GUEST LECTURER
Arts Communication Lab, Kobe, Japan, online training counselors and artists. (March 2021 and July 2021 – June 2022)
Desarrollo Integral de la Familia (DiF), (the equivalent of the National Association for the Protection of Children) (September – November 2020). 10-week training for social workers and caseworkers: Artistic strategies as a tool for working with children and adolescents who have experienced psycho-emotional trauma.
St. Xavier's (Autonomous) College, Mumbai, India (September 2020, April 2021). Online training for expressive arts therapy students.
Beijing Apollo Education and Consulting Institute, (March 2019). Four-day training for therapists, educators, and artists.
Institute for Modern Psychotherapy, Wuhan, China (March 2018). Five-day training for therapists, educators, and artists.
Daegu Catholic University, Daegu South Korea (November 2017). Three-day training for therapists, educators, and artists.
Art Therapy Research Center of Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan China, Distinguished Guest Professor, (June 2017).
The Consulting Center of Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan China (June 2016, June 2017). Training for counselors and artists.
Gachon University, Seoul Korea (April 2016). Four-day teaching for therapists, artists, health workers and clergy.
Expressive Arts Florida Institute, Sarasota, Florida (January 2015, March 2017, September 2020). Training for therapists, artists, health workers.
TAE Peru Institute for Expressive Arts, Lima Peru (November 2014). Three-day training for therapists, artists, health workers.
Mt. Mary College. Milwaukee, Wisconsin (February 2010, September 2011). Weekend course on basic principles of Expressive Therapies to master’s level art therapy students and guest lecturer Orientation weekend.
CONFERENCES AND PRESENTATIONS
January 2022 Principles and Practices of Inner and Outer Peace with Jonathan Granoff, President of the Global Security Institute, and senior advisor and United Nations representative to the Permanent Secretariat of the World Summits of Nobel peace laureates. Panel respondent.
April 2021, 12th Annual Conference, Institute for Arts and Health, Lesley University: Celebrating the National and International Impact of the Integration of the Arts Within the Intersection of Health, Education and Therapy. (co-host and moderator).
March 2021, The Pocket Project: a global initiative that aims to restore the fragmentation in individuals, communities, and societies by addressing and supporting the integration of collective and intergenerational trauma.
October 2020, Florida Institute for Expressive Arts, Living with Uncertainty: Utilizing Expressive Arts for Trauma, Resiliency, and Attunement.
June 2020, International Association of Creative Arts Somatic Education Global Connection Webinar: International Conversation on Arts and Trauma: From Deconstruction to Reconstruction through Covid-19. From Harmony to Hope: Musical Reflections with Mitchell Kossak, piano and Stan Strickland, saxophone and flute.
May 2020, Boston Arts Consortium for Health (BACH) online symposium: BACH for Healing: a collection of artful mini-talks. Piano reflections on Chick Corea’s Crystal Silence.
August 2019, Keynote: Bridging the Past, Present, and Future: Applied Arts and Health Theory, Practice and Research. International Conference, Building Bridges, Building Bridges’ in Applied Arts & Health, Education and Community Conference, University of Wolverhampton, England.
August 2019, The Arts and Global Health – Masterclass Workshop. International Conference, Building Bridges, Building Bridges’ in Applied Arts & Health, Education and Community Conference, University of Wolverhampton, England.
March 2019, Assessment in Expressive Therapies: Bridging Clinical, Creative, and Cultural Approaches, Apollo Conference – Arts in Assessment, Beijing, China.
October 2018, Rhythmic Attunement: Attachment, Embodied Empathy, and Interpersonal Neurobiology, Expressive Therapies Summit, New York, NY.
July 2018, Connecting Body Mind and Spirit through Music, Southern Vermont Music Therapy Organization & Brattleboro Music Center, Brattleboro, VT.
November 2017, Arts Connect International, Music Performance/ Accompaniment, Hyppolite Ntigurirwa a Rwanda survivor of genocide reading excerpts from his one-man play at Tufts Hillel Center.
