<![CDATA[Audrey Gran Weinberg Creative Therapy

<![CDATA[Audrey Gran Weinberg Creative Therapy - Articles]]>Fri, 17 Apr 2026 08:29:10 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Turning Disaster into Opportunity @schiphol with Synquity!]]>Tue, 21 Apr 2015 10:04:04 GMThttp://www.creativetherapy.nl/articles/turning-disaster-into-opportunity-schiphol-with-synquity

My sister says that her phone is her transitional object. My mom is quite connected to her phone too! That's why it was such a trauma to have lost it at Schiphol last week. What happened next demonstrates where customer service could have been better (yes, this is an understatement). This morning I got an email (one week later) saying that the phone had not been found. Very sad? But what is that my mom is holding? It does look like her phone, doesn't it? This picture was taken last Wednesday...
Intrigued? Read on... But before you do - I want to take a quick survey: When you lose your phone, how do you feel?

So, here's what happened to us: Read about it on my Studyleaks blog.

Then, if you also think your customer service department could use some help, let me know!

]]><![CDATA[How to Make that Promotion Successful!]]>Tue, 14 Apr 2015 09:23:12 GMThttp://www.creativetherapy.nl/articles/how-to-make-that-promotion-successful

People are often promoted on the basis of the good work that they did in their previous jobs, and for the potential that is seen in them. The problem occurs when these same promising individuals try to continue doing what they have been doing successfully, in their new roles. Another pitfall of employees who have been promoted is to do both their new and old jobs.

According to the Peter Principle, in “an organizational hierarchy, every employee will rise or get promoted to his or her level of incompetence.” (Peter, 1969). And too often, when we look at organizations, we see managers who are floundering, like fish out of water, but unable to understand where they went wrong.

Find your own modus of operation

So, when you find that a promoted staff member seems to be out of their depth, do not despair. There are quite a few ways for them to regain balance, and to become the manager that you hoped for, and here are some tips:

Firstly, people who leverage their strengths at work, are more engaged and happy at work. Furthermore they inject the organization with higher morale, increased productivity and have a low employee turnover. According to the VIA institute, research also indicates that individuals who use their character strengths, lead happier, more satisfying lives. Are you able to leverage your personal strengths in this new role?
Secondly, find your own modus of operation; see what works for you. If at first you don’t succeed, keep trying! Making mistakes is human, but admitting you have done so, and learning from those mistakes will make you a stronger, more capable and competent manager.
Thirdly, respect your employees, and gain their trust. As a part of management, you need to know what your own responsibilities are, and which responsibilities need to be delegated – and to whom. By trusting your employees, you will help them feel valued, and enable them to have a sense of belonging and commitment to the organization.

I spoke about this with Doortje van Unen, Deputy Director of The Amsterdam Economic Board. After telling me she was ‘no expert’ despite the years of experience she has had in a number of leading functions in organizations, she explained the principle further. Peters says the same in his book: “Minion is pleasant and agreeable… his job was not to make policy, so he had no reason to argue with his superiors…[years later Minion was promoted]… and continued to agree with everyone…” (Peters, 2011). Doing what you have done before just doesn’t work, and that is due to the fact that the new role often requires a combination of other skills, or what you could call untapped potential.

Representing the team now

One of the advantages of being a regular employee, explains van Unen, is that you get to say whatever you feel like, about anything at all. Especially in the ‘polder’ (consensus decision making) model, it is not at all disrespectful to criticize your company’s management, the processes or anything else that you see around you. On the contrary, the employee who speaks out and has something valuable to contribute is considered someone worth listening to.

However, that changes slightly when this employee joins the higher levels of the organization. In their different position, these same people have to think about what they say, as they are now representatives of the company. As such, how they say things is very important. As a manager, you have to consider the greater good – the good of the company.

Position gives Perception

Another way to view this is to see that when an employee is promoted, their peers see them differently. You are no longer “one of the guys.” Now you are the decision maker and others immediately see you as such. It can be a lonely and frustrating experience when you were used to having your team as a sounding board. After you change position, you may need to make some tough decisions on your own and sometimes even about your former colleagues.

