Kairos Institute

Presenter, Founder of Parzival School & Emergency Pedagogy

Author of Educating Traumatized Children, Bernd Ruf is the founder of the worldwide Emergency Pedagogy crisis intervention center, based in Karlsruhe, Germany. Skilled teams are sent out to help traumatized children in places of the strife of war, or ecological disasters.

Director of Kairos Institute. Director of Transdisciplinary Studies of Healing Education, Antioch University New England. Director of Professional Development at the Center for Anthroposophy, art therapist and painter.

Karine Munk Finser was born on the Baltic island of Bornholm, Denmark, and later lived in Belgium, France, Switzerland and England before finding her home in the United States. Karine is an art therapist with a diploma from the Medical Section, Goetheanum. She ran the Center for Anthroposophy’s Renewal Courses for 21 years while being employed as a faculty member at Antioch University New England. In 2014, she began the Transdisciplinary Studies in Healing Education program (TSHE)

Debra Spitulnik is an adjunct professor of Creative Speech at Antioch University New England, and faculty member for the Center for Anthroposophy. As a core faculty member of Kairos Institute she leads the training in artistic and healing Speech and Drama. Debra has led the development of pedagogical speech and believes that Creative Speech brings healing and nourishment to the soul and empowers the voice. She infuses all her classes with three decades of her unique experiences as a class teacher, subject teacher and speech teacher. She teaches speech, drama, storytelling, and curriculum to teachers nationwide.

Goetheanum Diploma in the arts of Speech and Drama., PerformInternational; M.Ed., Waldorf Education, Antioch University New England; B.S. Elementary and Special Education, Syracuse University.

Laura Geilen teaches movement and games, circus arts, Spacial Dynamics® and clowning to adults, kids and special needs populations. She is drawn to teaching circus arts as they naturally and playfully provide a variety of challenges necessary for healthy child development. Seeing children grow in skill, self-confidence, social and spatial awareness is what has motivated her to offer camps and classes continually over the last 20 years. She enjoys bringing all people a renewed experience of their creativity, authenticity and aliveness through the transformative power of play.

Over the course of the last 30 years, Carsten has lived and worked with children, youth, and adults with developmental disabilities in Camphill communities in Scotland, England, and the United States. In true Camphill style, he has tried his hand at almost everything. He has carried responsibilities as a houseparent, workshop leader, teacher, administrator, counselor and therapist. Carsten holds a Bachelor of Arts in the Art of Eurythmy and holds a diploma in Eurythmy Therapy.

He currently lives at Camphill Special School where his overall responsibility and focus over the past ten years has become more directed towards the medical and therapeutic field. He serves the community as Director of Medical and Therapeutic Services, is a licensed EMT and are currently pursuing a nursing degree.

Carsten is a faculty member in the Camphill Academy (Curative Education) and adjunct faculty member of Transdisciplinary Healing Education Program, Antioch University. A motto he lives by is that in life we find a true path of learning and he continues to be a therapist at heart, where the listening ear is at the core.

Monica Talaya completed the Dorion School of Anthroposophical Music Therapy (AMT) in 2005, after her training as a Certified Music Practitioner. Since then, she has worked as an AMT with different populations, age groups and in varied settings, most consistently in the Camphill Communities. She also teaches the lyre to children (from 5 years old onward) and adults in groups and individually.

Monica has given presentations about AMT and has lead courses and workshops for early childhood teachers and parents of young children about the importance of the ‘mood of the fifth’, providing an in-depth experience and understanding of the different stages of a child’s musical development and needs. She wishes to inspire parents for and teaches the singing of lullabies.
Earlier in her life she trained to be a kindergarten- and later a special education teacher and raised her own five children.

David Sewell McCann has been working with narrative his entire life. He’s been a fresco painter, a filmmaker, a class teacher, an author, he wrote and told all the stories for Sparkle Stories, and through it all, storytelling has proven to be the most enduring and clarifying form of connection. It works when nothing else can, and it is teachable. He teaches the Twelve Tools for Telling and Attending to children and adults at How to Story.

Biographical info to follow.