CHARLOTTE REZNICK, PhD
“The challenges of growing up in today’s rapidly changing society are enormous. Children need to be equipped with skills for survival and growth that were never before imagined. I focus on teaching children and adolescents mindful self-healing, self-regulation and self-compassion techniques that will empower them to realize their potential throughout their lifetime.”
— Charlotte Reznick PhD
Charlotte Reznick, PhD has dedicated her life to helping children, adolescents, parents, and professionals. She is a foremost authority on how to engage with and develop mindfulness, meditation, and imagination in children and teens. Dr. Reznick is author of the Los Angeles Times bestselling book, The Power of Your Child's Imagination: How to Transform Stress and Anxiety into Joy and Success (Penguin Random House) and contributing author of the chapter "Imagery as a Therapeutic Tool with Children" in Transformative Imagery: Cultivating Imagination for Healing, Change and Growth (Jessica Kingsley). Her celebrated TEDx talk “The Healing Power of Children’s Imagination” can be found at TEDxStudioCityEd. Her appearances on the beloved CBS Sunday Morning Show and ABC News about the effects of being left-handed in a right-handed world have been appreciated by all hands.
Dr. Reznick is a child educational psychologist (LEP 1475), received her award winning PhD from USC, is a former UCLA Associate Clinical Professor of Psychology, and has been a recipient of Imagery International's Person of the Year for the global impact of her work with children. Known as a pioneer in therapeutic interventions with children, Dr. Reznick is the creator of Imagery For Kids: Breakthrough for Learning, Creativity, and Empowerment, a mindful, positive coping skills program. In addition to her private practice in Los Angeles, California, she creates therapeutic mediations (CDs/MP3s) for children, teens, and parents, blogs for Psychology Today and Huffington Post, is a frequent media consultant, and teaches workshops internationally on the healing power of children's imagination.
Freedom and Flow in Venice
(Oil on Canvas Board, 12.5” x 18.25”)
Art is in my DNA. My grandfather painted murals in churches in Russia, and several family members are artists of varying sorts. Although discouraged for decades by critical statements from a painting professor at university, I started painting some years ago for fun. Like one of my child client’s might, I found the experience freeing and cathartic. As a playful meditation, I get lost in the colors I’m mixing and creating. Now I incorporate my passion for travel and am inspired to paint from photos I’ve taken that touch my heart. My love of art, meditation, travel, and psychology mesh here. With children and teens, we delve into the mystical world of imagination and intuition. Using tools of art, meditation, mindfulness, and imagery, my kids connect to their true self, not the mask they often show the world. Our goal is to heal the damage that has been inflicted upon them by their inner and outer worlds. Within the safe heart-felt space of my office (and sometimes still via tele-therapy) kids develop self-compassion, empathy, and intuition, helping to create a more positive future. Seeing from the heart’s eye brings out the artist in most. Whether in drawing, painting, or writing, art has a significant presence in our sessions – as it does in my personal life for my own health and healing.
“For Freedom and Flow in Venice” it had been over 40 years since I first fell in love with Venice. It’s magic, mystery, and other worldliness took my breath away. I avoided returning because I was so in awe I couldn’t bear to return and have my dream broken. Then last spring I had the opportunity to paint there for a full week. I couldn’t not go. Though Venice wasn’t different, I was. Drawn into its deep secrets that never quite surface, I found painting in Venice heaven. Our teacher knew all the back alleys, quiet canals, and places tourists don’t flock to. This painting represents a new way of expressing my inner world. More open and confident, yet softer and wilder. Larger, bolder in nature and stroke, bringing out a part of me I rarely let surface. Similar to the way my work with kids often develops. Helping them dig deep inside and bring out a new vision of who they are, who they hope to be. A step in their heart’s health and healing, and here in this painting, a step in my artistic expansion.
https://www.imageryforkids.com