People should have doubts

Finally, it’s not always easy to deal with transition on your own– even when it’s a good change, such as a promotion. It’s normal to have doubts, says van Unen, but it’s also important to have someone to discuss those doubts with, to help mirror you, and gain perspective. ‘Who might that person be,’ I ask her innocently? ‘A coach, for example,’ she replies, with a smile.

What does it all boil down to? People need to learn more about themselves – what they are capable of – and this can be done through self-reflection – the ability to communicate with our self.

Peter, Laurence J., and Raymond Hull. The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong. New York: HarperBusiness Publishers, 2011.

]]><![CDATA[Why a Bucket List is Like a Critical Path]]>Sun, 08 Feb 2015 16:43:30 GMThttp://www.creativetherapy.nl/articles/why-a-bucket-list-is-like-a-critical-path

Before I rushed off to attend a wonderful Creativity Workshop early this morning, I perused my inbox and was pulled to read an article on 'The School of Life' website explaining what the fascination is that we have with tragedy. According to the article, we are attracted to these things because they make us realize how important it is to prioritize our own lives, how important it is to live this day as if it’s our last.

When we suddenly get that reality check – and start writing up our own Bucket List of things we want to do before we die - we can step back from the petty day-to-day things that we tend to get caught up in – Who left the dirty cup in the sink? Why did I miss my favorite TV show, or Oh no, I’m stuck in traffic on the way to work.

People at work (oops, that's most of humankind) also often tend to lose their focus on the bigger picture, and we all, especially people who feel responsible, begin to obsess about what they ‘have to’ do. This can lead to fighting for territory, making sure to retain control over that area, and losing sight of the critical path that the company as a whole has to take, in order to survive and thrive.

* * *

For me, the Bucket List and the Critical Path overlapped, many years ago, when I was working for a company called Jacada, in Israel. I was a Marketing/Customer Service Manager at the time, and I had constant battles with the Quality Assurance Manager. And both of us had a rough time with the R&D dept. All three of us were headstrong managers, and each believed we were doing the best for the company.

However, this constant bickering about whose responsibility each dept had, and whose work had priority did little to push a bright united face out to the customer. My boss at the time, Ofer Timor, who is described in his company Inimiti as a ‘people's person,’ was very wise, and when we came crying to him to jump in and solve the issue, he sent us out to have lunch together – something you can imagine we really didn’t want to do. But that lunch made us realize that the others were just people, struggling with life, the same as we were. We learned to see each other as people, not obstacles, and to help each other by cooperating, rather than competing. Thus together we could focus on the Critical Path of the company.

* * *
A few months later, my son was diagnosed with cancer. All of a sudden, all issues at work faded away - for me - into a blur of ‘Uh, work? customers?’ Of course, for the company, the work still had to go on, and profits had to be made. But for me, all I cared about was being by the bedside of my son, in intensive care, as he recovered from the first of many operations.

The management at Jacada, I am happy to say, was amazingly supportive, and besides giving me an unlimited leave of absence, even went so far as to send me lunch, daily – delivered to the hospital.
I, in turn, in the months that followed, gave back to the company in the way I could, by helping out in the accounting department, hunting down bills that had not yet been issued – thus helping the company recover quite a lot of money in ‘oops we nearly forgot to bill for this’ revenue.

They helped me with my bucket list – by letting me spend that precious time by my son’s side, and I helped them with their critical path – increasing the revenue.

* * *

What is on your bucket list/critical path? Are you waiting for tragedy to strike, or are you making sure to get the most out of your own life/company, right now?

And what tips (apart from reading disaster stories) do you have to remember to keep on track?
Feel free to leave those tips in the comments. :)
(Previously published on my other blog: http://studyleaks.blogspot.nl/2015/01/why-bucket-list-is-like-critical-path.html?showComment=1423413506073

]]><![CDATA[Creativity to Beat Cancer]]>Tue, 30 Sep 2014 14:23:06 GMThttp://www.creativetherapy.nl/articles/creativity-to-beat-cancer

Photograph by Rich Reid

If you, or anyone close to you, have ever been diagnosed with cancer, there’s a likelihood you have suddenly become open to lot of different methods, in addition to the conventional treatments, to survive. Until you heard that terrible diagnosis, words such as ‘death’ and ‘cancer’ might have been whispered, but rarely spoken out loud. Many people want to be involved in some way in their own healing but if they aren’t doctors, it’s hard to know what to do.

