model (PATh); signposting the pivotal role of art therapy education. In Journal of Creative Arts Therapies (JoCAT), 16 (2), 17-38. https://www.jocat-online.org/vol16no2page
Jewell, M. & Camden-Pratt, C. (2022 in press). Creating art-alongside in Peer Art Therapy (PATh) groups: nurturing connection and trust, and responding to power dynamics. In International Journal of Art Therapy – formerly Inscape.
Camden-Pratt, C. with Annonymous, Coombs-Valeontis, McClaughlin, D., Paton, J., Zappa, A., and various artists. (2018). Reflections on the ‘The art of critical conversations: a patchwork of responses in images and text. In. ANZJAT. 13. (1&2). https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5fb1e957253fde48503e9f4f/t/5fbc8ef845ca4f79025b877d/1606192890569/5.ANZJAT-2018-CCP.pdf
Gannon, S., Gottschall, K., and Camden Pratt, C. (2013) “A quick sideways look and Wild Grin”: Joyful Assemblages in Moments of Girlhood. In Girlhood Studies 6 (1). 13-30.
Horsfall, D., Bridges, D., Camden-Pratt, C., and Sammon, L. (2004) A Performance of Difference, Journal of Reflective Practice 5 (1). 91-110
Unpublished Sole Authored Refereed Conference Papers
Camden-Pratt, C. (2009) Somatic Narratives and Art Making: Daughters and Mothers in Madness. At Qualitative Inquiry Conference, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA
Camden Pratt, C. (2003). Somatic Narratives as Re-search Method and Re-presentation. At AQR Conference: Creating Spaces for Understanding. Sydney Australia
Camden Pratt, C. (2003) Collage as Re-search Method and Re-presentation At AQR Conference: Creating Spaces for Understanding. Sydney Australia.
Camden-Pratt, C. (2003) Daughters of Persephone: creative arts as research in mental health. Multi-media presentation with paper .At Narratives for a New Millennium Conference. University of Adelaide, South Australia.
Unpublished Co- Authored Refereed Conference Papers
Camden-Pratt, C., Davidson, N., Mooney, M., and Wright, D. (2005). Creative pedagogies in teacher education: personal agency and social action. At AARE 2005 Conference Education Research – Creative Dissent: Constructive Solutions. UWS
Camden-Pratt, C., Davidson, N., Mooney, M., and Wright, D. (2004) Creative Teaching Practices: exploring the heart of drama learning. At Heart of The Nation, Drama Australia Conference, A.C.T.
Camden-Pratt, C., & Finch, J., (2004). waiting to be re-membered: art making and documentary making bringing the private story into the public domain through community col-labo(u)r-a©tion. At Turning the Tide, Community Mental Health Conference, Woolongong NSW – in conjunction with Blue Mountains Women’s Health Centre.
Performances
Camden Pratt, C. (1999) Ode to Life from Daughters of Persephone: legacies of maternal ‘madness’. At Pantheatre Festival of Myth and Theatre, New Orleans.
Camden Pratt, C. with Bridgeman, K., Horsfall, D., Pinn, J., and Kaufmann Hall, V. (2006) Walking Creative Edges: Performing Research. At the Pacific Edge, Regional Arts Conference, Qld. Australia.
Camden Pratt, C. with Bridgeman, K., Horsfall, D., Pinn, J., and Kaufmann Hall, V. (2005) Am I too outspoken? At Australian Women in Agriculture (AWIA) 2005 Conference, Orange, NSW, Invited Research Performance to open Conference Play based on research material from AWIA.
Art Exhibitions
Solo
Camden-Pratt, C., (2003) ‘waiting to be remembered’ Solo Art Exhibition Blue Mountains Women’s Health Centre, Katoomba NSW.
Many of my subsequent presentations and publications use these paintings.
Joint
Camden-Pratt, C., (2022). “Palimpsest: ashes intersecting felt edges.” Video using her-storical and current paintings, public images, self-authored poetic text. Whitlam Gallery, Female Orphan School, Western Sydney University, Parramatta South Campus.
Camden-Pratt, C., (2018). “vulnerability” (i) and (ii). Double art work in Mind the Gap: tending the interface of art and therapy. Western Sydney University Art Gallery, Werrington North Campus.. (Mixed Media on canvas: (i) eucalypt bark, acrylic, fabric, recycled button, rocks, blood and bone, wood, leaf, glass, adhesive and (ii) canvas frame, paper bark, mirror, canvas).
Camden-Pratt, C., (2018). “be-holding”. Single Art work in When Words Aren’t Enough. Art Exhibition of Blue Mountains and Nepean Art Therapy. Braemar Gallery, Springwood. (Mixed media on canvas: acrylics, fabric, mirrors)
Camden-Pratt, C., (2013). Untitled ( mixed media on canvas: acrylics, eucalypt gum bark, rocks from the local train line, ashes – blood and bone, glass, fabric, recycled button, recycled wood from table) Single Art work. In Beneath the Surface. Art Exhibition for Social Ecology Symposium, Hawkesbury Campus of University of Western Sydney.
Camden-Pratt, C., (2007). “in the name of the father” (mixed media on canvas: acrylics, oils, fabric, mirror, recycled table frame and legs) Single Art work. In Celebrating Women’s Resilience; Exhibition for International Women’s Day. Blue Mountains Women’s Health Centre, Braemar Gallery Springwood.
Presentations and Exhibition Openings
2009 with Social Ecology colleagues. Learning for Sustainable Communities. Blacktown Community Services Conference. Blacktown City Council.
2007 Invited opening talk. Exhibition International Women’s Day, Celebrating Women’s Resilience, Blue Mountains Women’s Health Centre, Braemar Gallery Springwood.
2007 Invited presentation. Telling the messy Stories. The Women’s Room at Braemar Gallery Springwood.
2006 Invited opening talk. Strange Angels at Blue Mountains Women’s Health Centre, Katoomba.