The Holy Land: an Exploration of Faith and Loss and Loss of Faith

In March 2020, Navah and Teresa were scheduled to present in Akko, Israel, a presentation that focused on the process of losing and finding faith in the face of traumatic loss. The original plan was to: “invite participants to join us on this journey of finding one’s own internalized ‘Holy Land’ utilizing experiential methods and DvT”.

Tickets were bought, hotel reservations made, plans to see Navah’s friends and family in Israel were set up…and then, the unimaginable, the unplayable devastation of the pandemic hit worldwide, canceling the conference, followed by a heartbreaking, Covid19 related, personal loss

Is it possible to play with all these layers of loss in this virtual (or any) format? How do we find faith to heal and connect after traumatic loss? We will attempt to explore all this together in our virtual Playspace, utilizing DvT principles.

Navah Steiner is a licensed creative arts therapist in New York City where they have a private practice offering psychotherapy, drama therapy and supervision. Formally the training director at DvT/NYC, Navah currently serves on the council of the Institutes for Developmental Transformation.

Teresa Hurst, PhD, is a NY-licensed clinical psychologist and somatic movement therapist with over 19 years of clinical experience. She is committed to the prevention and treatment of familial, community, and institutional trauma and currently serves as the director of the Baruch College Counseling Center.