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Linda SofferFacilitator
Linda is spearheading the restructuring of our teen programs this year, and is serving as the Lead Facilitator of both the Group IV and the Shaping Your Life Programs. Her family has been a part of the OC Community since 2010 and Linda joined the staff in 2014.
Creative energy has been a driving force for Linda as long as she can remember. She began her formal art training at the University of Delaware where she acquired a B.F.A.in printmaking and painting. Her first experiences of integrated arts education and process-focused learning were gained at Moonstone, a Philadelphia-based creative arts preschool founded on Howard Gardener’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Inspired to further explore the use of art materials and creative processes in helping others, Linda enrolled in the Creative Arts in Therapy program at Hahnemann University, earning an M.A. and launching a 20 year career in clinical practice as a board-certified Art Therapist and Licensed Professional Counselor. During this time, she worked in both hospital and community settings with clients of all ages, formulating arts-based interventions to meet a broad range of treatment goals. She later obtained an Art Education certification from Moore College of Art & Design, expanding her skills to group work in museum and school-based settings. A lifelong artist, Linda currently works in the mediums of found object assemblage & collage. She also loves being in nature and enjoys hiking, camping and gardening. She recently purchased an inflatable kayak and has enjoyed this new vantage point for experiencing the natural world. Her other interests include working with native medicinal plants, meditation and spiritual development, archetypal psychology, and she recently began playing the ukelele. Linda has a particular interest in combining her knowledge of the arts and her love of nature with her drive for community building. The intersection of these passions has resulted in the growth of 2 unique annual community events in her neighborhood that she co-coordinates: Spooky Garden, a collaborative, walk-through Halloween attraction in her local community garden, started in 2002, and Parade of Spirits, a mid-December processional arts event inspired by ancient folklore traditions, started in 2011. Linda lives in Philadelphia with her partner, teen daughter who attends OC, a dog and two cats. |
