When words are not enough- What is Creative Arts Therapy? With Hang Yin “Candy” Lo, MA, BC-DMT, RDT/BCT, CCLS, NCC, CT (18 Sep 2026)

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 19:00:00 GMT

You are invited!

SBCPA Presents:

When words are not enough- What is Creative Arts Therapy?

Presenter: Hang Yin “Candy” Lo, MA, BC-DMT, RDT/BCT, CCLS, NCC, CT

NOTE: This event counts as Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Learning Category #2 - Academic as Self-Directed Learning of which you can obtain 6 hours maximum each renewal period. It is not a CPA Approved CE Event but it still counts towards CPD requirements for psychologists.

Topic: Language is effective, yet it can also be limiting at times. When words are not enough, the arts often play an even more important role. Across cultures, we have relied on the arts for a long time: folktales to share important messages through generations, dance to celebrate milestones or mourn the loss of loved ones. The arts are not just for professional artists; they are for everyone. In this presentation, participants will learn about the Expressive Therapies Continuum and how to utilize it to facilitate clients’ processing. We will explore how to use the arts to attune to our clients, expand clients’ window of tolerance, aid expression, and provide containment. The speaker will share her experience working across cultures, using the arts to reach both cognitively oriented clients and those who may find language limiting; clients range developmentally from preverbal or nonverbal children to adults.

Hang Yin “Candy” Lo holds an MA in Psychology and an MA in Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling. Candy is a Registered Psychological Associate under the supervision of Dr Betsy Bates Freed. Candy is also a US National Certified Counselor, US Board-Certified Dance/Movement Therapist, US Registered Drama Therapist/Board Certified Trainer, IEATA-approved non-REAT supervisor, and Certified Child Life Specialist. She is certified in Thanatology: Death, Dying and Bereavement (ADEC). She is the recipient of the 2025 Outstanding Achievement Award and the 2024 Innovative Award from the American Dance Therapy Association.

After a successful career as a Musical Theatre performer, Candy shifted her focus and got trained in Dance/Movement Therapy and Drama Therapy in the States. Upon returning to Hong Kong, Candy worked with adults who wished to explore different options in life and partnered with Non-Governmental Organizations to provide services to a wide range of clients. Candy served with Children’s Cancer Foundation in Hong Kong as a half-time Child Life Specialist and Dance/Movement Therapist, providing both inpatient and outpatient services to pediatric patients and their families at five regional hospitals throughout their treatment stages. Candy also provided Dance/Movement Therapy groups to adult cancer patients at several regional hospitals, aiding patients to minimize the effects of the sick role, cope with the anxiety of relapse, and make meaning of their suffering.

Deeply passionate about using the creative arts to support the well-being of medical professionals, Candy taught the Performance Art module (designed by AFTEC) of the Medical Humanities curriculum at the University of Hong Kong's School of Medicine. Candy is currently a Senior Lecturer at Antioch University New England and Santa Barbara, Honorary Lecturer at the University of Hong Kong, and Adjunct Faculty at Lesley University.

Originally from Hong Kong, Candy lived in Hong Kong, Belgium, the UK, and the US. Candy is currently studying for her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology at Meridian University. She is fluent in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin and speaks basic Flemish.

Please Note: This event will be held via Zoom.

Consent is Every Step: Revisioning Sexual, Gender & Relationship Diversity with Rachel Anne Kieran, Psy.D. (09 Oct 2026)

Fri, 09 Oct 2026 19:00:00 GMT

You are invited!

SBCPA Presents:

Consent is Every Step: Revisioning Sexual, Gender & Relationship Diversity

Presenter: Rachel Anne Kieran, Psy.D.

Dr. Rachel Anne Kieran (Psy.D.) is a psychologist, writer, educator, and founder of StorieBrook Therapy & Consulting, LLC. Her practice is rooted in justice, community, and cultural humility, with clinical expertise in sexuality, gender, relationship diversity (including kink and consensual non-monogamy), neurodivergence, fat and disability justice, and support for people from non-majority spiritual and pagan traditions.

Dr. Kieran emphasizes accessible, collaborative, and identity-affirming care. Her practice offers sliding-scale services and a welcoming, trauma-aware community space. Through StorieTree Professional Education, she develops continuing education programs for mental health and allied professionals, focusing on intersectionality and reducing systemic barriers to care.

Her current projects include a book on finding and creating mental healthcare for non-majority spiritualities and research on “rainbow sheep” identities—people who have never fully fit within mainstream or countercultural communities. Across her work, Dr. Kieran advocates for affirming care as a fundamental right rather than a privilege.

Course Outline

1.   Setting the Stage (10 minutes)
2.    Definitions and Norms (25 Minutes)
3.    Identity and Socialization (25 minutes)
4.   Science Overview (15 minutes)
5. Ethics and Practice (20 minutes)

Topic:
How do your default clinical assumptions about "normal" show up in your intake forms, your language, and your case conceptualizations — before you've said a word? This session offers a fast-moving, practice-relevant introduction to sexual, gender, and relational diversity: what exists, how common it is, and why clinical competence starts with consent. Leave with a new framework, a few surprises, and more questions than you arrived with.

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe at least three examples of consent as a foundational principle across sexual, relational, and therapeutic contexts.
2. List at least two critiques of the role of cultural norms in shaping therapist assumptions about “normal” sex and relationships.
3. Identify at least three examples of diversity as population-level variation rather than clinical exception or risk.
4. List at least three ways sexual, gender, and relational diversity differ from pathologizing or norm-based assumptions commonly used in clinical practice.
5. Utilize inclusive, non-assumptive language to describe at least three behaviors when discussing sex, gender, and relationships with clients.

Continuing Education:

CPA is co-sponsoring with Santa Barbara County Psychological Association (SBCPA). The California Psychological Association is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. CPA maintains responsibility for this program and its contents.
Important Notice:

Those who attend the workshop will receive (1.5) continuing education credits. Please note that APA CE rules require that we give credit only to those who attend the entire workshop. Those arriving more than 15 minutes after the start time or leaving before the workshop is completed will not receive CE credits.

Please Note: This salon will be held via Zoom.

SBCPA upcoming events

When words are not enough- What is Creative Arts Therapy? With Hang Yin “Candy” Lo, MA, BC-DMT, RDT/BCT, CCLS, NCC, CT (18 Sep 2026)

Consent is Every Step: Revisioning Sexual, Gender & Relationship Diversity with Rachel Anne Kieran, Psy.D. (09 Oct 2026)