Georgia Sassen is a clinical psychologist who is a faculty member of the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute at the Stone Center for Women’s Development. Dr. Sassen has been working with the Relational Model of women’s development since the mid-1970s. The Relational Model suggests that women’s development does not follow the individualistic “more and more separate” course that most developmental research posited, and that a separation-oriented approach is not necessarily good for us as humans or as a society.

Dr. Sassen has worked for many years teaching the Relational Model, leading professional workshops on its application, and using it in her psychological practice. She is currently directing a grant-funded project at Girls Incorporated, helping preadolescent girls build healthy relationships.

Susan Corneliussen, M.Ed. was trained at Lesley University and Shady Hill School, and taught middle school for five years. She developed and led programs at Girls Inc., where she was trained in the Art from the Heart program and helped develop Art from the Heart activities. She is a co-author of the Art from the Heart curriculum and has trained social workers in the Lowell Public Schools in using Art from the Heart. She leads trainings in Art from the Heart for BRIK.