For Further Information
Guy McClure
256-233-8296
For
immediate release
January 16, 2013
Athens State University Professor to Speak at United Nations
ATHENS, Ala. - Dr. Melissa Werner, Assistant Professor of Early Childhood
Education at Athens State University and candidate in the Child Analyst program
at the C. G. Jung Institute, Kusnacht, Switzerland has been invited to speak on
the "Role of Families in Sand and Play Therapies in Refugee and Vulnerable
Communities."
Werner will be
speaking to the United Nations Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) Committee
on the Family in New York on January 24. The NGO organization provides information and
advocacy for family issues to the UN system. The invitation was based on
recognition of Dr. Werner's work as an early childhood educator and child
analyst.
“Sand and
play therapies allow the child control of the process,”
states Werner. “The child uses miniatures in sand or
drawing on paper to express or process trauma or create another world where the
trauma does not exist. Play offers a
process of mental assimilation to a child while it provides joy and
an increase in vitality.”
Werner continues,
“The images used by the child in the sand or on paper are symbols
which can transcend mental opposites or blockages. The therapist acts as witness to the child's
act of creation. Having to verbally tell
the story of what happened, even if the child has the linguistic
ability, can re-traumatize the child. “
Following
Werner’s presentation she has been asked to attend a working group meeting
on the situation of children in migration and refugee camps in Jordan.
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Dr. Melissa Werner
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