 Angela M Grayson, PhD, BC-DMT, LPC, NCC, is the CEO of Good Fruit Expressive Arts Counseling & Psychotherapy LLC where she infuses a unique blend of psychology and the arts for executive stress management and promotion of healthy relationships among women. Dr. Angela is the founder and facilitator of The Girlfriend Retreat Experience which provides space for women to maximize their relationships with the women in their lives. She is an alumna and long-term adjunct professor for graduate students at Drexel University in the Creative Arts Therapy and Counseling department. She also previously served as an adjunct professor for undergraduate students in the Psychology department at Wilmington University. Dr. Angela is an award-winning Therapist, best-selling Author, transformational Healer, Speaker and Dance Minister. She has authored and co-authored books relating to meditation and mental health in business.
She has also been contributing writer to several publications both print and online. Dr. Angela has been interviewed and featured in televised, internet and print media outlets regarding mental health, diversity, spirituality, and dance/movement therapy. She is passionate about the interconnection of culture and spirituality especially in relation to healing practices through dance and has taught nationally and internationally regarding multicultural aspects of sacred dance and dance/movement therapy. As a member of the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA), Dr. Angela serves as the National President Elect, Spirituality and Religion Affinity Group Coordinator, member of the Native American Affinity Group and member of the Black MAGIC Affinity Group. She has also served as Charter Member and inaugural 2-term past Chair of the Multicultural and Diversity Committee, National Standards and Ethics Committee, as well as Pennsylvania Chapter President and Vice President. Dr. Angela is also a member of the Association of Black Psychologists and American Counseling Association.
Bria Campbell, A Chicago native, Bria Campbell is an alumna of the illustrious North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University receiving her BA in Psychology in 2016. After receiving her MA in Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling from Columbia College Chicago in 2018. Since her time at Columbia, Bria has worked in school based mental health and crisis work with adults in Atlanta, GA. In 2019, Bria published an article in the American Dance Therapy Journal (ADJT) entitled “Past, Present, Future: A Program Development Exploring Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (PTSS) Using Experiential Education and Dance/Movement Therapy Approaches,” which integrated dance/movement therapy concepts and Dr. Joy DeGruy's Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome theory in her work with adolescents in Chicago's Roseland neighborhood. This article received the 2020 Marian Chace Foundation’s Journalism Prize. Bria has facilitated several workshops and trainings on PTSS, attunement through movement, and the ARC Model, an approach to increase awareness in trauma informed care in school base setting. In 2020, Bria founded and co-leads the Africa America/black affinity group in the American Dance/Movement Therapy Association’s (ADTA), Black MAGIC. Bria also was recently elected as the Central Member at Large (MAL) and served as the 2020-2021 Eastern Nominating Committee and for the ADTA. Currently, Bria continues to provide school-based services in Atlanta Public Schools and is developing an holistic private practice entitled A Healing Sole.  Mynesha Whyte, MA, LPC, R-DMT, born and bred in South Central Los Angeles. She thrives in the sun and is a Mexican food enthusiast. She graduated University of California Riverside with a double major in Sociology and Dance and graduated from Drexel University with a MA in Dance/movement therapy and Counseling in 2015. She has six years of clinical experience working in residential, inpatient, and juvenile detention, and community-based settings. Mynesha obtained her LPC in 2021. Mynesha co-founded Black MAGIC, an affinity group within the American Dance Therapy Association, that supports the lives and work of Black dance/movement therapists. She was a member of several anti-racism groups in Philadelphia working to change racist systems that harm more than help. Mynesha’s work is grounded in spiritual purpose from God and a commitment to dismantle White supremacy in all aspects of life, both professional and personal. She provides workshops, trainings, panel discussions, and presentations diversity and racism, trauma and mental health, and embodied techniques for healing and self-care. Mynesha relocated to Oakland, California in June 2021 and works as the first DEI Manager at Bay Area Legal Aid.