October 2017, Rhythmic Attunement: Alignment with the Heartbeat Pulsing at the Center of the Universe, International Expressive Arts Therapy Association, Winnipeg, Canada.
October 2017, Panel Moderator: Arts and the Brain: A Symposium on the Healing Power of the Arts, Seven Hills Foundation, Worcester Art Museum, and Lesley University Institute for Arts and Health.
April 2017, Musical accompaniment performance ‘Refugees’. Responding to collective Anxiety and Building Community Resilience: 8th Annual Arts in Healthcare Conference, Lesley University.
March 2016, Day of Scholars, Lesley University, Interdisciplinary Musings: From “Suffering” towards ‘Health” – Understanding Freud and Jung’s contributions to Counseling Psychology and Expressive Arts Therapy.
November 2016, Panel: “Humanities, Healing, Arts & Medicine,” a workshop at the 2nd Annual Symposium for Cultural Inclusion, UMass Boston.
October 2016, “Rhythm: The Heartbeat of Life,” Keynote and pre-conference workshop. 2nd Latin American Symposium, International Expressive Arts Therapy Association, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
April 2016, “Expressive Arts Therapy: Trauma, Resiliency and Attunement,” Keynote and workshop. William James College, Needham, MA.
November 2015, “Rhythmic Attunement: An Expressive Arts Therapy approach to working with individual and collective trauma,” Expressive Therapies Summit, NYC.
November 2015, “Recognition as a Pioneer in the Field” (workshop and presentation), International Expressive Arts Therapy Association, Hong Kong.
October 2015, “5-Element Theory in Expressive Arts Therapy Practice: Attunement to the Tao,” International Expressive Arts Therapy Association, Hong Kong.
October 2014, “5-Element Theory in Expressive Arts Therapy Practice,” Expressive Therapies Summit, NYC.
May 2014, “Introduction to Arts in Hospital,” Ermeni Hospital, France Lape Hospital, John Hopkins Anadolu Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
April 2014, “Remembering Rwanda” 5th Annual Arts and Healthcare conference "Arts and Global Health: Art, Memory, and Testimony in the Aftermath of Trauma", Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
March 2014, Keynote speaker 1st Latin American Regional Symposium “Weaving The Americas Tejiendo las Americas,” Guatemala.
December 2013, “RESILIENCE WORKSHOP” Co-hosted by the Mission Institute and the B-PEACE Initiative of the Episcopal Church, Mattapan, MA.
November 2013, “Rhythm and Resonance in Clinical Practice” Expressive Therapies Summit, NYC.
October 2013, “Rhythm and Resonance in Clinical Practice,” Expressive Arts Therapies in Mental Health Service, New Life Institute of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Hospital, Hong Kong, China.
May 2013, “When Words Are Not Enough, Response to Boston Marathon Bombing”, Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Boston, MA.
March 2013, “Arts-Based Research”, International Expressive Arts Therapy Conference, Expressive Arts in the Winds of Change, Berkeley California.
August 2011, “Improvisational Arts: Playing with Uncertainty” International Expressive Arts Therapy Conference, Living with Uncertainty: Multiplicity as a healing pathway through expressive arts, Lima, Peru.
March 2011, “Rhythmic Attunement: A Psycho-spiritual approach to working with Trauma” Trauma & Spirituality Conference: An International Dialogue Belfast, Northern Ireland.
August 2011, “Improvisational arts: Playing with uncertainty” International Expressive Arts Therapy Conference, Living with Uncertainty: Multiplicity as a healing pathway through expressive arts, Lima Peru.
PUBLICATIONS
Book
Kossak, M. (2021). Attunement in expressive arts: Toward an understanding of embodied empathy (2nd Edition). Springfield, IL: Charles Thomas Ltd.
Kossak, M. (2015). Attunement in expressive arts: Toward an understanding of embodied empathy. Springfield, IL: Charles Thomas Ltd.
