Empowerment can take on many different forms and, at A Window Between Worlds (AWBW), we seek to encourage and uplift participants and facilitators in numerous ways. AWBW is built upon the belief that art is for everyone. Our transformative art programs help folks connect with their voice and express themselves in a safe, non-judgemental space.

Through the process of creating art, participants transform how they view themselves by building feelings of self-worth and confidence. As AWBW Training Facilitator Anna Reyner, LMFT explains, “That power of painting and drawing is very visceral and it begins to help us feel like we have control over our world.”

The workshops provide a unique opportunity for introspection to help participants realize and feel affirmed in their strength. Overall, AWBW workshops help participants identify their feelings and needs, communicate with others, and create expressive art that ultimately can bring about a sense of empowerment that extends beyond our windows of time together.

“The workshop empowered me. I recognize that I am standing up for what I believe in. I will continue to let my beliefs and values lead me in the journey to finding the real me”
–Windows Workshop Participant

In our collaborative workshops, facilitators invite participants to engage in the creative process in whatever way they choose. During these windows of time, we work with each other to provide a safe and empowering art experience. There is no right or wrong way to create and participants are invited to share as much or as little as they want. Our trauma-informed workshops provide the resources and support needed for self-expression, and participants are in charge of what their creative expression looks like.

As AWBW Facilitator Daniel Domaguin shares, “This is a place and space for you to truly express and share how you really feel. If you’re angry, if you’re happy. . .there is room for all of that. Windows is a place where you participate in the way that you feel is needed in that moment in time.”

AWBW aims to create spaces in which participants’ voices can be heard with empathy and respect. Some participants may have gone through experiences that left them feeling silenced, invisible, or minimized. During our windows of time together, we remind participants that their voices matter and that this is a space where they will be heard.

We honor that everyone enters the space as an individual with a unique background and participants are the true experts of their own experiences. Our goal is to help them feel empowered through creativity. Art allows us to reflect, express, and make our own choices. That feeling of empowerment can ignite the healing process and extend into other facets of our lives.

We provide spaces for expression because each of us, our insights, and visions are valuable — having creative space to hear our hearts and each other is important and empowers us to co-create the world we want to move towards and how we want to move through it.

Want to empower the people you work with through art?

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Related Resources:

Story Tree Worksheet: Your story matters. Use the tree as a symbol of life to share your experiences and how you have grown.

  DOWNLOAD IN ENGLISH  …..  DOWNLOAD IN SPANISH  

WE RISE Touchstones Worksheet: What are you rising from and toward? Create these Touchstones to bring clarity in times of challenge.

  DOWNLOAD IN ENGLISH  …..  DOWNLOAD IN SPANISH  

  WATCH VIDEO