Some physicians, feeling this frustration and also realizing the limitations of conventional medicine, have tried to find ways to assist patients in coping with cancer. Dr. Bernie Siegel, who wrote Love, Medicine and Miracles[1], could see that patients were not always being completely healed by the regular treatments offered. He started support groups for what he called “Exceptional Cancer Patients” and taught his cancer patients ways of assisting in their own recovery by not just complying with the doctors, but doing extraordinary things to help themselves.

Dr. Pinki Feinstein, an Israeli doctor with an artistic passion, continued in Dr. Siegels footsteps. He developed a theory that suggested that the lack of creativity in our everyday lives was leading to ‘creative blocks’ in our bodies, which were actually manifesting as quickly-multiplying cancer cells. To clear the creative blocks, Dr. Feinstein came up with a method called “Intuitive Painting,” loosely based on The Artist’s Way[2], by which people would combine a psychological reflective process on their creativity with a 12-week course in which they would practice the art of creativity.

Dr. Feinstein’s first Intuitive Painting group included people in a Cancer support groups called ‘Cancer patients fight’. I too was in that first group, working through my own grief. Although Intuitive Painting has never claimed to actually save lives, it does promise to enhance life - and I enjoyed many frivolous as well as deep moments while doing the writing and the drawing tasks set out for me in the course. The little girl in me came alive again, and despite a reality which was difficult, to say the least, I found myself singing as I painted and feeling extremely alive. Remember the taboo word – ‘death?’ Turn on some loud sad music and fill a page with color while thinking of that word.

The most significant benefit of Intuitive Painting is its ability to empower people and to reconnect one with the basic intuitive urge to create. While this is common in children – think of the 2 year old who is able to stand up to the adult parents in his life and proudly display his crayon scribbles all over the wall – as adults we seem to have lost the way. We find ourselves all too easily stuck in habits that were forced upon us, doing things we ‘should’ more often that what we want and yearn to do. How many times a day, or should I ask, a year, do you take time to ask yourself if you are on the right track in your life? Sadly, it often takes a scare with cancer or the death of loved one to realize that life is too short to just do what you ‘have to.’

What happens in an intuitive painting workshop? You take the first step to overcoming your fear of failure, that terrible fear of not getting it right. These are the most difficult hurdles to creativity. Cameron and Dr. Feinstein are not alone in the realization that we are our own worst enemy. Once given the permission to ‘go for it’ along with the safe structure of how long you may paint and on what size paper, it’s quite amazing how people are able to relax and enjoy the experience. As one former student of Dr. Feinstein put it: “The more you do, the easier it is to let go. Letting someone else draw on your paper was hard at first! But the painting is refreshing, relaxing, enjoyable, you lose yourself for those 2 hours – focusing on something different, being absorbed into another activity which is even mysterious at times.”

Research into the value of creativity in healing continues worldwide. "Individuals can do things (in the creative arts) to affect their health and functioning," says Gene D. Cohen, director of George Washington University’s Center on Aging, Health and Humanities. "You can develop programs that make a difference... These programs can lower the (medical) burden on society."[3]

It’s not easy to break old habits, nor to try new things, but the threat of cancer can actually help unshackle those chains. Combine that with an empowering workshop that allows you to paint while shutting off your internal critic and you will be taking that first brave step towards discovering someone you once knew and loved very dearly – your own self.

So, if you know someone who is sick with cancer, or if you yourself want to give it a try -Please contact for more details.

(This article was published during Feb and March 2011 on the Access Cancerlink site: http://www.access-nl.org/about-access/what-we-do/cancerlink.aspx)

[1] Siegel, Bernie S. Dr., Love, Medicine and Miracles. HarperCollins, New York, 1986

[2] Cameron, Julia , The Artist’s Way. Tarcher/Putnam. New York, 1992

[3] "The Creative Age: Awakening Human Potential in the Second Half of Life" (HarperCollins, 2000 )

]]><![CDATA[Creative hobbies boost productivity]]>Tue, 29 Apr 2014 10:15:10 GMThttp://www.creativetherapy.nl/articles/creative-hobbies-boost-productivity

http://www.spring.org.uk/2014/04/the-positive-effect-of-creative-hobbies-on-performance-at-work.php?

