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EMERGING SCHOLARs SYMPOSIUM!
JOIN US FOR THE SECOND ANNUAL
EMERGING SCHOLARs SYMPOSIUM!
Emerging Scholars is under the banner of the Expressing Pride Symposia and is a unique virtual gathering that provides a vibrant and supportive platform for new and emerging practitioners in the field of queer creative arts therapies to share their knowledge, research, and experiences with peers and colleagues. The event is designed to foster an inclusive environment where participants can hone their presentation skills and explore innovative ways to share their work that celebrates queer identities and perspectives. Emerging Scholars provides both the student population and practitioners alike an opportunity to connect, build community, and explore pertinent topics and effective support methods that can be implemented in the field.
We are a non-profit organization run by volunteers. If you appreciate the work we do and are in a position to donate, please consider contributing via PayPal. This funding goes directly towards paying presenters, funding these events, and our ability to offer CECs for free, keeping continued education and professional enrichment accessible.
Schedule
Schedule
Saturday, june 28
Saturday, june 28
10:00 AM - 10:45 AM: Queering Art Therapy at Every Size: Confronting Fatphobia and Healthism, presented by Danielle Maveal
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM: Emergent Play for Divergent Beings, presented by Fritz Mad’Laine, AMFT, RDT, and Ishita (Ishu) Pahoja, AMFT, RDT
12:45 PM - 1:30 PM: Exploring the Impact of Art Therapy on Self-Perception In Functional Neurological Disorder: A Case Study, presented by Kailey Williams
1:30 PM - 2:00 PM: Meal/Break
1:45 PM - 2:00 PM: Check-In
2:00 PM - 2:45 PM: Art, Identity, Justice, and Resilience: Navigating LGBTQIA+ Support In a Military Setting through Creative Arts Therapy, presented by Leilanie Morales
3:00 PM - 4:30 PM: Chthonic Beings In Chronic Pain: Queering/Cripping Suffering through Image and Metaphor, presented by Rosi Hayes
4:45 PM - 5:30 PM: “Gold Tits to the Wind”: Expressive Arts, Disability Justice, and Queer Cancer Narratives, presented by Morgan Hopson
5:30 PM - 6:00 PM: Closing and Community Feedback
Theme
Theme
Queer Disability Justice and Body Liberation in the Arts Therapies
Queer Disability Justice and Body Liberation in the Arts Therapies
This year, we center the intersectional experiences of queer and disabled individuals, highlighting their resilience, creativity, and the unique therapeutic practices that support their well-being. Rooted in the principles of disability justice, our symposium emphasizes the interconnectedness of disability with other forms of oppression such as race, gender, sexuality, and class. We aim to address systemic barriers and social inequalities, advocating for collective liberation, accessibility, and the inherent worth and dignity of all bodies.
Incorporating the insights of queer crip theory, we will challenge normative assumptions about bodies, identities, and abilities, and explore the fluidity and performativity of identity. We will also emphasize body liberation, celebrating diverse body experiences and advocating for the right of all individuals to exist freely and safely in their bodies. Together, we will delve into critical issues, share innovative approaches, and build a more inclusive and affirming future for all.
Presentation details
Presentation details
Descriptions:
Descriptions:
IN SCHEDULED ORDER
Queering Art Therapy at Every Size: Confronting Fatphobia and Healthism presented by Danielle Maveal
As (future) queer art therapists, providing care that acknowledges the intersections of sizeism, healthism, gender and sexuality oppression, white supremacy, and colonialism is essential for fostering more inclusive and affirming therapeutic spaces. In this presentation, we will explore fat-affirming, queer-affirming approaches to art therapy that resist the marginalization of diverse bodies.
Emergent Play for Divergent Beings presented by Fritz Mad’Laine, AMFT, RDT, and Ishita Pahoja, AMFT, RDT
This presentation will utilize community organizing principles put forth in Adrienne Maree Brown's “Emergent Strategy”. By weaving together a wide array of drama therapy techniques and organizing tools, Emergent Play proposes a transformative mental health approach to drama therapy, emphasizing collective liberation and divergent ways of being.
Exploring the Impact of Art Therapy on Self-Perception In Functional Neurological Disorder: A Case Study presented by Kailey Williams
This presentation will highlight the lived experience of a white queer, nonbinary, trans-masc disabled adult with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) in art therapy. A two-year case study will be presented including a short animation by the participant. Implications for queer disability justice in the field will be discussed.
