Oct. 15 & 16, 2013
“For The Brides of Ed: An Integrated Approach To Eating Disorders” guided tours with prescriptive artist Nancy Gershman.
Sept. 3-Oct. 31, 2013
Edward G. Miner Library | University of Rochester 601 Elmwood Avenue, Rochester, New York
For The Brides of Ed*: An Integrated Approach To Eating Disorders
Art Therapy | EMDR | Prescriptive Art
* eating disorders
- Learn more about The Healing Memory Project
- Read: Visualizing Preferred Stories: Theory & Technique
- View the University of Rochester exhibit virtually
- Read the University of Rochester press release about “Brides of Ed”
Presented by Prescriptive Artist Nancy Gershman in collaboration with Psychotherapist Lauren Lazar Stern, University of Rochester’s Edward G. Miner Library opens Sept. 3 with an exhibit about the integration of art therapy, brain-body processing and memory reconsolidation in eating disorder patients.
The women who work with Pittsburgh-based art psychotherapist Lauren Lazar Stern, MA, ATR-BC, LPC and NYC-based prescriptive artist Nancy Gershman all suffer from a range of eating disorders which numb them from feeling hurt, conflicted or anything at all. There are the over-eaters; the binge or binge-purgers; the restricters; extreme dieters and over-exercisers. Only one thing takes precedence over boyfriends, husbands, jobs, friends, hobbies and studies and that is their primary relationship with “Ed” (their eating disorder).
In the eating disorders exhibit “Brides of Ed: An Integrated Approach,” opening September 3, Stern and Gershman introduce their pioneering approach for helping patients divorce the eating disorder part of themselves and reclaim what they loved before “Ed.” Stern’s techniques come first, with expressive arts exercises and brain-body processing with EMDR.
Prescriptive photomontage follows next, with Healing Dreamscapes co-created with Stern’s patients; visualizations that re-frame the past or envision a future with happier outcomes. “The sensory imagery, symbols, metaphors and narrative elements,” says Gershman, “trigger the brain to retrieve a memory, re-encode it and thus, transform it.” These tangible objects of hope act as surrogate reinforcers, arresting triggers and preventing relapse in Stern’s absence – and a reminder that there is life after Ed.
Nancy Gershman of Art For Your Sake <https://www.artforyoursake.com> is a New York-based digital artist specializing in prescriptive photomontage to counter loss and regrets. Her work has appeared in Annals of American Psychotherapy; NYU Langone Medical Center and the Loyola University Museum of Art.
Lauren Lazar Stern, MA-ATR-BC, LPC <http://www.laurenlazarstern.com> is a Pittsburgh-based art psychotherapist and EMDR therapist working with girls and women suffering from eating disorders and body image disturbance. She is author of The Slender Trap: A Food and Body Workbook.
Contact: Nancy Gershman at nancy@artforyoursake.com or 773-255-4677 (EST)
Exhibit runs from Sept. 3 through Oct. 31, 2013.
Walk-thrus with prescriptive artist Nancy Gershman on Oct. 16-17. Call for hours.
(Free and open to the public)
Edward G. Miner Library, University of Rochester Medical Center, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Rochester, NY 14642
Further reading:
- An opening night virtual tour through the exhibit (at an earlier venue: NYU Langone Medical Center’s MSB Gallery)
- Learn more about The Healing Memory Project
- Find out more about Visualizing Preferred Stories: Theory & Technique