Collective Self Cinema

COLLECTIVE SELF CINEMA // A HERONRY FILM PROJECT

 FULL PROGRAMMING OVERVIEW

About The Collective Self Cinema Series

Explore complex feelings through this Collective Self Cinema series. Bridging the Parent-Child relationship through film, Collective Self Cinema aims to help young and grown-up humans understand themselves and each other better, to enhance a family’s felt sense of connectivity and love. Enjoy the movie in the Milliken Auditorium through a partnership with the Dennos Museum Center, and take home guided mental health and creative resources. For a deeper experience, register here with Care-O-Van for facilitated workshops with professionals after the film for both youth and adults.

This is the kind of programming we don't usually see or have the opportunity to experience in our small No Mi area, so take the opportunity to be a part of these super special events! Here's your chance to support a community program that fosters connection, creates a space to address the inherent stress and struggles of raising children, and invests in the health, education, and safety of children and families to enhance the overall health of our community!

Some Clarifying FAQS:

1. You do not have to watch the movie at Dennos, you can buy tickets just for post-screening workshops if you have already seen the movie recently, prefer to watch the film in the comfort of your own home, and/or don’t have time to fit both the movie and workshops into your day. Both adult and youth workshops focus on themes in the movie, so it is beneficial and important to have watched the movie recently.

2. There are scholarships available upon request, so don’t let financial constraints get in your way! This programming is being offered to the community with the commitment of making it accessible to all. Please contact hello@careovan.com directly with scholarship inquiries and sliding scale offerings.

3. This program is for educators, youth mentors, and those who work closely with kids too! You can buy adult workshop tickets separately without having to purchase kid tickets.

4. There will be written descriptions about the art workshops and why they were chosen for this film, and copies will be provided to adults who attend the workshop, whether or not you have kids that are attending the youth workshop. The art stations that pair with these movies are simple enough to introduce to your own kids at home or in school/childcare settings.

5. At least 1 adult registration to participate in the adult educational programming per family is required, to enable a child/children of the same family to participate in the youth expressive arts programming. The program places emphasis on the importance and necessity of adult participation in their own learning, growing, healing, and health!

6. Tickets to the film are complimentary *only* with each adult and youth ticket registration purchased per event date, to participate in the post-screening expressive arts programming for youth, and educational programming for their grown-ups. If you would like to reserve seats to delight in the film but not participate in the follow-up workshops, you can purchase film tickets independently through The Dennos Museum Center.

ABOUT THE POST-SCREENING PROGRAMMING

After the film, families are invited to take a deeper dive into the therapeutic themes presented within each film by registering to participate in follow-up educational for adults and expressive arts programming for youth. With the U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy recently publishing an advisory on the mental health of parents, he shares a salient message emphasizing that parenting and raising children is one of the most important jobs we can do, while it also being one of the hardest, as parents today feel more stressed, financially constrained, and lonelier than ever before. Dr. Vivek wrote in the New York Times, "the work of raising a child is crucial to the health and well-being of all society," and that "the well-being of parents and caregivers is directly linked to the bell-being of their children."

This experience is intended to nurture a child’s self awareness and expression, and moreover, to support grown-ups in reflecting inwards on their own experiences in order to gain insights into their child’s emotional world. This programming is designed to help parents learn skills, help them attune to and understand the needs of their developing child, and to build a shared language between the parent and child through cinematic scenes, characters, and themes to empower a sense of understanding and being in relationship.

Carefully crafted to support the exploration of select focal themes presented within each film, parents and those who care for children, are invited to turn inwards, to gain insight and self connection, in order to support the health of those doing this sacred work of raising children and to enhance connection.

Post-Screening Programming Focal Themes Per Event

• Inside Out | All Feelings Are Valuable
  
• Encanto | Healing Family Burdens
  
• Coco | The Both/And of Loss + Connection
  
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Leading With Love

Who is this for:

• Any young to grown-up human seeking connection
• Elementary through Middle School aged youth, *AND* these films are ageless, all ages can benefit from creative and playful expression and exploration!
• Parents, co-parents, extended family, supporting caregivers, educators, and  professionals who care for a child of any age
• Caregiver(s)/Parent(s) who desire to lead with intention and purposeful response when guiding and parenting
• Caregiver(s)/Parent(s) who are committed to taking accountability for their own intention, impact, and internal experience

What grown-ups will walk away with:

• An overview of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and how IFS concepts connect with the themes presented within each film
• How to use the themes, characters, and messages shared within each film, to build a relatable and effective way to communicate and connect with a child of any age
• Developmentally informed scripts and strategies for how to identify, make sense of, and respond to complex emotions by using each film as a bridge to communicate and relate more effectively
• New ways to turn inward with a purpose to increase awareness of one’s internal experience, build reflective capacity, and gain self insight in order to show up in relationships with one’s self, children, and others with curiosity, kindness, consent, compassion, and connection. 

