Centering Connection and Creativity for Health and Wellbeing

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Around the world, practitioners are rediscovering what artists, cultural workers, and community healers have long understood: that creativity and human connection are powerful forces for wellbeing.

Join CIIS faculty Dr. Christine Brooks and Dr. Elizabeth Markle for a rich conversation exploring how arts-based practices, dynamic community experiences, and connection-centered programming are reshaping the landscape of health.

Together they discuss emerging innovations such as social prescribing, a model that reimagines healthcare by formally “prescribing” experiences like movement, art, social connection, and service—elevating these everyday resources as legitimate pathways to wellbeing alongside medical care. They explore the integration of arts into community mental health, personal and collective growth and transformation, and the broader movement to center belonging and creativity in care. Their conversation also highlights Community As Medicine®, an evidence-based model that brings these ideas to life through joyful movement, stress-reduction, and human connection.

Dr. Brooks and Dr. Markle invite you to explore what healing can look like when medical care integrates arts and community practices to nurture whole-person wellbeing.

Meet the Hosts

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Christine Brooks, Ph.D., is a core faculty member in the Expressive Arts Therapy Program. She received her BFA in acting from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Along with Masters's work in Gender Studies and Religious Studies, Christine received a M.A. in Psychology and a Ph.D. in Transpersonal Psychology from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. Christine went on to serve as professor and chair of the M.A. and Ph.D. in Transpersonal Psychology programs for seven years. Prior to her teaching life, Christine worked as a book editor in the film industry and helped to run an early start-up company utilizing artificial intelligence to replicate expert advice. These experiences afforded her rich opportunities to work with artists, authors, and entrepreneurs, and these relationships continue to influence her current private practice as a professional and personal development coach.
 

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Elizabeth Markle, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist, speaker, writer, researcher, and Associate Professor of Community Mental Health at California Institute of Integral Studies. Dedicated to multi-theoretical and multi-level approaches to individual and community health and healing, Elizabeth's current area of study and innovation is around combining clinical expertise with social entrepreneurship to create sustainable, thriving cultures of health and wellness. She is the co-founder of Open Source Wellness, a nonprofit initiative offering experiential behavioral health and wellness via a "Community As Medicine" approach in collaboration with healthcare providers and insurers. Liz's current quest is around creating intimacy at scale, creating solutions for authentic and nourishing human connection facilitated by technology. In her TEDx talk, Dr. Elizabeth Markle explores the transformative impact of "Community As Medicine" in revolutionizing healthcare experiences.

Important Event Information

Accessibility Information 

If you need to request accessibility accommodations, please email publicprograms@ciis.edu at least one week prior to the event. For more information, explore our Accessibility web page.

Recording Policy 

Ticket holders will have access to an ad-free replay of the event for one month after the live event, after which unlimited viewing with ads will be available. Portions of the audio will also be released on our podcast. Only registered ticket holders who choose to watch live can participate in the chat and Q&A.

Refund Policy 

All tickets and add-ons purchased for this event are nonrefundable.