Experience

Bridge the Gap College Prep

• Teacher/Creative Arts Therapist for Social & Emotional Learning

  • Jan 2019 - Present

  Engage community and school partnerships toward academic, social, and emotional support to fourth grade students from a traditionally marginalized and dynamically changing community. Provided zoom and In-person instruction. Developed & delivered pilot primary grades intro to restorative justice principles. Engage community and school partnerships toward academic, social, and emotional support to fourth grade students from a traditionally marginalized and dynamically changing community. Provided zoom and In-person instruction. Developed & delivered pilot primary grades intro to restorative justice principles.



California Institute of Integral Studies

• United States
• Higher Education
• 300 - 400 Employee

• Assistant Professor, Registered Drama Therapist

  • Aug 2007 - Present

  Teach classes of eight to thirty graduate candidates for Masters in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in a systems approach to drama therapy. Write curriculum, anti-racism program review excerpts, and student evaluations. Courses include experiential and supervision courses on clinical, education, and social justice applications of drama therapy techniques. Strategist for alumni networking to place students in clinical training settings Courses taught: Advanced Improv & Group Process, Trauma & Resilience: Embodied Approaches, Case Seminar supervision, and Integrated Seminar for capstone projects. Member and associate of faculty diversity committees 2008-2016. http://www.ciis.edu/faculty-and-staff-directory/deborah-french-frisher Private drama therapy practice since 2008. Trainee, Lomi Psychotherapy Clinic, Santa Rosa, CA, 2006-2008, Individual and group therapy in sliding scale community mental health clinic https://therapists.psychologytoday.com/rms/name/Deborah_French_Frisher_MPA,RDT_San+Rafael_California_295246 Show less



The Neighborly Project

• United States
• Civic and Social Organizations

• Founding Director, Manager of Community and Schools Partnerships, & Producing Writer/Directer

  • Jan 2017 - Present

  Initiated and developed community and schools partnerships for social therapy events focussed on diversity, inclusion, and social justice in a silicon valley environment. Initiated and sustained partnerships have included: CIIS Office of Diversity & Inclusion, Drama Therapy Program and Expressive Arts Program. Project collaborations: MOAD, MOMASF Culture for Community Day, Children's Museum, Paradise Schools, Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Produced two public table readings of excerpts from original ethnographic theatre project, "Neighborly," Venues: San Francisco Main Public Library, Koret Auditorium, and Namaste Hall, CIIS Scholarly Symposium on Diversity & Inclusion with free admission for equitable entry. Facilitated trauma-informed workshops in response to school and community crises. Emotional support at polling sites for 2018 mid-term elections Show less



Global Chill

• Musicians
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Project Director

  • Sep 2009 - Present

  Initiated community. partnerships to conceive, network, and direct online studio collaboration among youth who’ve lived through war and “urban high conflict zones” - Afghanistan, Palestine, India (urban gender violence), Oakland (urban violence), using local community organization, the internet, and documentary film. Wrote content, produced, and directed original poetry and performance art event, including film short collaborative (with young women from nineteen global locations) as part of multi-media performance art event WOMEN & WORK, 100th ANNIVERSARY OF INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY, Sponsored by United Nations Association - San Francisco & Marin Chapters and Marin Center for Domestic Peace 2011 Film short selected for Pachamama Possible Futures Film Festival 2011 https://vimeo.com/25438616 Show less



Screen and playwriting

• Independent Projects

  • 1998 - 2019

  Elder Lust, Finalist, Women In Film Short screenwriting contest 2018. Original short film revealing the sexuality/sensuality in an elderly marriage facing mortality The Love Letters Of Willie Mae Lee and John Marshall Tyler, 30 minute documentary (link upon request) IDA, screen and stage adaptation of James Baldwin novel. WATT’S A WALL? Musical based on oral histories of integration of two schools in Durham, North Carolina. Liberty Ferry Three-act play about diverse lives that converge on Staten Island the week following a racist murder. “abuse--NO WAY" Short film, PSA on domestic abuse. 1997 Mill Valley Film Festival, ationwide distribution through domestic violence agencies. Daring To Be Different: Relationship of American Poetry & Pop Culture, California Theatre Arts, Walnut Creek, CA Show less



The Legacy Project

• United Kingdom
• Non-profit Organizations
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Producer, Director, Writer and Content Curator

  • Jan 2014 - May 2016

  The Love Letters of Willie Mae Lee and John Marshall Tyler - 30-minute creative non-fiction documentary based on correspondence between two youngsters who met in a Waco, Texas orphanage in the 1920s and fell in lasting love. The Love Letters of Willie Mae Lee and John Marshall Tyler - 30-minute creative non-fiction documentary based on correspondence between two youngsters who met in a Waco, Texas orphanage in the 1920s and fell in lasting love.



Tech Landscape Coping and Tech Landscape Counselors

• Spokesperson

  • Jun 2014 - Dec 2014

  Posted blog spots on mental health and tech. Delivered “lightning talk" at Distill 2014 (:38 in) on creative approaches to emotional intelligence and tech productivity. Posted blog spots on mental health and tech. Delivered “lightning talk" at Distill 2014 (:38 in) on creative approaches to emotional intelligence and tech productivity.



Venetia Valley Elementary School

• Classroom Teacher

  • Aug 2012 - Jan 2013

  Taught academic curriculum and expressive arts using drama therapy to classroom of twenty-one second and third graders from a marginalized community. Taught academic curriculum and expressive arts using drama therapy to classroom of twenty-one second and third graders from a marginalized community.



Producer/Director/Writer

• Media Production
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Independent Community Arts-based Projects

  • 1997 - 2002

  Love & Democracy: The Youth Vision Community-wide performance event, over 200 youth performing, over 800 in audience. Responsible for all aspects from concept to funding to networking to final production. 2002, Veteran’s Auditorium, San Rafael, CA her French press - Personal blog on creativity, therapy, and stories. 2002. 9-1-1:The Youth Response, a community performance two months after September 11th, 250 youth for a community gathering of 850 people. Responsible concept - performance. 2001, Veteran’s Auditorium, San Rafael. TALKING WITH… by Jane Martin, a self-expression workshop for women, culminating in a community theatre performance. West End Theatre, San Rafael, CA. The Women by Claire Booth Luce. Facilitated workshops using embodied expression and acting techniques and culminating in public performance. West End Theatre, San Rafael, CA. Seascape & The Lover Facilitated theatre arts workshops leading to community performances. Rolling Hills Club, Novato, CA Show less



Teen CAT Program, Marin Center For Domestic Peace (formerly MAWS)

• Project Director, Transforming Communities

  • 1997 - 1999

  Editor for teen op ed writing program in coordination with Marin Independent Journal. Facilitated teen dating violence prevention training. Wrote curriculum and developed simulated high school campus hate crime incident response training for the Junior ACLU State Conference in Sacramento, CA. Editor for teen op ed writing program in coordination with Marin Independent Journal. Facilitated teen dating violence prevention training. Wrote curriculum and developed simulated high school campus hate crime incident response training for the Junior ACLU State Conference in Sacramento, CA.