Every summer Heritage Camps provide a space for adoptive families to come together. Children are able to see other families that resemble their own family structure and have opportunities to participate in activities that focus on their heritage and cultural backgrounds. Parents also have opportunities of learning about their child’s heritage and culture while obtaining new skills in caring for and teaching their children. Heritage Camps is at the heart of celebrating inter-racial families and extending a great support system for each and every family!
As part of the Heritage Camps, art therapists and art therapy students come together over the summer to offer an art as therapy group titled HeArt Talks for preschool through fifth grade at each of the nine camps. Each group opens up a child-led space for children to talk about their understanding and feelings related to adoption. Groups are offered the opportunity to process the topic of adoption to include emotions that arise from these conversations through art as therapy directives that are developmentally appropriate for each grade level. HeArt Talks also extends an opportunity for parents to learn about the purpose and goals of HeArt Talks through an adult program titled Parent Talks. In this setting, parents are invited to experience conversations about parenting through an adoptive lens followed by creating artwork related and not related to this experience. In addition, HeArt Talks was invited to offer a Family HeArt Talks session for the first time this year where families came together and created mandalas based on naming feelings and emotions that arise within the family structure.
This year HeArt Talks has a new director, Gracie R Bueno, who graduated from Naropa University in 2017 with a Masters in Mental Clinical Health: Transpersonal Art Therapy. If you are interested in volunteering for the summer of 2020 please email Gracie at gracieb.hearttalks@gmail.com.
As part of the Heritage Camps, art therapists and art therapy students come together over the summer to offer an art as therapy group titled HeArt Talks for preschool through fifth grade at each of the nine camps. Each group opens up a child-led space for children to talk about their understanding and feelings related to adoption. Groups are offered the opportunity to process the topic of adoption to include emotions that arise from these conversations through art as therapy directives that are developmentally appropriate for each grade level. HeArt Talks also extends an opportunity for parents to learn about the purpose and goals of HeArt Talks through an adult program titled Parent Talks. In this setting, parents are invited to experience conversations about parenting through an adoptive lens followed by creating artwork related and not related to this experience. In addition, HeArt Talks was invited to offer a Family HeArt Talks session for the first time this year where families came together and created mandalas based on naming feelings and emotions that arise within the family structure.
This year HeArt Talks has a new director, Gracie R Bueno, who graduated from Naropa University in 2017 with a Masters in Mental Clinical Health: Transpersonal Art Therapy. If you are interested in volunteering for the summer of 2020 please email Gracie at gracieb.hearttalks@gmail.com.
