About Us
Diane Hovey, PhD, CPT
Marriage, Family & Poetry Therapist
Diane Hovey assists families in managing life-transforming challenges. As a parent of a child with complex special needs, Diane brings her own experience and extensive education to her practice, helping families to build their strengths and abilities; helping therapists and social workers with proven tools and techniques to assist their clients; helping educators bring compassionate teaching into their classrooms.
Diane is a translator of human experience, and a creative guide who helps others find emotional healing, understanding, and clarity of vision in navigating life's twists, turns and trials.
Who Are You?
"Having a child with special needs, I often served as a parent representative on various committees. Introductions left me feeling a bit like 'Alice' ... I knew who I was this morning, but who am I here and now?
In our life journeys, we all encounter challenging, even strange situations. I've fortunately met many people along the way who have helped shape who I am and the skills I bring as a therapist to help others."
Quick links:
Experience
Education
Training
Presentations
Selected Publications
Education
| Doctor of Philosophy – '98 | Family Social Science, the Marriage and Family Therapy Program, University of MN |
| Master of Science – '93 | Housing – Department of Design, Housing, & Apparel, University of MN |
| Bachelor of Science – '83 | Art Education – College of Education, University of MN |
| Bachelor of Arts – '80 | Housing/Interior Design, College of St. Benedict |
Other Training
Marriage & Family Therapy '08 |
Certificate Program – St. Cloud State University Federation for Biblio/Poetry Therapy #2007-105 |
| Exec. Dir. Leadership Training '03-04 | University of St. Thomas Non-Profit Management |
| Buckman Fellowship '03-04 | Leadership and Philanthropy, College of Human Ecology, University of MN |
| Post Doctoral Fellowship '00 | Post-Doctoral Study in Family and Disability Policy Beach Center, University of Kansas, Lawrence |
| Pre-Doctoral Fellowship | Pre-Doctoral Research and Rehabilitation Training Fellowship Institute on Community Integration and the Department of Pediatrics, U of MN |
Experience
| Therapist/ Owner – '08 | aHeARTT – alternative Healing Arts Resources, Therapy & Training |
| Executive Director – '01-'07 | Family Institute for Creative Well-Being Founder and Director of the Family Institute, a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to enhance, through creative arts, the emotional, social and spiritual health of families who have members with disabilities or chronic illness. |
| Not to mention . . . | a project coordinator (for local and federal programs), instructor (in a wide variety of settings from the community to the university level), artist, research assistance (for several research projects), art teacher and more. |
Presentations
A few selected local, national & international presentations:
- Keynote Presentation: Illuminating the Fog, Family Connections Spring Conference:
When Children Have Special, Fargo, North Dakota Jun 2007. - Conference: Creating and Maintaining A Healthy Marriage When Your Child has a Disability, Dakota County Parent Retreat, Minneapolis, MN, May 2007.
- Training: Building a Place of Acceptance, Minnesota's Early Intervention Summer Institute, St John's, Collegeville, MN, August 2006
- Conference: Once Upon A Time: Exploring Creative Ways to Grow Through Grief and Build New Visions, Brain Injury Association of Minnesota, 2006 Annual Conference
- Conference: Immeasurable Order in Chaos: Poetry Therapy with Hospitalized Youth and Their Families, Society for Arts in Health Care conference, Chicago, IL., April 2006
- Conference: Reflective Practice & Care of the Soul, Minnesota Social Service Association Annual Training Conference and Expo, Bloomington, MN., March 2006
- Training: How Staff Perspectives Shape Interactions with Families, Stillwater Staff Development for all Early Childhood Staff, Stillwater, MN, August 2005
- Conference:Building a Place of Acceptance for Children with Special Health Care Needs, President's Interdisciplinary Academic Initiative, University of Minnesota, School of Public Health., September 2005
- Conference – Creativity: A Family Technique for Weaving Gold Out of Straw, Minnesota Association for Children's Mental Health 2003 Child & Adolescent Mental Health Conference, Duluth, MN, April 2003
- Conference – Creativity and Healing: Understanding Meaning that Shape Decisions, Minnesota Social Service Association 110th Annual Training Conference & Expo, March 2003
- Conference – Creativity and Healing: Understanding Meaning that Shape Family Decisions, Autism Society of Minnesota Conference, Minneapolis, MN, April 2003
- Conference- Giving Focus to Chaos – the Power of Creativity, St. Louis County Human Service Conference, Duluth, MN, October 2002
- Conference- Giving Focus to Chaos – the Power of Creativity, Minnesota Social Service Association 109th Annual Training Conference & Expo, March 2002
- Conference- The Power of Creativity & Family in Shaping the Future, TASH International Conference, Anaheim, CA, November 2001
- Keynote presentation: Family-Centered Care. Foundation of Care Coordination for Children with Special Health Care Needs Conference sponsored by the School of Nursing Outreach Office, University of Minnesota, June 1999 & June 2000.
- Keynote Presentation: Deep "C" Diving: Family Meanings of Disability. MN Dept. of Children Families & Learning, Assistive Technology Conference, April 1999
- Training Presentation: Understanding the Disability Experience and Family Meanings. Governor's Demonstration Project for People with Disabilities - Children's Issues Work group Meeting, September 21, 1998.
- Conference: Uncovering Meanings Utilizing the Poetic and the Visual: Understanding families who have children with serious ongoing health conditions. 4th Annual Midwest Qualitative Research Conference, June 25, 1998
- Conference: If a Picture's Worth a Thousand Words ... : Artistic modes of scientific inquiry in understanding parent's meanings of serious ongoing health conditions, National Council on Family Relations - Annual Conference in Washington D.C., Nov. 1997
- Conference: When the Political Agenda Sets Your Execution Date: Families of Children with Disabilities, National Council on Family Relations - Annual Conference in Kansas City, Nov. 1996
- Conference: A Family's Story of Collaborative Health Care, in special session "Collaborative Health Care for Families: Can We Do it Together? National Council on Family Relations - Annual Conference
- Conference: Rearing a Child with a Disability, National Council on Family Relations - Annual Conference in Oregon, Nov. 1995
- Conference: Advocacy and Public Policy Issues, Special Symposia - Chronic Illness and Disability in Adolescence, University of MN, 1995
- Conference: Disability: Stress, Stigma, and Perceptions Affecting Home Modifications, Symposium on Child and Family Issues, Canada, 1993
Selected Publications
Hovey, D. (2008). Healthy Marriages Guide for Parents Who Have Children with Special Needs (in progress)
Hovey, D. (2008). Princess Sophia's Gifts
Hovey, D. (2007). They said we'd know in one year. In Layers of Possibility: Healing Poetry. M. Sluytman (Ed).
Hovey, D. (2006). Below the tip of the iceberg: a poetry therapy workbook for child with special health needs.
Hovey, D. Editor (2001 – 2007). The Muse.
Patterson, J. & Hovey, D. (2000). Family–centered care for children with special health needs: Rhetoric or reality.
Family Systems & Health.
Hovey, D. (2000). Parents as partners in the transition process. Impact. Institute on Community Integration,
University of Minnesota.
