NY-RE-120 -A Phenomenological Inquiry Into the Artists of the Holocaust

Dr. Elizabeth Hlavek, DAT, LCPAT, ATR-BC is an art therapy clinician, scholar, and advocate. In 2012 Elizabeth spearheaded efforts to develop a clinical art therapy license in Maryland, and subsequently sat on the MD Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists, and later the American Art Therapy Association's Board of Directors.  She continues to hold leadership roles within AATA. Elizabeth's doctoral research examined artwork made by victims in Nazi captivity which she grounded to existential theory. Her book, A Meaning-Based Approach to Art Therapy: From the Holocaust to Contemporary Practices, details her phenomenological study in which she interviewed surviving artists about their experiences creating artwork. She posited that art-making allowed victims to find meaning in their experience, a concept that informs her clinical work. Elizabeth frequently lectures and teaches about her research. She also adjuncts at the International Institute for Existential Humanistic Psychology and St Mary of the Woods college.