Edited Book
Kossak, M., Prior, R. Fisher, T. (in press). Applied arts and health, education and community: Building bridges. London: Intellect.
Kossak, M., Schwartz, S., Speiser, V. (Eds.) (2012). Arts and Social Change: The Lesley University Experience in Israel. Zur Yigal, Israel: Porat Books.
Book Chapters
Kossak, M., Ramirez, K. Mageary, J. (2021). Voces Arts and Healing Working on the U.S.–Mexico border with asylum seekers. In Scarce, J. (Ed.), Art Therapy in Response to Natural Disasters, Mass Violence and Crisis. London: Jessica Kingsley.
Kossak, M. (in press). Bridging past, present and future: What if there were no art? In Kossak, M., Prior, R. Fisher, T. (Eds.). Applied arts and health, education and community: Building bridges. London: Intellect.
Kossak, M. (in press). Attunement in Expressive Arts: Attachment, rhythm, resonance and embodied empathy. In (Malchiodi, C. (Ed.) Expressive Therapies. New York: Guilford Press.
Kossak, M. (2019). A different way of knowing: Assessment and feedback in art-based research. In Prior, R. (Ed). Using Art as Research in Learning & Teaching: Multidisciplinary approaches across the arts. London: Intellect.
Kossak, M. (2014). Arts-Based inquiry: It’s what we do. In McNiff, S. (Ed.), Art as research: Challenges and Opportunities (pp. 19-28). Bristol, England: Intellect.
Kossak, M. (2013). Teaching counseling in foreign cultures: A diverse landscape. In Fritchle, M.& Maller, D. (Eds.). The Praeger handbook of community mental health practice: Working in the global community, (Volume 3 pp. 169-184). Santa Barbara, California: Praeger.
Kossak, M., Sussman, A. (2011). The Wisdom of the inner life: Meeting oneself through meditation and music. In Tisdell, E., Swartz, A. (Eds.), Wisdom and Adult Education. San Francisco, CA: Wiley/Jossey-Bass.
Articles
Kossak, M. (2019). Interview Naj Wikoff. Journal of Applied Arts and Health. 10(2).
Kossak, M. (2019). Interview Vivien Marcow-Speiser. Journal of Applied Arts and Health. 10(1).
Kossak, M. (2012). Arts-Based inquiry: It’s what we do! Journal of Applied Arts and Health. 3(1), 21-29.
Editor Special Journal Issue
Kossak, M., Kalmanowitz, D., Schwartz, S. Speiser, V. (2018). Arts-based disaster relief: An overview of psychosocial responses and practices, Special Issue Journal of Applied Arts and Health, 9(2), London: Intellect.
Kossak, M. (ed.). (2016). Responding to individual and collective traumatic events Special Issue Journal of Applied Arts and Health, 7(2), London: Intellect.
Editorials
Kossak, M. (2021). Editorial. Journal of Applied Arts and Health. 12(1).
Kossak, M. (2021). Editorial. Journal of Applied Arts and Health. 11(3).
Kossak, M. (2019). Editorial. Journal of Applied Arts and Health. 10(2).
Kossak, M., Kalmanowitz, D. Schwartz, S., Speiser, V. (2018). Editorial. Journal of Applied Arts and Health. 9(2).
Kossak, M. (2018). Editorial. Journal of Applied Arts and Health. 9(1).
Kossak, M. (2017). Editorial. Journal of Applied Arts and Health. 8(1).
Kossak, M. (2016). Editorial. Journal of Applied Arts and Health. 6(3), 241-246.
Kossak, M. (2015). Editorial. Journal of Applied Arts and Health. 5(2), 299-302.
Kossak, M. (2013). Editorial. Journal of Applied Arts and Health. 4(2), 129-131.
Kossak, M. (2012). Editorial. Journal of Applied Arts and Health. 3(2), 199-216.