What youth will walk away with:

• A selection of hands-on art making experiences correlated with each film, intentionally highlighting playful and courageous, creative expression
• A creative exploration of one’s self, emotions, and experience in relation with the themes presented in each film
• Identity, sensory and neuro-affirming experiences
• An open conversation about each film, reflecting on individual take-aways and overarching themes in order to nurture self awareness and expression
• New ways and an enhanced capacity to identify emotions and express feelings, along with an increased awareness of and connection with self and others

Educational workshops will be facilitated by:

Meg Mertaugh-Graber, LMSW - Clinical, MSW, M.Ed

Meg is a trauma sensitive, developmentally informed, neuro-affirming and Internal Family Systems trained clinical mental health therapist. Specialized in facilitating nature-based, expressive arts, experiential and animal-assisted therapeutic services for over a decade, Meg founded Care-O-Van, a private practice through which she works with children, adolescents, adults, families, educators, and care-givers. Meg’s areas of interest and experience include: complex, chronic and intergenerational trauma, postpartum and parenting, caregiver/child relationships, youth development, attachment, issues related to sexual trauma, neglect, abuse and incest, autism+ neurodivergence, gender and sexual identity and expression, LGBTQIA+, grief and loss, self worth, body worth, and embodied resilience. A mama of elementary age twins, bonus mama of a daughter now grown adult, partner, caregiver of many fur-wool-feather beings large and small, and land steward, Meg honors her greatest teachers as her children, animals, and her own reflective therapeutic work.

Special Guest! The Inside Out educational workshop lead facilitator will be:

Annie Lange, BSN, LMSW, ACSW

Annie is a clinical social worker who has had an active private practice, working with individuals, couples, and families for the past 28 years. Annie has served as adjunct faculty professor in the School of Social Work at Michigan State University and conducts workshops and retreats throughout the state. In addition to practice and teaching, Annie has earned her Advance Trainer Certificate in the Nurtured Heart Approach and has completed Level One Certification in the Internal Family Systems model. Annie’s special interests include trauma, attachment, adoption, foster care, interpersonal neurobiology, mindfulness, self compassion, shame resilience, internal healing processes and self-care issues. Annie readily admits that her greatest teachers have been her six children, five of whom are adopted.

Expressive arts, social-emotional workshops will be facilitated by:

Tracy Smedes-Hepler

Tracy is a former teacher and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education with 13 years experience as a preschool teacher at the Leelanau Children’s Center. She has been a mother and nanny for over 22 years! Her love of the arts and creativity inspired her to launch an arts exploration business, Tearwater T, which aims to provide art programming to local children. After a successful first summer, she is excited to re-engage with the youth in her community this school year as a creativity mentor and process-arts teacher at OAB.

REVIEW

Films By Date

• Inside Out | Saturday, October 12, 2024
  Film Tickets Available Here
• Encanto | Saturday, November 16, 2024
  Film Tickets Available Here
• Coco | Saturday, December 14, 2024
  Film Tickets Available Here
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Saturday, January 11, 2025
  Film Tickets Available Here

Post-Screening Workshops By Focal Theme

• Inside Out | All Feelings Are Valuable
  
• Encanto | Healing Family Burdens
  
• Coco | The Both/And of Loss + Connection
  
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Leading With Love
  

Schedule Day of Event

1-3 // Film screening in Milliken Auditorium (rated PG; run time 1h 35mins)

3:00-4:00 // Post-screening workshops in Janis Community Room & Dutmers Theater

4-4:30 // Attendee wrap-up + departures

Photos by Disney/Pixar & Warner Bros Entertainment Inc.

© Disney Pictures

© Warner Bros Entertainment Inc.