Lauren Parmelee Murphy, MA, LPC, NCC, REAT
Lauren is an artist, educator, National Board Certified and Licensed Professional Counselor and Registered Expressive Arts Therapist, specializing in pediatric and adolescent psychotherapy. She is founding president of Atelier 7, a non-profit organization which utilizes expressive art along with counseling to serve special-needs populations. She first became aware of the profoundly healing effects of self-expression, working with troubled teens as an art teacher at an alternative high school in the New Jersey Public School System. She now serves as a special-needs resource person for art teachers across the state of New Jersey. As a student in the Expressive Therapies Ph.D. program at Lesley University, she is researching Creativity and Cognition.
Jean M. Nemeth, MA, MT-BC
Jean Nemeth is a board certified music therapist and certified music educator. She has provided music therapy services to children with special needs in the public school setting for 25+ years. Jean has long been active in the American Music Therapy Association and is a contributing author to Effective Clinical Practice in Music Therapy: Early Childhood & School Age Educational Settings. The emphasis of her current PhD studies in Expressive Arts Therapies at Lesley University is to discern the attributes of a music therapist which promote positive outcomes for children in educational settings.
Julie Andring, MSA, MT-BC
Julie Andring is a a board certified music therapist and is currently studying for a Ph.D. in Expressive Arts Therapy at Lesley University. Her thesis is on Self Esteem in Adults with Intellectual Disability. Julie has worked for 20+ years for the State of Connecticut Dept. of Developmental Disabilities; the past 17 years she has worked in a residential facility. She works with people of all ages but primarily with people ages 45-65 years old. She is the director of the internship program at this facility.
Susan Ridley, MS, CPRP, CPS, ADC, REAT
Susan Ridley is an artist, expressive arts therapist and educator, and is currently studying for a Ph.D. Expressive Arts Therapy at Lesley University. Her thesis is on Spirituality and Expressive Arts: A Search for Identity, Meaning and Purpose. Susan has over 20+ years experience working with diverse communities with various difficulties including visual and hearing impairment, physical and learning disabilities, substance abuse and mental health issues. Currently she works as a Supervisor of Community Services in a Municipal Township in Northern New Jersey.
