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X-WR-CALDESC:Norsk institutt for kunstuttrykk og kommunikasjon
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SUMMARY:EXIT Group Leader Certification – Trauma-Informed Expressive Arts Training in Oslo, Norway
DESCRIPTION:EXIT Group Leader Certification\nExpressive Arts in Transition (EXIT)\n📍 Oslo, Norway\n📅 May 10–15, 2027\n6-Day Intensive Training + 20 Hours of Supervision\nTravel Days: May 9 and May 16, 2027\nFacilitated by Melinda Ashley Meyer, PhD & Shabrae Jackson, PhD Candidate\nBecome Certified in a Research-Based Expressive Arts Approach for Trauma Recovery, Resilience, and Post-Traumatic Growth\nAre you working with individuals or groups affected by stress, trauma, displacement, major life transitions, or social change?\nThe EXIT (Expressive Arts in Transition) Group Leader Certification provides professionals with practical tools, a structured group model, and expressive arts-based methods that support healing, resilience, integration, and post-traumatic growth.\nGrounded in Intermodal Expressive Arts (EXA), EXIT combines movement, visual arts, storytelling, ritual, imagination, and creative expression to help individuals reconnect with their strengths, resources, and sense of possibility—even after difficult life experiences.\nUpon completion of the training, supervised practice, and certification requirements, participants will be certified as EXIT Group Leaders.\nWhat You’ll Leave With\n✔ Certification as an EXIT Group Leader\n✔ A complete research-based group intervention model\n✔ Trauma-informed expressive arts facilitation skills\n✔ Practical experience leading an EXIT group\n✔ 20 hours of professional supervision\n✔ Tools that can be applied across educational, healthcare, community, integration, leadership, and humanitarian settings\n✔ Access to an international network of practitioners working with resilience, healing, and transformation\nWhat is the EXIT Model?\nEXIT (Expressive Arts in Transition) is a group intervention based on art and expression methods within the field of Intermodal Expressive Arts (IMEXA).\nThe model was developed to provide practical tools and creative pathways for people experiencing stress, trauma, displacement, major life transitions, illness, or other challenging life circumstances.\nTraumatic experiences often affect both body and mind. Common reactions include:\n\nInsomnia\nAnxiety and restlessness\nHeadaches and muscle pain\nAnger and emotional overwhelm\nDifficulty concentrating\nSocial withdrawal\nLoss of meaning and hope\n\nIn many situations, words alone are not enough.\nThrough movement, visual art, storytelling, ritual, imagination, and other expressive arts modalities, EXIT creates a safe and structured platform for communication, reflection, and connection.\nCreative expression allows participants to access inner resources, strengthen resilience, and discover new possibilities for meaning-making and growth.\nRather than focusing solely on symptoms, EXIT supports participants in transforming lived experiences into strengths and capacities for the future.\nResearch Foundation\nEXIT was developed and researched in collaboration with the Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies (NKVTS) between 2008 and 2014.\nResearch findings demonstrated:\n✔ Reduction in post-traumatic stress symptoms\n✔ Increased optimism and future orientation\n✔ Strengthened resilience and coping abilities\n✔ Improved social connection and participation\nThe documentary film EXIT illustrates how expressive arts methods can mobilize hope, creativity, dreams, and community in the aftermath of difficult life experiences.\nWho Is This Certification For?\nThe EXIT model can be applied in a wide range of professional settings and populations.\nThis training is particularly relevant for:\n\nTherapists and counsellors\nExpressive arts practitioners\nSocial workers\nPsychologists\nTeachers and educators\nCommunity leaders\nHealth professionals\nRefugee and integration workers\nNGO and humanitarian workers\nGroup facilitators\nLeadership and organizational development professionals\n\nEXIT has been successfully applied with refugees, youth, schools, workplaces, communities, and individuals navigating major life transitions.\nThe model has also proven highly relevant in integration and inclusion work across educational, community, and professional settings.\nWhat You Will Learn\nLearn the Complete EXIT Model\n\nUnderstand the philosophy and structure of the EXIT intervention\nLearn how to facilitate each phase of the process\nGain confidence implementing the model within your professional setting\n\nDevelop Trauma-Informed Facilitation Skills\n\nCreate safe and supportive group environments\nUnderstand stress and trauma responses\nWork with resilience-building approaches through expressive arts\n\nApply Intermodal Expressive Arts Methods\n\nIntegrate movement, visual arts, storytelling, sound, and ritual\nFacilitate transitions between artistic modalities\nSupport non-verbal and symbolic forms of expression\n\nSupport Healing, Resilience, and Growth\n\nHelp participants reconnect with strengths and resources\nFoster belonging, inclusion, and hope\nFacilitate pathways toward post-traumatic growth\n\nCertification Requirements\nTo participate in the EXIT Group Leader Certification, applicants must have at least one of the following:\n✅ Completed the Introduction to EXIT Course\n✅ Participated in an EXIT Group\nFor questions regarding eligibility, please contact us.\nPracticum and Supervision\nAs part of the certification process, participants are required to organize their own practicum group consisting of a minimum of 8 participants.\nThe group should be facilitated by:\n\nTwo students working together, or\nOne student together with an experienced group leader familiar with participatory methods\n\nThe practicum provides an opportunity to apply the EXIT model in a real-world setting while receiving professional support and supervision.\nSupervision\nCertification includes 20 hours of online supervision.