Looks like I have my work set out for me! The more people come and enjoy painting workshops with me, the happier and more productive they will be at work!
Very interesting!
Sign up today! mailto:amsterdam.therapy@gmail.com

]]><![CDATA[Finally Living Wholeheartedly]]>Sun, 16 Feb 2014 12:35:02 GMThttp://www.creativetherapy.nl/articles/finally-living-wholeheartedly

I can't believe that I made it to week 5 of the 6 week online course in Wholehearted living!
Brené Brown, (PhD - Expert in Vulnerability, Shame and how Imperfection leads to Joy!), has been leading this course that I bravely signed up for it - and bought the required journal, art supplies (yes, of course I had stuff at home, but it's always fun to buy more!!!), and the book "The Gifts of Imperfection" (yes, also by Brené)...

I didn't know what to expect, except that it had to do with Art Journaling and finding a way to live wholeheartedly! Hmm... what does that mean? Well, for me, it meant a way to learn more about who I am, how I function when things get tough, what my normal coping mechanisms are, and how I can make some minor adjustments so that live flows better, tastes better, and feels joyful!

What I love about this online course is that Brene gets up in front of the camera, in her own artsy workspace (she's a research psychologist by trade), and tells real details of her imperfect life. It's very inspiring to know she is struggling just as much as the rest of us, and by being vulnerable and authentic she is such an amazing teacher!

Last week, we worked on numbing - ha ha ha - that's my particular field of expertise! And so, it took me a few days to go ahead and work on the assignment... Resistance - yes, indeed! But finally I completed the last part of the assignment - my Comfort List - that I can revisit and remind myself of when I am reaching for that B&J ice cream, or the popcorn in the pantry, or when I'm about to start a fight with one of my friends or family... (I too was surprised that anger and rage are also ways of numbing). It's not instead of therapy - it's complementary to it - and so far I feel like I've learned so far, and grown tons in only 4 weeks time! Thank you #OLCBreneCourse!

]]><![CDATA[Gijs is gone... the domino effect of death]]>Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:42:10 GMThttp://www.creativetherapy.nl/articles/gijs-is-gone-the-domino-effect-of-death

On Wednesday this week, I heard that Gijs, one of my students at the HvA, had died suddenly at the age of 26. I liked Gijs; he was a likable, friendly, enthusiastic guy. All the teachers liked him. Students too. He's the kind of person who probably has had very few enemies. At that moment, I felt like the world was slipping away, a black hole opening up, immense sadness overcome me although I have only known Gijs since September this year.
The reason for that mountain of emotion is, I think, what I refer to in the title, as the Domino Effect. When you have already experienced grief in your life, and then you are later faced with another moment of grief, you may feel as if the new grief echoes the old one. In other words, I was not only feeling sad because of Gijs, but also feeling for a while the way I felt when my own son died. So many familiar feelings welled up inside of me. It's unfair, he's too young, could I have done something to prevent this?

When my own son died, I had the job of being the 'mother in grief' - the one who actually had to hold it together, to be strong for all the others grieving around me -- family, friends, doctors, nurses. I'm not sure how much I cried at the funeral, although I do remember being fiercely aware of every moment of that day.
So now, when people around me die, as people sometimes do, but especially when they are young and die too early, I let myself feel the tragedy, feel the pain, relive the grief that is my own.
I don't know if it's selfish to wallow in my own grief at someone else's funeral. When someone we love dies, we think that we are the only one in the world to feel so sad.
There is the famous story of the grieving father who spoke to God and said, "Please God, you have to return my child! Bring him back to life!" and God, being kind and compassionate, said, "I will do this for you, of course. But only if you find at least one family in your village who has not suffered a loss of someone through death." And the man knocked on every door in his small village, only to discover that he was not alone.
So, while I do believe, and have been recently told as well, that it is important to focus on the joys of life, there is also a time to grieve, to remember your grief and to share your sadness with those who are grieving as well. Put very simply (because when we are grieving it's sometimes hard to think complex thoughts):
We are not alone in this world, life is not always joyful, when someone dies it is painful and it is good to cry. After that, the balance will be restored and peace will eventually return.

