Virtual Art Therapy to Help Abused Children Posted on January 10, 2006 | 3 Comments HK doctors pioneer use of virtual reality therapy to help abused children Posted: 10 January 2006 1805 hrs By Channel NewsAsia’s Hong Kong Correspondent Roland Lim HONG KONG : Researchers and therapists in Hong Kong have pioneered the use of virtual…
Category: Biography
Bio – Julia Byrne
Julia Byrne, M.A. A.Th., Art Ed Julia grew up in Hong Kong & since 1995 she has worked there as an art therapist with private clients (children, teenagers and adults) as well as families stemming from a psychotherapy framework. She has extensive experience working through various local organizations/NGO’s and the Hong Kong Hospital Authority for twenty years:…
Professional Memberships
The Hong Kong Association of Art Therapists (Founding President) American Art Therapy Association – Member Psychotherapy Society of Hong Kong – Member (Executive Committee (2001-2008; 2012-2015)) Hong Kong Institute of Analytical psychology – Member (Executive Committee (2007-2009))
Special Projects
Virtual Reality based Training Programme for Social Adaptive and Emotional Training on School-aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Vpad) City University of Hong Kong Adjunct Professor (part-time) Develop Psycho-educational approach on training social adaptive and emotion control for children with ASD A part of the research team Writing the instructional plan and training protocol Training teachers…
Other Presentations & Workshops
Asian Art Therapy Conference: Healing Bridges ( 2009) Creator of the Project and drafted the conference proposal Raised the funds, established the Organizing Committee Served on the Organizing Committee and Program Committee Presenter: 1.SAT Art Therapy Project 2. Cogart Project Symposium on Arts and Mental Health (2008) Presenter: Expressions of Grief Through Art Holistic Therapies Conference (2006)…
Relaxed Theatre performance, symposium & workshop
Relaxed Theatre performance, symposium & workshop Speaker: Arts for All 10-13.10.2015 http://www.aftec.hk/?a=doc&id=469&lang=en
Hong Kong Art Museum – Art Therapy & Self Healing Series – Dynamics of Art Therapy and Human Development
Hong Kong Art Museum – Art Therapy & Self Healing Series (1997) Public lecture entitled ‘Dynamics of Art Therapy and Human Development’ Online at: Hong Kong Art Museum – Art Therapy & Self Healing Series – Dynamics of Art Therapy and Human Development
SCMP – Art of hearts
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 01 February, 2006, 12:00am UPDATED : Wednesday, 01 February, 2006, 12:00am STANDING FIRM IN the face of a roaring tiger isn’t easy, but there are rich rewards for the victims of child abuse who use this new virtual technology to cope with trauma. In one of City University’s science labs, Sun (not…
Other Media & Press Coverage
SUN Newspaper (2008) Art Therapy Publication: Art Therapy as Healing CNN International, SCMP, Mng Pao, Sun, Daily Newspapers (2006) Publications: SAT Project (City University of Hong Kong) PEARL TV, News Broadcast (2006) Interview: The development of Art Therapy in Hong Kong I-Mail, The Sun, and Ming Pao Newspapers (2000 ) Art Therapy publication…
SCMP – Art, dance and yoga fun for children with special needs
Sessions help children with special needs learn while they’re having fun PUBLISHED : Friday, 08 November, 2013, 4:07am UPDATED : Friday, 08 November, 2013, 4:07am The children dance, laugh and jump around to the sound of a saxophone and drums, then dash over to stick polka dots on 3-D art pieces when the music stops….
InSPAL: An Expressive Psychoeducational Model Integrating Virtual Technology with Elements of Expressive Arts Therapy
2015 Byrne, J., Ip, H. H. S., Lau, K. S., Li, R. C., Tso, A., and Choi, C. InSPAL: An Expressive Psychoeducational Model Integrating Virtual Technology with Elements of Expressive Arts Therapy”, In The Fifth Suzhou Expressive Arts Therapy Symposium, Suzhou, China.
InSPAL: A Novel Immersive Virtual Learning Programme
In this paper we introduce The Interactive Sensory Program for Affective Learning (InSPAL) a pioneering virtual learning programme designed for the severely intellectually disabled (SID) students, who are having cognitive deficiencies and other sensory-motor handicaps, and thus need more help and attention in overcoming their learning difficulties. Through combining and integrating interactive media and virtual reality technology with the principles of art therapy and relevant pedagogical techniques, InSPAL aims to strengthen SID students’ pre-learning abilities, promote their self-awareness, decrease behavioral interferences with learning as well as social interaction, enhance their communication and thus promote their quality of life. Results of our study show that students who went through our programme were more focused, and the ability to do things more independently increased by 15%. Moreover, 50% of the students showed a marked improvement in the ability to raise their hands in response, thus increasing their communication skills. The use of therapeutic interventions enabled a better control to the body, mind and emotions, resulting a greater performance and better participation.