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Newport University


MA   Arts Psychotherapy

Music Therapy & Art Psychotherapy

approved by

Health Professions Council!

The Health Professions Council, which approves & regulates the work of therapists & psychotherapists in the UK, have just signalled their approval of Newport University's new MA Arts Pschotherapy programme. This is set to place Newport University at the forefront of Music Therapy & Art Psychotherapy in Wales & the West of England. Subject to some minor adjustments to documentation and logistics, it is expected that this MA Arts Psychotherapy programme will accept its first cohort of students in October this year.

Currently there is no Art Psychotherapy training provision in the West of England, the West Midlands, the South West of England or Wales, so this MA Art Psychotherapy programme will provide a much needed source of training for those people from these areas who wish to become Art Therapists / Psychotherapists.

This MA Arts Psychotherapy programme will add to the work already begun with the current BA(Hons) Creative Therapies programme which offers pathways in Music, Art or Movement & Dance and now in its second year. Students on this programme are being trained to work therapeutically in a variety of settings, with the first cohort set to complete the programme in 2011.

Creative Therapies Tutor Liz Coombes on Radio Wales

Having just returned from working therapeutically with Palestinian children in Bethlehem, Creative Therapies Music Therapist tutor Liz Coombes will be interviewed by Radio Wales about her experiences on Tuesday 5 January in the morning - not to be missed!!

Liz Coombes, Music Therapist, returns in December

Creative Therapies in Education Visiting Lecturer & Music Therapist Elizabeth Coombes returns from Bethlehem on 11th December. The students and staff on the Creative Therapies programme are really excited in anticipation of her return & looking forward to hearing about all of her positive experiences of working therapeutically with Palestinian children at the 'SOS' Children's Village and School in Bethlehem. We are sure that her experiences are going to have a great impact upon the Creative Therapies programme & lecture content at Newport University in the new year.

Dance & Movement Module Leader Batel Magen steps out in Bristol

Exciting news from Batel Magen who is currently Module Leader for the Creative Therapies in Education 'Dance & Movement' pathway:

Artistic director Batel Magen leads new Bristol based dance company, Neshima in an exciting new project, Dancing in Tongues, which includes two new pieces See what you say Batel Magen and Jigsaw Helen Wilson, company dancer. 'See What You Say' is currently a work in progress and can be seen by clicking on the links below.
Neshima, meaning breath in Hebrew lives up to its name by incorporating and embodying the use, qualities and dynamics of breath in its repertoire. Neshima is a conceptual based company whereby it explores a range of concepts as the main stimulus for movement.
Dancing in Tongues offers the dancers and the audience the opportunity to delve into the physicality and complexity of Language, Non-Verbal Communication and Relationships.
Currently waiting to hear about funding from Bristol City Council and Arts Council England, NDC is determined and highly motivated develop and continue making exciting, different and professional dance work to be toured locally, regionally and beyond. Any and all support would be greatly appreciated.

For more information about what the company has to offer; Performances and educational residences and/or to book Neshima Dance Company in your venue please contact Batel Magen at:
Neshimadance@googlemail.com or call 07854806371.
Choreographer: Batel Magen
Neshima dancers: Helen Wilson, Murilo Lieto, Cris Linda and Clare Bellington
Singers: Daniela Tourgeman and Ian PerryHere are the new links to Dancing in Tongues, including promo trailer:http://vimeo.com/7804817 this is the new link to the promo trailer.http://vimeo.com/7760898 this is the newlink to the english phrase.http://vimeo.com/7761371 this is the new link to the hebrew phrase.http://vimeo.com/7761744 this is the new link to the spanish phrase.There currently a Neshima Facebook group called- Neshima Dance Company, there you will find pictures of previous rehearsals, videos and more info about company.

Look out for the first blog post from Bethlehem Saturday 31st October

To view the first blog post from Bethlehem (available to view as of 31 October) and gain an insight into Liz's progress please view the post here www.musicastherapy.org/news/projects

Nearly there...

On Saturday 24th, I'm finally off to Bethlehem. I will be travelling up to Heathrow early that morning to meet with my "Assistant" Hannah McCabe. We will be flying out to Tel Aviv with Canon Paul Miller and Claire Tillotson, a Music Therapist. The whole idea for this project came from them, and they've spent the last 3 years getting to this point.

They are going to settle us in our accomodation and introduce us to everyone, helping us to set up a timetable. I think this is a great idea, as it will no doubt remove a lot of the groundwork we would otherwise have to do.

My suitcase is filling up, more with books and various pieces of equipment than clothes, although I have managed to pack my swimming costume in case I get a chance for a dip in the Dead Sea!

Watch this space for further posts. You can find out more about the charity that has organised us volunteers on www.musicastherapy.org.

Jamie Owen Show

To all you blog followers, on Wednesday morning 19th August I will be on the Jamie Owen show Radio Wales, talking about Project Bethlehem and the BA in Creative Therapies in Education. Hope you can catch it!

Learning Arabic!

Just to let you all know the latest on Project Bethlehem.... I thought it might be a good idea to learn a bit of Arabic before going, just so I can say a few basic phrases, and also learn some sentences that might be handy when leading a workshop. Any suggestions as to what sentences might be useful? I'm thinking things like: "Let's all play together" and "Now it's your turn".

A tutor at the Cardiff Centre for Lifelong Learning has kindly agreed to give me a few lessons, and I've got the first one this Thursday. It'll be really interesting to see how quick/hard it is to pick up. I'll let you know.

Music Therapy project in Bethlehem!!

Creative Therapies in Education Visiting Lecturer and Music Therapist Liz Coombes is off to Bethlehem soon to work on a Music Therapy project in an orphange. The project is run by 'Music as Therapy International' in collaboration with local partners SOS Childrens Village Bethlehem, Canon Paul Miller and Music Therapist Claire Tillotson.

Music as Therapy, sends Music Therapists to childrens homes/community centres around the world to educate and raise awareness of Music Therapy and to provide sessions .

During Liz's 6 weeks she will be teaching social workers and teachers, and other carers how to use music creatively and therapeutically with young children who have either Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties or Additional learning Needs. And this is what Creative Therapies in education does too!


While Liz is away she will be keeping us all up to date through the blog and will put together a presentation on her return. Liz will also be bringing this work to life through our course content in the module 'Working with Diverse Populations' where we look at cross cultural contstructions of health, ill health, therapy and the arts.

Best of luck to Liz and we can't wait for our first installment!!