Online Fall 2025 Workshops
FILMMAKING FOR MENTAL HEALTH
FILMMAKING FOR MENTAL HEALTH
ONLINE HANDS-ON WORKSHOPS FOR CREATIVE THERAPISTS
Spend an inspiring day with Art Therapist Bevan Klassen receiving step-by-step instruction on how to guide clients in making simple therapeutic videos to enhance self-regulation, emotional awareness, identity development and self-esteem.
There are two options:
Cost: $200 per workshop (sliding scale available)
This series of online, hands-on workshops are ideal for creative therapists interested in expanding their therapeutic toolkit with creative and innovative approaches. You’ll learn how to integrate video-based storytelling into your work with clients or groups — no prior experience required. Through guided demonstrations, collaborative exercises, and reflective discussion, you will:
There are two options:
- Music Video Workshop – Date: Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025, OR
- Digital Animation Workshop – Date: Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025
Cost: $200 per workshop (sliding scale available)
This series of online, hands-on workshops are ideal for creative therapists interested in expanding their therapeutic toolkit with creative and innovative approaches. You’ll learn how to integrate video-based storytelling into your work with clients or groups — no prior experience required. Through guided demonstrations, collaborative exercises, and reflective discussion, you will:
- View and discuss therapeutic short films and the stories behind their creation.
- Experience firsthand how video-making can help regulate emotions, enhance emotional awareness, strengthen identity, and build self-esteem.
- Learn practical workflows for using video as a tool for communication and healing.
- Explore creative tools such as music videos and digital animation to bring imagination and emotion to life.
- Create your own short project, using media libraries and accessible digital tools.
- Reflect on ethics and safety in video-making as a trauma-informed process.
WHAT CREATIVE THERAPISTS ARE SAYING:
- "I loved the workshop. Brief introduction. Well done. Thank you."
- "I really appreciated the facilitator's style, very knowledgable and helpful. He created a safe place to share and witness each other's work."
- "I think it is a very unique form of art that holds a lot of potential for participants in a healing modality."
- The workshop also offered me a deeper connection to my own creative voice — and a reminder that our stories matter, even in their raw, unfinished, or vulnerable forms.
- The way you framed video as both personal and collaborative, and how you spoke of the power of slowing down, really shifted how I think about digital storytelling — not just as a technical skill, but as a practice in mindfulness, care, and courage
- "What stood out most for me was how you wove together the creative and emotional aspects of storytelling, and how powerfully that mirrored the process of healing itself — through choice, pacing, collaboration, and being witnessed. "
- "Video making with my kiddos is going VERY WELL! Their focus, self-confidence and self-esteem have increased exponentially! Parents comment on their child's overall growth and desire to do more therapy. They marvel at the exciting and enthusiastic way in which their child describes their filmmaking projects on the way home in the car and the technical language that they use to describe the process. I couldn’t ask for more! The kids arrived totally stoked to "get down to creating".
- "The video making software provided the tools I needed to explore my own experiences, thoughts and emotions and the video. Once presented, even in the roughest state, the video would reveal components of my healing journey that I was not aware of."
- "I still use it today to help me integrate a hard moment or stressful week. It surprised me and continues to surprise me how an art form like film or digital story telling can lead you into places you didn’t realize you needed to safely explore and express and integrate."
- "It starts with a picture, video or music and you connect it with an experience. If you stay present with it and play a little without having any motivation, you stumble to the next picture. You understand the feeling you are having and you give voice to it. It becomes a feeling for a story."
Video Examples from Clients
First, 'Running From' is an animation inspired by a dream and created by a young Indigenous woman at a temporary youth shelter. Second, 'Miss a Sunrise' is a music video created by a first-time video maker who used his original song to reflect on his cancer experience using personally selected images.
First, 'Running From' is an animation inspired by a dream and created by a young Indigenous woman at a temporary youth shelter. Second, 'Miss a Sunrise' is a music video created by a first-time video maker who used his original song to reflect on his cancer experience using personally selected images.
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Video as Art Therapy Explainer
Here is an explainer of some of the ways I use video making as therapy in my practice:
Here is an explainer of some of the ways I use video making as therapy in my practice:
WHAT ELSE DO I NEED TO KNOW?
- You will receive an account to WeVideo (a video editing tool with a media library) and other digital tools which are either free or temporary and included in the cost of the workshop.
- You need basic computer knowledge, but no video making experience. The tools are easy to learn and I will guide you step-by-step.
- These are online sessions and require a stable Internet connection for the video work.
- Tablets cannot be used in the workshops.
- The classes will be not be recorded.
- A Zoom link will be provided the several days prior to the workshop.
FAQ:
I feel overwhelmed by the idea of using technology in my therapy practice. How will these workshops help me?
If you feel comfortable using Internet-based applications on your computer, you will be able to make a video. The Overview Workshop gives you an opportunity to see if using video making is right for you. I provide individuals who have no experience creating videos, the skills and tools they need in a relaxed and fun environment to play and share their experiences.
Are these workshops only for art therapists?
No. Leaders in the field who use video making as therapy include a variety of mental health professionals. However, this workshop will focus on video making from an art therapy and expressive arts perspective. All therapists and counsellors are welcome.
I’m an art therapy student/future mental health professional. Will this be valuable for me?
Yes. I have taught video making as therapy at WHEAT Institute since 2022, so the material is appropriate for students to learn more about video making as therapy.
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ABOUT THE FACILITATORS: Bevan Klassen is an Art Therapist (DWHEAT, RCAT) and works with individuals and groups to make videos in therapy. He is a leader in video making in therapy and presented various conference. In his professional practices, he has facilitated video making with individuals and groups at CancerCare Manitoba, a temporary youth shelter, school divisions, and through child and family services agencies. Bevan came to Art Therapy through the joy and healing he found as an independent filmmaker and his desire to support others on their journeys. For questions contact [email protected] OR |
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