Ebony Nichols, M.A., BC-DMT, CAT- LP, is a somatic mental health and wellness practitioner, Board Certified - Dance/Movement Psychotherapist, and Creative Arts Therapist (LP). She completed her Bachelor of Arts at The College of New Rochelle in psychology and master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a specialization in Dance/Movement Therapy at Lesley University. Ebony has been the proprietor of Locks of Nu Natural Hair Spa since 2003. Utilizing their mission of "Healing the Community Follicle by Follicle," her primary focus was to create a therapeutic environment within the African American community; this was her genesis for connecting artistic/cultural aesthetic expression, self-care and psychology. Trained in ballet and modern dance, Ebony found her love for the freedom of movement in the NYC house dance community. In 2005, she co-founded Afro Mosaic Soul Dance Collective, using social dance and music as a tool for emotional healing and expression. Ebony has experience in partial hospitalization/inpatient psychiatry and mental health care facilities, working with psychotic and behavioral health concerns, and with individuals who are developmentally diverse and experience physical, emotional, and sensory challenges. She has also worked with a non-profit organization in partnership with New York City public schools to develop social-emotional resiliency from an anti-oppressive strength-based lens and has provided services internationally while exploring the dynamics of underrepresented communities. Ebony has co-presented her research, Moving Blind Spots: Cultural Bias in the Movement Repertoire of Dance/ Movement Therapists at the American Dance Therapy Association's (ADTA) Annual Conference (2018) and co-facilitated the American Dance Therapy Association's 2019 Plenary, Honoring Multiplicity: An Embodied Keynote Experience. Ebony is the Multicultural and Diversity Committee Chair-Elect for the ADTA and was awarded the honor of "Leader of Tomorrow" by the organization. Her research is rooted in cultural/race identity, trauma-informed care, and her current work centers Black Aesthetics of the African Diaspora through cultural movement narratives, non- verbal communication and somatic based healing practices. Ebony was recently accepted into the Lesley University’s Doctorate program in Counseling and Psychology.
Glorianne G. Jackson, MA, BC-DMT, Dance Professor Emerita of Marymount Manhattan College (MMC) joined with many colleagues in arts, service, and national organizations advocating for movement and dance study on all levels of education, the accreditation of college programs, and incorporation of creative movement and arts in regular and special education. As a dance movement therapist, she specialized in work with mothers and their preschool children, developing essential bonds of love, communication, and healthy relationships. She was born and grew up in Chicago, Illinois, taking dance lessons from the age of three. She was always kinesthetically driven: excited by the joys of movement, the wonders of life, and the beauty of nature. She explores inquisitive notions about what makes each of us tick in so many different rhythms and relationships with others. Studying with the Mildred B. Haessler Ballet Group made way for professionally oriented classes with ballet grande dame Edna McRae, and teaching classes at the South Side Community Arts Center—one of over one hundred WPA funded art centers around the country and the only one still in operation. Along with dance classes, Glorianne choreographed and performed in recitals, school programs, community events, and occasionally provided impromptu entertainment for family guests. Upon earning a B.A. in Psychology at DePaul University, she began teaching for Chicago Public Schools, incorporating dance and arts wherever possible, while also pursuing graduate studies in Psychology. Inspired by social studies, a quest for broader purpose, service, and adventure, she joined the US Peace Corps and was selected to work with a unique assignment with the Ministry of Education in Costa Rica, Central America. She collaborated with dance teachers in each of the seven provinces to support the preservation of their traditional folk dances and develop a manual for the teachers. One of the enjoyable projects that evolved was a touring program that raised funds for electrification in rural communities. Glorianne completed the M.A. in Dance Education at Teachers College, Columbia University under the leadership of Thais Barry. It was a perfect match for her multifaceted dance interests. The program provided excellent opportunities to expand her knowledge, technical abilities in various styles, performance work, research interests, and professional contacts. Effort/Shape study with Irmgard Bartenieff, that initially seemed mystical, proved to be an insightful experience that challenged her familiarity with and understandings about dance. The new concepts and language of movement analysis continued to unfold deeper levels of awareness as she continued Laban-related studies with Bartenieff and the Dance Notation Bureau. She took classes with notable modern, jazz, and ethnic dance teachers and performed with several small dance groups. In 1969, Glorianne was invited by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook to teach children’s classes at Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH). For several years she concurrently held various dance positions and headed the Dance Department at Newark Community Center for the Arts for three years. She was an adjunct instructor at Hunter College, City University of New York, where she taught in the Dance Major Program and later studied in the Dance Therapy Master’s Program. She is grateful for many people in her career development. Elissa White is one of many teacher mentors who inspired her DMT study, work, and life. William Bordeau convinced her to share in the developing vision for Marymount Manhattan College. She smiles at remembering days of leaving a tutelage session with Dorothy Vislocky or Pearl Primus at Hunter (where she led the African Dance Club), then walking four blocks to teach a ballet class at Marymount. Remembering Dorothy’s question “Where is the dance in dance/movement therapy?” Glorianne continues to find it in classes and movement sessions with a performance component. Of her service endeavors Glorianne highlights the 1973 First National Congress of Blacks in Dance Conference, (an event sponsored by the Modern Organization for Dance Evolvement and the Black Music Center of Indiana University); American Dance Guild (ADG), where she is a former President (1975-77) and Board Member; ADTA committees; Encampment for Citizenship, where she is a former Staff and Board Member; and numerous creative arts therapies events. As an undergraduate in Chicago, Glorianne became a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and served in several leadership positions, including president of her chapter. Her life work exemplifies the high standards and commitment to service of the organization. She is appreciative of the most recent ADTA article in Profiles of Dance/Movement Therapists that details additional information, and she gratefully acknowledges MMC for establishing the Glorianne Jackson Scholarship Fund.
