Creative Containers for Cumulative Trauma Repair

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Creative Containers for Cumulative Trauma Repair

with Jennifer Albright Knash, MA, ATR, RCAT, the author of Art Therapy as Cumulative Trauma Repair: Expressive Therapies Continuum. Perry’s Neurosequential Model and Using Art Therapy Techniques to Inform Perception and Imagination

June 1, 2025, 5-8PM EST

Workshop Description:

In this immersive, 3-hour experiential virtual workshop, participants will explore the use of creative containers as a therapeutic response to cumulative trauma. Grounded in the work of Dr. Jennifer Albright Knash, whose model of Cumulative Trauma Repair integrates expressive therapies with neurodevelopmental frameworks, this session invites clinicians to consider how imagination, relational safety, and material engagement can support recovery from layered trauma over time.

Participants will engage hands-on in constructing a layered container project, a multisensory process that mirrors the layered nature of trauma and healing. The workshop will weave together the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) — a model that guides therapists in matching interventions to a client’s level of processing — with the Four Functional Domains of the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT): sensory, relational, cognitive, and abstract.

Through individual art-making, dyadic reflection, and collective discussion, we will explore how containers can be used to hold experiences that are overwhelming, fragmented, or preverbal. As a group, we will co-create four interrelated types of containment:

- The collective container – building trust and co-regulation in community
- The physical container – using tactile materials to support sensory integration
- The spiritual container – accessing symbolic or imaginal resources for meaning-making
- The conceptual/ideological container – framing trauma work within a clinical and developmental lens

By engaging in both discussion and experiential practice, participants will deepen their understanding of how creative containment supports the development of internal organization, self-regulation, and resilience — all essential capacities in the repair of cumulative trauma. The session is designed for art therapists and mental health professionals seeking trauma-informed, expressive approaches that draw on both neuroscience and relational healing.


The workshop has a duration of 3 hours, that will be recorded  to be watched and consulted at your pace.

Approximate conversion: 102 US $ / 95 EUR / 80 GPB / 154 AU$

This course is accredited by the following Canadian bodies:
OPQ accreditation (for psychologists and psychotherapists) – 6h30: RE05470-23
CCPA accreditation (for counsellors) - 64963297

This course will give you 3 hours of NBCC continuing education credits for the home-study part.

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Learning objectives:

By the end of this course, you will be equipped with a robust toolkit and the necessary knowledge to
1. Apply the Concept of Creative Containment
2. Explore the Integration of the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) and Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT)
3. Develop Skills in Constructing Layered Container Projects
4. Cultivate Techniques for Building Relational Safety and Somatic Regulation 
5. Apply Trauma-Informed, Expressive Approaches to Clinical Practice

Jennifer Albright Knash

Jennifer Albright Knash, DAT, ATRL-BC, LPC/AODA, CCTP, RYT 200 received her doctorate from Mount Mary University where she completed research regarding trauma repair in the framework of the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT). She currently operates a community practice in Cudahy, Wisconsin with a focus on cumulative trauma repair. Dr. Albright Knash enjoys reconnecting individuals with their love of creating and the healing properties of art. She maintains her own art practice as well as a deep connection to nature and spirituality.
Dr. Albright Knash is the Academic Programs Director at Southwestern College in Santa Fe, New Mexico where she received her master’s degree. She has created the Trauma Concentration for the Counseling and Art Therapy and Counseling programs and recently authored the book, Art Therapy as Cumulative Trauma Repair: Expressive Therapies Continuum. Perry’s Neurosequential Model and Using Art Therapy Techniques to Inform Perception and Imagination.

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Course Outline

Creative Containers for Cumulative Trauma Repair

A.    PHYSICAL CONTAINERS (45 minutes to 1 hour)
KINESTHETIC/ SENSORY: 
•    Introductions and “show and tell” with participants’ choices of containers 
•    Kinesthetic/ Sensory exploration of the outside and inside of the containers. How did your body choose the container? 
•    Brief overview of the Expressive Therapies Continuum.
•    Brief overview of the 4 Functional Domains of the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics.
•    Discussion of the complimentary aspects of the ETC and NMT.

B.    EMOTIONAL CONTAINERS (45 minutes)
PERCEPTIVE/ AFFECTIVE: 
•    Artmaking: Bringing the outside in; using choice of materials to create inner worlds.
•    Focus:  Emotional Regulation and spending time in the “language of colors, lines, and shapes” and the emotional involvement of the process and the regulatory opportunities offered.

C.    METAPHORICAL/ SPIRITUAL/ CONCEPTUAL CONTAINERS (45 minutes)
COGNITIVE/ SYMBOLIC
•    Dyad discussion: Taking a few minutes in dyads to discuss the containers and to put words to the worlds within. How does this inner world offer opportunities for meaning making? For possible connection to resources?
•     Given that the container offers many metaphorical and symbolic qualities inherently, how does the way that you approached this art experience offer further development of metaphor? 
•    Communal container for sharing in larger group: building relational capacity.
•    Opportunities for tapping into cognitive by bridging with exploration of metaphor and symbolism

D.    APPLICATION FOR PRACTICE AND FOR REPAIR OPPORTUNITIES (30 to 45 minutes)
•    Questions from the field and indications for clinical usage
•    The importance of transitional objects for practitioners and for clients
•    Approaching cumulative trauma repair, what are ways that the “container” can be integrated in tandem with NMT and the ETC?

PAID HOME STUDY PACKAGE CE CREDITS

This package offers you 3 NBCC credits for certified counsellors in US and for arts therapists in US .
Other Professional Orders and Associations around the world may accept the accreditation, so please consult with your respective regulatory body.

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Creative Therapies Events Inc. has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7468. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Creative Therapies Events Inc. is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

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This package will give you 6 hours of continuing education hours, as per approval by the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. Members of CCPA will receive transcripts at no cost listing all attended events assessed as Continuing Education Credit. Non‐members must attach a cheque for $30.00 payable to CCPA to have CEC’s recorded and to have a transcript issued.

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Art Therapy Credentials Board, Inc. (ATCB) recognizes an array of Continuing Education Credit activities, inclusive of those pertaining to the spheres of professional and mental health counseling. These specified activities are delineated within the recertification standards, which are disseminated to all Art Therapy Registered-Board Certified (ATR-BC) professionals during their recertification year, as well as being accessible via the official ATCB website. It is mandated that a minimum of six CE credits in the domain of ethics and six CE credits in the domain of supervision or education must be acquired in each certification cycle. Licensees practicing as art therapists within their respective states (in US) are advised to consult with their state boards to ascertain the acceptability of various CE courses for the purpose of license renewal.

Please check with your regulatory body in your country, this home study program may be accepted for CE credits in European countries, Australia, and Asia.

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Creative Therapies Events Inc. is our registered legal name under which all official and legal matters are conducted. This includes compliance with all regulatory requirements and licensure board mandates.
We operate under the brand name 'Creative Arts Therapies Events' which may be used, along with our logo, for all our educational and promotional materials, both in print and electronic formats, including for advertising certified credits where applicable.
We have employed LearnWorlds, a learning management system, for delivering this program. The use of LearnWorlds, including its logo, does not imply sponsorship or co-sponsorship of any educational or business activities by LearnWorlds in relation to Creative Therapies Events Inc.

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