]]><![CDATA[Yes but]]>Wed, 20 Mar 2013 10:44:47 GMThttp://www.creativetherapy.nl/articles/yes-butHow many times a day do you have your ideas shot down with someone's "Yes but..."?
The best and fastest way to kill creativity and enthusiasm in a group is by throwing in a "Yes, but..."
It's amazing and sad to see how everyone shuts up, no one else dares to propose new ideas and the joy is swept out of the room, like a slow but sure leak from a balloon.
So, what to do?

Today I'm feeling particularly solution focused...
Rather than blame others for being negative, try yourself to say a lot more of "Yes and"!
For some ideas, check out this site: http://www.yes-but.org

]]><![CDATA[What I want and what I can have]]>Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:46:33 GMThttp://www.creativetherapy.nl/articles/what-i-want-and-what-i-can-have

As a child, my life felt void of meaning, until various external, future events would trigger a feeling of excitement and anticipation. A visit from my grandmother, who lived on the East Coast, a holiday, a party we could attend, a trip to my aunt and uncle.

As I grew older, I was still motivated by the future I would have, the career I would build, the money I’d earn, the man I’d marry, the children I would have.

Eventually, there he was, my first child, and I was swamped in the present. In the diapers and crying, rashes and tantrums, illogical demands of a baby who cannot tell me what he wants and expects. I rushed back to work, where adults spoke with words and body language I could understand, and had expectations I could meet. Arrange that event, contact that person, make a deal, earn us a profit…

And then my son fell ill; they thought he would die on that first day on the operating table… but he survived. He was riddled with cancer and yet he smiled, he laughed, he sang, danced even. Suddenly, through this child of mine, this meaningful person who I had not yet learned to fully appreciate, I learned that today is the day that is full of meaning. That if I looked only to the future - that anticipation might be of more illness, or death, so it was better to stay in the here and now.

The house filled up with visitors, my inbox with good wishes, my life suddenly overflowed with both joy and tears.

And although Yarden has moved on from this world to the next, he has left me with many gifts. Among them, an enormous feeling of gratefulness for what I do have. For the day, for the moment, my senses, health, friends and family, a good place to live, my surviving children, my ever-growing capacity to love.

“The past is history, the future a mystery, the present is a gift.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)

]]><![CDATA[Good Grief]]>Fri, 01 Mar 2013 16:20:10 GMThttp://www.creativetherapy.nl/articles/good-grief

Last week, I lost someone dear to me. It brought up all the old losses, the newer losses, the unfinished and finished grief still lingering in me. I told a friend that I was reading a book on grief (Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's On Grief and Grieving). He said, "Why don't you write a book yourself?" After all, I have suffered what some consider the 'ultimate loss' - the loss of a child. My firstborn, to be precise. And now, 15 years later, the story is there, perhaps waiting to come out. Would it help others if I were to tell Yarden's story? Or my story? I have survived such a terrible loss, and yet have grown stronger, more resilient. I have discovered coping skills in me that I never knew I had. I learned so much from my young boy, merely 4 when he died. And like I said, each new loss of someone else I knew and loved, again awakens the feelings. Sadness, love, a bottomless pit, an emptiness... and then gratefulness for having known them, and for the lessons learned. Perhaps indeed the story needs to be told...

The thing is, I don't know how to begin... With his death? Birth? My wanting to have a child, but the difficulty in parenting once he was born? The temporary relief I felt after Yarden slipped away with little pain, and the guilt that relief brought? All the things I'm writing down seem the wrong thing to say, and I know that is my critical self. All the feelings I had and have are legitimate. The more honest I am, the more others might be able to connect with this, and with their own feelings. And that is my aim. To say, 'it's ok to feel what you are feeling. It's all ok, it's all normal.'

Today, driving back from shopping, I began to think about the dear woman who died last Thursday, the one who I loved like a mother many years ago. And thinking of her brought up tears which I blinked back, thinking how unwise it would be to drive and cry. And how sad I am that I am far from her family and cannot go there to sit with them, and grieve together. Minutes later I passed the garden center and thought about planting flowers in my garden to welcome the spring which I hope will be coming soon to Holland... It's ok to be distracted. And fine to cry too.
Grief is good. It reminds me to value the here and now. To enjoy the neon orange colors of the footballers I see in the field across from my office window, and how their shirts stand out in the darkening grey of dusk.

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