Welcome to Our Internet Outpost…
Our book series on psychology’s new design science is an ongoing conversation about how psychology, psychiatry, and the helping professions are using technology to extend their skills and outreach using new media. We are introducing the design literature to the clinical arts with the aim of facilitating an innovation vector that is in its infancy: the clinical design studio. We also address shifts in perspective on how science is conducted. Meet our contributors. Read chapters on our books page. Let us know you dropped by on our contact page.
The Instigators…and Collaborators
Susan Imholz is chief instigator, a scholar, program designer, and clinician interested in media design informed by holistic principles of human development and models of mind. Using the ancient principle of “like makes like”, she believes that tech production needs to be turned on its head–and as Donald Schön suggested–[to] search for an epistemology of design practice implicit in the artistic, intuitive processes. She began her career as an art therapist at the Menninger Children’s Hospital in Topeka, KS, supervised by Bob Ault, where she introduced video as a story making tool. She holds an M.A. in Expressive Therapy from Lesley University, and a Ph.D. from the MIT Media Laboratory Epistemology & Learning Group.
Judy Sachter was also a member of Seymour Papert’s Epistemology & Learning Group at the MIT Media Lab. Her graduate work focused on the integration of art, tech, and learning culminating in ground breaking research on children’s understanding of spatial cognition in 3D virtual environments, gender differences, and learning styles. As a technical consultant to the entertainment industry, she facilitated and enabled disparate technical groups of individuals to collaborate together in new ways. Susan and Judy have been collaborating on books as editors and authors since 2014.
Contributors to: Psychology’s New Design Science and the Reflective Practitioner
Edith Ackermann – Posthumously, we have published Edith’s last academic work…a great and untimely loss to those who knew her. Her wonderfully written chapter recounts her work with Jean Piaget at the Centre International d’Epistemologic in Geneva, and her teaching experiences in the Architecture Department at MIT with Donald Schön. Edith was an Honorary Professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Aix-Marseille, France, and had been a visiting scientist in the Architecture Department at MIT since 1996. She was an Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at the Media Lab in 1985. A repository of her work can be found at MIT.
John Beaulieu, N.D., Ph.D., is a sound healer and Naturopathic Doctor. John currently teaches classes around the world on how to integrate sound healing with cognitive behavioral therapies, mindful listening, and naturopathic medicine. He is the author of Music and Sound in the Healing Arts, Human Tuning, Bellevue Memoirs, and The Polarity Therapy Workbook. More information about his work can be found at Biosonic Enterprises, Ltd.
Natalie Carlton is an Associate Professor and Director of Drexel University’s Art Therapy and Counseling program. She has devoted interest in art therapy media use, and engages reflective practice and research with diverse materials including; fabric crafts, clay and sculpture, drawing and painting, graphic novels, as well as iPad apps, virtual reality (VR), photography and sound recording. More about her work can be found at Drexel.
Nancy Choe is a licensed psychotherapist and art therapist practicing in California. She also works as a consultant helping global companies improve their user experience (UX) on the web by localizing their media assets. Her research interests include exploring new media art processes in psychotherapy practice and applying user experience design (UXD) principles to enhance the mental health care experience for both clients and clinicians.
Julia Mossbridge is the inventor and designer of the Choice Compass app, and the founder and director of the Mossbridge Institute. Her most recent book is Transcendent Mind: Rethinking the Science of Consciousness was co-authored with Imants Baruss. She is also the author of Unfolding: The Perpetual Science of Your Soul’s Work. More information about Julia’s endeavors can be found at The Mossbridge Institute.
David Moxley, Ph.D., is director of, and professor in the University of Alaska-Anchorage School of Social Work. His work cuts across multiple fields; human services and social work, including serious mental illness, developmental disabilities, youth services, and aging. The common denominator and core of his work is fostering innovation in community support of people who are experiencing multiple life changes.
Joel Murphy was interviewed for our book; he is co-founder of OpenBCI based in Brooklyn, NY. OpenBCI produces noninvasive bio-sensing amplifiers that can measure EEG (brainwaves), ECG (heart beats), and EMG (muscle) activity. The interface is composed of open-source hardware components, and works with MatLab, OPenVibe, Neuromore, BioEra, BrainBay, and other digital signal processing software packages which provide graphical displays of sensor data. The OpenBCI community is composed of students, academic researchers, entrepreneurs, and practicing clinicians.