Taylor Windle

Background

About Taylor Windle

I’m a performer turned director, teacher and academic. In my undergraduate studies, I was passionate about the transformative qualities of the arts and began working at and creating cutting-edge arts programs for diverse populations including recovering addicts, veterans, women survivors of intimate partner violence, and young adults with disAbilities. After graduating with my degree in theater arts, I started working with local non profits to bring the transformative and positive benefits of the arts to members of my community. My work with non profit organizations has allowed me to oversee a number of multidisciplinary teams in both in person and virtual settings. I’ve also discovered that non-profit work means developing great time management skills and that my improv/flexibility training comes in handy more than I ever thought it would. My time working at the Academy for the Performing Arts and Orange County Children’s Theater led me to develop a method of providing social, emotional and behavioral support to adolescents and young adults through therapeutic arts interventions. By using a person centered approach to teaching, I created learning environments where participants gained self confidence, learned conflict resolution skills, and felt seen as their authentic selves. While volunteering at a local Women’s Shelter, I developed therapeutic theater arts group workshops that promote commitment to the 12 Step Programme and recovery from abuse. The use of traditional group session ideologies with the addition of drama therapy activities like psychodrama provided group members with an outlet for creative expression and enhanced the women’s sense of belonging to a community. The program promoted healing, connection and empowerment. I am proud to have been a part of its creation. I now enjoy balancing life as a professional and grad student attending Lesley University’s MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program. My passion for utilizing the arts to create change has led to a fascination with research that will have me applying to PhD programs within the next few years. I’m committed to a lifelong pursuit of knowledge, social justice, and utilizing the arts to heal, transform and inspire others.