 María “Mara” Rivera, BC-DMT, LCAT, is a native Puerto Rican dancer, Ra Sekhi/Kemetic Reiki practitioner, educator, somatic healer, and licensed dance/movement psychotherapist who currently resides in the Bronx, New York. She is the founder of Maraka Healing, a culturally informed and spiritually infused body-oriented psychotherapeutic practice located in the Bronx. She is honored to be a co-founding member of the Loving Sol Bronx Healers Collective and a dancer/teaching artist with Ase Dance Theatre Collective. María has traveled to Haiti, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Trinidad, Jamaica, and her own homeland, Puerto Rico, to research African-based traditional dances, which have highly contributed to her commitment to incorporate Caribbean dances, values, and Afro-Centric principles into her dance/movement psychotherapeutic practice. She is the founder of the 4 levels of Empowerment therapeutic model, which is based on the notion that embodied medicine is accessed and claimed through 4 different powers. It states that through reclaiming our connection with our bodies, collective “ spaces", intergenerational/ancestral legacies, cultural identity, and inherited spiritual technologies we are better equipped to thrive and sustain physical, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual health. She is a proud member of the Multicultural and Diversity Committee acting as one of the liaisons for the Puerto Rico Chapter and she is currently an active member of the ADTA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Taskforce.
 Stefanie D. Belnavis BC-DMT, LMHC, is a differently abled Jamaican-American visual storyteller, kinesthetic creative, photographer + therapist based in Boston, Massachusetts. She wears many hats as a Board-Certified Dance Movement Therapist, a Perinatal Mental Health Clinician, a Disability Advocate, a Professor + a multidisciplinary portrait, dance + perinatal Photographer. An immigrant herself, Stefanie's work is charged by creating sustainable, inclusive + cross-cultural spaces that can propel intersectional + decolonizing dialogues around multicultural perinatal mental health experiences alongside creative forms of healing, namely dance movement therapy, visual storytelling, photography + journaling.
As the Founder of A Bucket For The Well, LLC; an embodied healing collaborative centering body liberation + storytelling through creative, perinatal, kinesthetic + conscious wellness for birthing families of color –Stefanie has cultivated a healing + creative wellness community that centers early attachment/relationships within communities of color, intergenerational perinatal mental health legacies, trauma + healing + perinatal/birth justice + racial equity. This collaborative offers a culturally affirming, trauma-informed, somatic + therapeutic support for the lived experiences + stories of bipoc birthing families of color + their community partners within the US + the Caribbean Diaspora. Stefanie is also the Founder of The Diahann Project (TDP) and The Diahann Project Births (TDPBirths). Both portrait photography-based collaboratives are centered around elevating the intersectional visual stills + stories of BIPOC folks. TDP focuses on BIPOC visual storytelling through photojournalism + portrait photography while TDPBirths is similarly aligned with a larger focus on celebrating the full spectrum perinatal journeys of birthing families of color inclusive of the celebratory + adverse birthing stories/experiences + perinatal inequities that many of these families experience. Stefanie is also the Founder + Creative Photographer behind Foresythe, a print photo journal that chronicles the visual stills + stories of BIPOC communities across varying social intersections. Stefanie has been teaching as an Adjunct Professor at Lesley University in the dance therapy program since 2019 and more recently transitioned to Core Faculty. She also teaches at the dance therapy program at Antioch University as a Guest Instructor since 2021. Stefanie holds membership with the National Black Doula Association, Postpartum Support International and the American Dance Therapy Association where she currently serves as a member of the Multicultural Diversity Committee and is the newly appointed President of the New England Dance Therapy Association. |