Biography

Jenna Robinson (she/her), MA, LMFT, is a queer multi-racial expressive arts therapist and performance poet located in the Bay Area. Jenna is a steadfast advocate for empowering people at the margins to author their stories of resistance and resilience using written and oral traditions. She has been performing and teaching spoken word workshops to youth and adults since 2011. She is a two-time grand slam champion of Hawaii Slam and placed second in the nation at the 2015 National Poetry Slam in Oakland, CA. She received her M.A. in Expressive Arts Therapy from CIIS, where she developed an approach melding narrative therapy, expressive arts and spoken word poetry. Jenna has piloted and facilitated trauma-informed writing workshops with individuals, youth, and families throughout the Bay Area and Hawai'i, including survivors of intimate partner violence and system engaged youth. She currently runs an intergenerational therapeutic writing program for youth, families, and intergenerational community groups through Bay Area Creative. Her clinical practice has focused on supporting people who have experienced abuse and trauma. She is core faculty in the Counseling Psychology master’s program at the Wright Institute as well as core faculty in the Expressive Arts Therapy master’s program at the CIIS. Jenna is currently training as a Poetry Therapist under the supervision of Dr. Sherry Reiter.

Education

M.A., California Institute for Integral Studies
B.A., University of Hawai’i - Manoa

Publications

Simons, S & R. Gafni (2013) Fine tuning the listening heart: weaving together the teaching of Jewish ethics & socioemotional learning (Ed.) Kress, Jeffrey Growing Jewish Minds, Growing Jewish Souls: Promoting Spiritual, Social and Emotional Growth in Jewish Education. NYC: URJ Press