Kossak, M. (2011). Editorial. Journal of Applied Arts and Health. 2(2), 197-198.
Reviews
Kossak, M. (2017). 8th Annual Arts and Health Conference, Lesley University, Responding to collective anxiety and building community resilience, Journal of Applied Arts and Health, 8(2).
Kossak, M. (2013). 10th International conference of the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association, ‘Expressive Arts in the Winds of Change’, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA, 14-17 March 2013. Journal of Applied Arts and Health, 227-228.
Kossak, M. (2011). Arts in Healthcare conference series: Violence prevention in schools and communities. Journal of Applied Arts and Health. 2(2), 197-198.
Reviewer
Lee, J., Rollins, J., Sonke, J. (Eds.), (2019). Creativity and Health: An Evidence-Based Guide to Practice in Arts in Health. London, UK, Routledge.
Goodill, S., Nolan, P. (2011). Creative and expressive therapies. In Micozzi, M. (Ed.). Fundamentals of complementary and alternative medicine. 4th edition. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Scholarship & Professional Activity
2021 Arts for the Aging: Aging and Integrative Pain Assessment and Management Initiative. Research coordinator addressing non-opioid pain management in adults ages 50 and older .
2020 National Organization for Arts in Health Leadership Summit, Inova Center for Personalized Health Conference Center Fairfax, Virginia.
2019 Co-Chair International Conference, Building Bridges in Applied Arts & Health, Education and Community Conference, University of Wolverhampton, England.
2019 -present Founding member, Voces Arts and Healing, a group of expressive arts therapists, working with asylum seekers in Juarez Mexico.
2018 National Organization for Arts in Health Leadership Summit, Georgetown University, Washington, DC.
2018 NEA Grant: Multi-Media Arts Project between Lesley University’s Institute for Arts and Health (IAH) and the Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly (JCHE)
2017 Shining Star Award: Lifetime Achievement Award, International Expressive Therapies Association.
2017 Distinguished Visiting Professor, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Three Year appointment.
2017 Co-Chair: 9th Annual Arts in Healthcare Conference, Lesley University. Working with Veterans and Active Duty Military Through the Arts.
2017 Co-Host with Lesley University Institute of Arts and Health, The Worcester Art Museum and the Seven Hills Foundation: Arts and the Brain:A Symposium on the Healing Power of the Arts
2016 Associate: Art Therapy Research Center, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan China.
2016 Cambridge Community Television: Host weekly show - Arts and Health at Lesley University. Weekly community TV show interviewing local and regional arts and health practitioners.
2015 Musical Director, Lost Mosaics in ¾ Time, Original play written by Alan O’Hare to be performed June 2015.
2014 Co-Chair committee for 40th anniversary celebration of Expressive Therapies division, Lesley University.
2014 Co-Chair Fifth Annual Arts in Healthcare conference, Lesley University, Art, Memory and Testimony in the Aftermath of Trauma.
2013 Co-Chair Fourth Annual Arts in Healthcare conference, Lesley University, Conflict as Catalyst: The role of the arts conference, in collaboration with cross-university constituents as well as the And Still We Rise Theater group.
2013 Director, When Words Are Not Enough: Response to Boston Marathon Bombing, in partnership with Emmanuel Episcopal Church. The event was designed to address the unspoken feelings left in the hearts and minds of many in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon tragedy.
2012 Co-Chair, Third Annual Arts in Healthcare conference, Lesley University, Arts in the CommonHealth: Transforming space through healing arts, in collaboration with the Boston Arts Consortium for Health
Professional Associations and Credentials
- International Expressive Arts Therapies Association (IEATA) (1995-present), President/Executive Co-Chair (2010-2016)
- American Mental Health Counselor Association (1997-present)
- Massachusetts Mental Health Counselors Association (1985-present)
- Licensed Mental Health Counselor - LMHC (1985-present)
- Registered Expressive Arts Therapist – REAT (2009-present)