TR9 - When Children Disclose - After Mandate-Reporters Call: Art Therapy at Child Advocacy Centers (N/NY)

Shirin Mazdeyasna, MA, ATR-BC, LCAT is an Iranian artist, a board certified and registered Licensed Creative Arts Therapist. As a certified rape crisis counselor, she offers trauma therapy to survivors of crime and prolonged abuse in the Upper Hudson Valley, NY. Shirin received her MA in Art Therapy from New York University (2021) and has subsequently been trained in Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, EMDR, and is IFS informed. Her work with Iranian women on sexuality under the influences of social, cultural, and family impacts through the sensible approach of art therapy was published in the Art Therapy Journal of the American Art Therapy Association in 2023.

Sandy Mildenberg has a Bachelor’s of Fine Art in Communications Design and a Masters of Professional Studies in Art Therapy and Creativity Development from Pratt Institute. She is an art therapist at the Child Advocacy Center of Columbia-Greene Counties in Hudson, NY. She works in collaboration with a diverse MDT to support children, teens, adults, and families who have been impacted by trauma. She is trained in EMDR. Ultimately, Sandy hopes to shift her focus and dig deeper into the impact of art therapy as a supportive tool for women experiencing fertility struggles.

Alison Fox, MFA, MA is an artist and art therapist, provisional, living and working in Upper Hudson Valley, NY. Alison has experience teaching and working clinically with people across the lifespan. She has been trained in trauma informed yoga and sandtray. Alison sits on the board of Free Columbia. She received her MA in Art Therapy from Syracuse University.

Renielle Yankana-Tracey is the Program Director at the Child Advocacy Center of Columbia and Greene Counties. Renielle is also the Safe Harbour Coordinator for both Columbia and Greene County since 2019 working with survivors of sexual exploitation and trafficking and at-risk youths. She received her MS in Counseling with a Concentration in Applied Behavior Analysis and has been an avid advocate for children of abuse, neglect, and exploitation with the CAC since 2019 and prior to, worked with young children in the school setting and beyond.

Alison Sanzi is an investigator with the New York State Police specializing in crimes against children. Investigator Sanzi became a member of the New York State Police in 2016 as a New York State Trooper and was promoted to Investigator in the Bureau of Criminal Investigations in 2021. As an investigator, she has received training on child forensic interviewing and conducts the interviews as part of the investigative process at the Columbia County Child Advocacy Center.