Why CANY Chooses to Honor Huffman & Swiller 

For the past several years, CANY has selected several worthy individuals to honor at our annual benefit.  This May, CANY will honor Cady Huffman and Dr. Hillel Swiller.  But why choose these two people?

To start, CANY's work synthesizes the clinical knowledge of mental health with the creativity of the theatre arts.  "We want to honor friends and advocates of our work who come from both fields," notes CANY Executive Director Jonathan Hilton.  "Both Cady and Hillel have inspired us through their enthusiasm for our mission."

Cady Huffman, a Tony-Award winning actress, came to CANY via friend (and fellow actor) CANY Board Chair Dick Latessa.  Cady visited a drama therapy group and immediately recognized the power of theatre to help challenged individuals re-discover a connection to their creative spirit.  She has participated in many CANY groups since her first visit and has also co-hosted the annual benefit for the past two years.  We cannot help but admire such a loyal, enthusiastic friend like Cady.

Dr. Hillel Swiller has been an important CANY advisor for 25 years.  Introduced to CANY through our drama therapy programs for patients in psychiatric care at Mount Sinai Medical Center, Hillel subsequently joined our Advisory Board.  He has said, "Utilizing the power of the group and techniques developed in the theatre, CANY helps those they serve begin the reintegration into the family of humanity and create the hope of change.  CANY enables the most painfully injured to experience themselves as creative and connected.  What a gift!  Again and again I have seen lost souls participate in a CANY group and find a connection and a hope that seemed forever lost."  It is now CANY's honor to recognize Hillel for his commitment to our work.

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Don't have a ticket to Broadway at the Boathouse...OVATION yet?  Make your reservation today by visiting www.cany.org and join us in celebrating our honorees. 

All Mental Health Professionals, Artists and Educators who are interested in using the creative arts as a tool for healing & personal growth are invited to attend.  The program will be divided up into three components:  the experiential, the theoretical and the supervisory.  Among the many things that you will take away from this program will be how to structure a complete creative therapy session from warm-up to closure and how to use metaphor to safely explore trauma.  You will also be given a comprehensive training manual covering the CANY model of drama therapy.  CANY staff members Heidi Landis, RDT-BCT, LCAT, CP, CGP and Lucy McLellan, RDT-BCT, LCAT will lead this program.

A New Relationship with Danbury Hospital   

Over the past three months, CANY has been developing a new partnership with Danbury Hospital.  CANY Program Director Lucy McLellan and Program Manager Heidi Landis ran a rather unique program for the Connecticut hospital.  Each week the co-leaders would run a 60-minute drama therapy group on the adult inpatient psychiatric unit.  Ten members of the hospital staff joined the patients in this direct service group.  Then, these same staff members would continue with their own training group, which allowed for an in-depth exploration of the choices made and interventions employed with the patients that day.  One of the many goals of this program was for nurses, social workers, recreational therapists and Milieu therapists to join together and participate in drama therapy interventions aimed at improving client relatedness, self-esteem, emotional expression and self-regulation, spontaneity and the capacity to play a diverse range of life roles.     

One of the participating staff members said, "We have learned so much from [Heidi and Lucy].  They have helped us get to know the patients in a creative way."  Continue reading about this program and staff responses at www.cany.org. 

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If you are interested in bringing this type of program to your organization, please send a message to Program Manager, Heidi Landis.