\nSupervision takes place while participants are implementing their practicum groups and provides:\n\nProfessional guidance\nReflection and feedback\nCase consultation\nSupport for integrating the EXIT model into practice\nOngoing development of facilitation skills\n\nTraining Faculty\nProfessor Melinda Ashley Meyer\nFOTO: Isaia Contreras Holsæter\nMelinda Ashley Meyer is Director and Co-Founder of the Norwegian Institute for Expressive Art and Communication (NIKUT), researcher, educator, psychotherapist, and internationally recognized pioneer in expressive arts, trauma recovery, conflict transformation, and community healing.\nShe formerly served as Director of the Expressive Arts Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding Program at the European Graduate School (EGS) and has worked extensively with refugees, torture survivors, and communities affected by conflict for more than four decades.\nAs project leader of the NKVTS research study on EXIT, Melinda helped establish one of Norway’s most recognized expressive arts interventions for trauma recovery and resilience-building.\nShe has presented lectures, trainings, and workshops internationally throughout Europe, Israel, Eastern Europe, North America, Central America, and South America.\nIn recognition of her contributions to refugees, expressive arts, and community development, she received the King’s Medal of Merit in 2023.\nShabrae Jackson, PhD Candidate\nShabrae Jackson is an expressive arts facilitator, educator, coach, and community-builder with more than 25 years of international experience.\nHer work focuses on belonging, trauma-informed practice, healing, peacebuilding, group dynamics, and collective transformation.\nShe is the founder of Collective Tapestry and serves as faculty member and co-coordinator of the Expressive Arts and Global Health Program at the European Graduate School (EGS).\nShabrae brings extensive experience designing training programs, facilitating community processes, and developing arts- and body-based methodologies that support individual and collective well-being.\nShe holds a BA in Social Work, a postgraduate degree in Sport for Conflict Transformation and Social Coexistence from the University of Catalunya, and an MA in Expressive Arts for Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding. She is currently a PhD Candidate at the European Graduate School (EGS).\nRegistration & Pricing\nEarly Bird Rate\nNOK 14,000 per participant\nRegister before December 1, 2026\nStandard Rate\nNOK 15,500 per participant\nRegistrations received after December 1, 2026\nRegistration Terms and Conditions\nRegistration is binding upon payment of a NOK 2,500 deposit.\nThe deposit is non-refundable.\nIn the event of documented illness (medical certificate required), 50% of the remaining course fee will be refunded.\nMaximum refund in cases of documented illness:\n\nEarly Bird Registration: NOK 5,750\nStandard Registration: NOK 6,500\n\nCourse Venue\nSagene Samfunnshus\nOslo, Norway\nReady to Become an EXIT Group Leader?\nJoin a growing international network of practitioners using expressive arts to support healing, resilience, integration, and transformation.\nUpon successful completion of the training, practicum, and supervision requirements, participants will receive certification as an EXIT Group Leader.\nQuestions?\n📧 post@nikut.no ( mailto:post@nikut.no )\nRegister\nClick the registration button below to secure your place.\nSpaces are limited. Early registration is recommended.\nLitterature\n\nMarianne Vervliet, Melinda Ashley Meyer DeMott, Marianne Jakobsen, Trond Heirm.fl: Health and Diasabilities. The mental health of unaccompanied refugee minors on arrival in the host country. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 2014\nJakobsen, Meyer DeMott, Heir: Prevalence of psychiatric disorders among unaccompanied minor refugee boys. Clinical Practice & Epidemiology in Mental Health. Bentham Science Publishers, 2014\nJakobsen, Meyer DeMott, Heir: Multi Casi – Validation of a data based questionnaire, 2015\nJakobsen, Meyer DeMott, Heir: Mental health of unaccompanied refugee boys – a longitudinal study, 2017\nMeyer DeMott, Melinda: Art as Testimony – Breaking the silence in: Do we really care? Cambridge Scholars Publishing (level one) Nordic work with traumatised refugees, 2014           \nFilm: Skagen/Meyer  EXIT, 2014\n\nMeyer, M.A. (1999). In exile from the body: creating a play room in the waiting room. In: S.K. Levine & E.G. Levine (eds). Foundations of Expressive Arts Therapy. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 241–255. \nMeyer, M.A. (2004). The garden of praise and lament. Poiesis, A Journal of the Arts and Communication 6: 164–172. \nMeyer DeMott, M. A. (2007). Repatriation and Testimony. Expressive Arts Therapy. A phenomenological study of Bosnian war refugees with focus on returning home, testimony and film. PhD Thesis: Arts, Health & Society Division (EGS) in Switzerland and Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, Oslo. \nMeyer DeMott, M. A., Jakobsen, M., Wentzel-Larsen, T. & Heir, T. (2017). A Controlled Early Group Intervention Study for Unaccompanied Minors: Can Expressive Arts Alleviate Symptoms of Trauma and Enhance Life Satisfaction? Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 58, 510-518. \nMeyer DeMott, M. A. (2017). Reconstructing meaning after trauma: Expressive Arts: A Group Intervention for Unaccompanied Minor Asylum Seekers and Young Adults. Elisabeth Altmeier, Elsevier\nExtra:\n\nLevine, P. A., & Frederick, A. (1997). Waking the tiger: Healing trauma. North Atlantic Books.\nvan der Kolk, B. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Viking.\nBoss, P. (1999). Ambiguous loss: Learning to live with unresolved grief. Harvard University Press.\n\nNIKUT reserves the right to make changes to the program, pricing, and teaching faculty if necessary.\n \n\n.fusion-button.button-1{border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px;}RESERVE SPOT\n \n
URL:https://nikut.info/events/exit-group-leader-global-health-trauma-informed/
CATEGORIES:Academic Programs,International programs
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