A live workshop with Dr. Doreen Maller and Steve Maller

Friday, April 9th, 1:00 – 4:00 pm ET/ 10:00 am – 1:00 pm PT

Broadcast via Zoom
Connection information will be shared once registered.
Registration closes at 12 noon ET on the day of the event.

Sliding-scale registration:
Sustainer (pays for you and supports community rate): $100
Supporter (pays for you): $75
Community rate: $50

Access grants available to cover $25: apply for an access grant
ACMHE members receive a $25 discount (join ACMHE)

Registration has now closed

A step in the process of becoming our best selves is working with the challenges we are handed, and boy, have we had them this year!

Together and apart we faced a changing world, changing tools and changing and challenging times.  As we consider the prospects of re-opening, this workshop offers a chance for reflection and an introduction to some advanced technology tools.

Nearly every aspect of our lives has been impacted by illness, traumatic events in the world around us, grief, loss, anger and the impact of the loss of the class and meeting rooms we hold dear.  Our tools have changed, the lecture hall, the small discussion groups have been replaced by zoom after endless zoom. We were forced into an unfamiliar environment before we had the opportunity to master a new tool set. We know we are not connecting as we had before and yet, for some, the time away from our traditional notions of how things work (and how we work) offered some pleasant surprises.

With tools we hate, can we create experiences we love? Where is this knowledge to be found? How can we reach beyond the limitations of the tools to create the kind of intimacy for which we yearn, similar to what we had to leave behind, satisfying in its own right?

In this workshop the team of Doreen and Steve Maller will create space for reflection on a year of changes and share some tips to improve your ability to connect with others using technology tools and tweaks. Simple tricks that include lighting, angles, adaptive tools will be introduced in the workshop, which will allow you to explore interactivity and connectivity in new and different ways.

The items below are some of the topics that will be addressed during the workshop:

• A group reflection on the impact of change on our academic connections. Impacts on intimacy, networking, classroom access and management will be discussed as well as ideas of what we may want to bring forward with us into the next phase of re-opening.
• Creating a “scene” by composing a calm, representative backdrop that will add to the overall aesthetic and talk about why “virtual” backdrops may be a distraction.
• Arranging a “basic” setup using only tools everybody has (laptop, tablet or phone in combination with good eyelines, natural light and ear buds).
• Demonstration of  an “advanced” setup (not really all that advanced) using some additional light, an optional “real” camera, and a 2nd overhead camera for  physical demonstrations (what we call the “hand view”).
• We will include a shopping list of inexpensive gadgets that will work on any computer for these setups.

Dr. Doreen Maller, LMFT, PhD, is a lifetime “maker” and educator.  She began her career in clothing manufacturing and pivoted in mid-life towards Mental Health and Education. She earned her MA in Expressive Arts Therapy and her PhD in Transformative Learning both at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, California. For a decade, Dr. Maller served as Professor and Chair of Holistic Counseling Psychology at John F. Kennedy University in Northern California, retiring in 2019 to take care of her family elders and work differently in her local community. She is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, practicing mostly on-line during these challenging times, as well as an adjunct professor and Zoom classroom art teacher.

During COVID she juggled many new opportunities: producing webinars on parenting, short films on art-making, and in the early days, produced over 100 masks from fabrics she had collected over the years. Dr. Maller has authored and produced multiple educational volumes and papers on Mental Health and has presented domestically and internationally on topics related to art, trauma, counseling, and families. Recently, Dr. Maller has returned to her artist roots with a renewed practice of multimedia art, focused mainly on the natural world that exists just outside her window.

Steve Maller began his career in the mid 1980s as a self–taught computer programmer. He went on to work at Apple, General Magic and Microsoft, and was at the epicenter of the internet, multimedia and portable computing revolutions. In 2000, Steve decided to pursue his passion for photography as a profession, and has been fortunate to be able to do so for 20 years. He still loves technology, and constantly looks for ways to integrate his artistic and technological vision. When the world flipped on its axis a year ago, Steve and his wife Doreen looked for ways of adapting, and have tried to help others in whatever way they can.