About
The DvT PDX Institute
AN EXTREMELY BRIEF HISTORY (in no particular order)
Developmental Transformations was put together by a man named David Johnson. Incidentally, David is also one of the founders of the North American Drama Therapy Association (NADTA), and a pioneer in the field of drama therapy (although we don't like to talk about that- it would go to his head).
We say "put together" because DvT is a blend of many different theoretical approaches and practices that other people thought of first.
David began teaching other people about DvT a long, long time ago. Probably in the 70's or 80's. He's a pretty old guy.
Other people thought DvT was really cool and helpful, so someone, probably David, decided there should be a more formal way of teaching people about DvT. Thus, the training institutes were born.
David started writing about DvT theory so that people other than himself could understand what he was doing. Unfortunately, he wrote about it in a very confusing way, with a bunch of strange made-up words and non-linear ideas.
David figured out that people in other nations also liked DvT. So he made institutes in other countries.
David created a conference so that DvT "playors" could come together and play, and share their knowledge.
David thought about using DvT in schools to help school-aged children recover from various traumas they have experienced in their lives. The ALIVE program was born (with the help of a bunch of other people).
That's probably not everything, but we're tired of typing the name "David", because this isn't really about him.
The founders, Steph, and Bex, discovered DvT at various points in their lives, and decided they wanted to commit themselves to extreme silliness. Then, they met each other, because they were all living in the same city, and decided that it wasn't fair for only big, cool cities like New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Boston to have training institutes. No, they wanted an institute of their very own. So they made one.
THE END
Meet the Co-Founders
Stephanie Bayne, LMFT, RDT
aka Steph
Steph is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Registered Drama therapist who provides child and family therapy, specializing in work with early childhood, childhood sexual abuse, and children who have been touched by foster care. She works in private practice in Portland OR.
Steph spends a large part of her time chasing two young children around that they she purports are her own. She is a board game enthusiast and needs reminders not to overshare about how "there's a board game of that". She also loves to garden and bake, and has planted as many fruit trees and bushes as is feasibly possible in her back yard, and then spent the majority of her fall making jams. Most of all she loves to be with other humans in an embodied playspace, where the possibilities are limited only by her imagination.
Rebecca Davis, MA, LiCSW, LCSW, SEP
aka Bex
Rebecca is a trauma therapist running a group practice called Therapy, Altered, working with individuals across the lifespan with extreme presentations of trauma and dissociative disorders. Rebecca is also an Assistant Professor of Practice at Portland State University, in the School of Social Work, where she teaches across the curriculum.
Along with being the co-founder of DvT PDX, she is also the co-founder of ar-tic LLC (antiracist, trauma-informed care), a consulting org dedicated to providing training and consultation for individuals and organizations looking to provide anti-racist, trauma-informed care to their constituents.
In her free time (HA!), she can be found finding more work tasks to take on, talking about coffee beans, and reading nerd books about the "vagus nerve". She also competes on the USA Masters (read: old people) World team in Olympic-style weightlifting, which she'll tell you about whether or not you'd like to hear it. She is really tired. Please venmo her a nap.
Join Us!
Usually TaborSpace
Portland, OR
Tel: we're not giving that out, silly
Email: dvtpdx@gmail.com