Art, Identity, Justice, and Resilience: Navigating LGBTQIA+ Support In a Military Setting through Creative Arts Therapy presented by Leilanie Morales
This presentation explores an art therapy intern's experience supporting LGBTQIA+ service members on a military base. It highlights the impact of creative arts therapies as well as the challenges faced sustaining a queer support group within a military setting, the role of supervision and navigating systemic barriers.
Chthonic Beings In Chronic Pain: Queering/Cripping Suffering through Image and Metaphor presented by Rosi Hayes
This workshop explores the liberatory potential of chthonic beings and other metaphorical creatures in queering/cripping chronic pain within art therapy. Drawing from Haraway, monster theory, and crip/queer discourse, participants will use collage to summon imaginary beings, reimagining pain and disability through empowered self-symbols beyond medicalized narratives.
“Gold Tits to the Wind”: Expressive Arts, Disability Justice, and Queer Cancer Narratives presented by Morgan Hopson
This presentation explores the intersections of queer disability justice, expressive arts therapy, and body liberation through the lens of breast cancer survivorship. Grounded in liberation psychology, Audrey Lorde’s "The Cancer Journals" will be examined alongside arts-based healing modalities to challenge ableist narratives and reclaim agency over the body.
Presenters
Presenters
(In Alphabetical Order by First Name)
(In Alphabetical Order by First Name)
Danielle Maveal
(she/her)
Danielle Maveal
(she/her)
Danielle Maveal is a third-year art therapy graduate student at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. She brings a background in community building and a liberatory, relational lens to her clinical practice. Her current research focus on fat liberation and affirming care that centers marginalized bodies in therapeutic spaces.
Instagram: @bikini_kiln
Fritz Mad'Laine
(they/them) (LEFT)
Ishita (Ishu) Pahoja
(zoo/they) (RIGHT)
Fritz is a community organizer, educator, playwright, and drama therapist who is passionate about mutual aid and mad liberation, and sees drama therapy as a practice of shaping change (all credit to Octavia, of course). Fritz studied at Stanford University, where they double majored in History and Theatre & Performance Studies. Before becoming a therapist, Fritz worked with the Berkeley Free Clinic to provide street-based harm reduction and mental health services in collaboration with unhoused communities in the Bay Area.
Ishu works in community mental health with youth and families, and has supported unhoused communities, substance users, and elders with Dementia. Raised in India with ancestral roots in present-day Pakistan, they trained in theatre with Abhivyakti Street Theatre Society. Their work centers Emergent Play, blending grassroots organizing, psychology, and drama to explore how emotion moves through cultural and political realms.
Website: www.emergentplay.space
Instagram: @emergent.play
Bluesky: @emergentplay.bsky.social
Kailey Williams
Kailey Williams
(she/they)
(she/they)
Kailey will be graduating with her Masters in Art Therapy from George Washington University in August, 2025. She believes in the power of art to connect, heal, and create individual and collective change. Kailey is passionate about empowering the Queer and Trans community especially in this time of political upheaval.
Email: kaileywilliams4@gmail.com
Leilanie Morales
(she/her)
Leilanie Morales
(she/her)
Leilanie Morales is a graduate-level student art therapist who is committed to trauma-informed care. She draws upon the creative process to support emotional well-being, challenge systems of oppression and foster spaces of empowerment, safety, liberation, and authentic creative expression.
LinkedIn Profile
Morgan Hopson
MA
(they/them)
Morgan Hopson
MA
(they/them)
Morgan is a queer non-binary breast cancer survivor, artist, psychology student and community organizer committed to liberation frameworks and disability justice. They bring over a decade of experience in care work, blending liberation psychology, trauma-informed practices, and arts-based modalities to support collective resilience. Their work centers body sovereignty, creative expression, and radical community care.
Rosi Hayes
MFA, MsEd
(she/they)
Rosi Hayes
MFA, MsEd
(she/they)
Rosi Hayes is an art therapy and counseling student at Southwestern College. Their lived experience as an AuDHD person with hEDS informs explorations of clinical engagements with chronic pain and idioms of distress. They are interested in the power of private and therapeutic creative insight to disrupt and disperse systems of suffering.
Instagram: @rosi.loves.swamps
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