In Hard Times, We Do Projects: The Tree of Life and Other Arts-Based Responses to Hardship and Trauma
Please join us for “In Hard Times, We Do Projects”: The Tree of Life and Other Arts-Based Responses to Hardship and Trauma hosted by The National Capacity Building (NCB) Project at the Center for Victims of Torture, Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma, and The National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs.
Date: August 20, 2026
Time: 12:00 – 2:00 PM EDT
(11:00 – 1:00 CDT, 10:00 – 12:00 MDT, 9:00 – 11:00 PDT)
Session Description
This workshop-style webinar will introduce participants to Narrative Therapy’s project-based approaches to processing traumas and building community connections. The webinar will introduce The Tree of Life project and then utilize a flipped classroom approach in which participants will complete their own Tree of Life. Time will be allotted to discussing the process and optional sharing of results. Participants should come to the workshop with at least one piece of paper and writing/drawing implements of their choosing.
Learning Objectives
After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:
- Describe the steps in the Tree of Life exercise.
- Apply the theoretical concepts behind activities like the Tree of Life to their work with survivors of torture.
- Identify ways that project-based approaches to processing trauma and building community can be applied in their own work.
- Execute and complete the Tree of Life exercise with clients and patients.
Who should attend?
Clinicians, physicians, and front-line workers who provide care to survivors of torture and their families.
Meet the Presenter
Dr. Joe Mageary, PhD, LMHC
Joe Mageary, PhD, LMHC, CCMHC (he/him) is an Associate Provost for Mental Health and Wellbeing at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He holds the rank of Associate Professor in Lesley’s Department of Counseling and Psychology, where he has served as both the Department Chair and the Director of Field Training for Counseling and Psychology. He is a Licensed School Adjustment Counselor and Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in Massachusetts, as well as a nationally certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor (CCMHC) and a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in the state of Connecticut.
Dr. Mageary has used his LMHC in inpatient, outpatient, and community-based clinical roles and has extensive experience as a clinical supervisor, having worked as the Director of Emergency Services and Jail Diversion for an eighteen-town catchment area as well as serving as a Clinical Director in therapeutic high school settings for nearly a decade prior to joining Lesley’s faculty. His current projects include co-facilitating evidence-based Suicide Assessment and Intervention Trainings and providing consultation for aid workers who are caring for internally displaced people, refugees, and youth whose educations are impacted by war.