Lynn came to Pittsburgh originally as a member of the Pittsburgh Ballet. She currently directs the MSW program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work. Recently she received top honors in Pennsylvania as Social Worker of the Year. She is a certified cognitive therapist who specializes in the treatment of anxiety disorders and complicated bereavement. Lynn explores using dance as a part of worship and using the arts to heal trauma in international settings.

Sheila K. Collins is the director of InterPlay Pittsburgh and the Wing & A Prayer Pittsburgh Players, an InterPlay-based performance troupe she founded in 2006 to assist human service agencies and art organizations in accomplishing their noble purposes. A former professional dancer, Sheila has described herself as a “dancing social worker” for over 40 years, throughout her careers as a therapist, social work professor, and writer.

She is the author of Stillpoint: A Playbook for Caregivers to Find Ease, Time to Breathe, and Reclaim Joy, which since its second edition, co-authored by Christine Gautreaux, has become a popular weekly online class, and Warrior Mother: Fierce Love, Unbearable Loss and the Rituals That Heal.

She’s been known to travel the country enlisting InterPlayers to help her Perform her Books, demonstrating how InterPlay tools help us get through life’s ordinary and extraordinary, “tough challenges”

Her latest book, The Art of Grieving: How Art and Artmaking Help Us Grieve, and Live Our Best Lives explores how the arts of storytelling, dance, music, and visual arts help mourners navigate episodes of grief, process loss, and extract meaning and wisdom for their future lives.

sheilakcollins@gmail.com 817 706-4967 120 Chapel Harbor Dr Pittsburgh Pa 15238

Lois "Toni" McClendon (she/her) is a Storyteller in the African American Oral Tradition, as well as a peace & social justice activist. Toni serves on the Board of Body Wisdom as Secretary. She is a Life Practice Program Leader and a Certified InterPlay leader from Pittsburgh PA USA. Always walking the Beauty Way, Toni believes in building Bridges to Unterstanding between people of all ages from around the world. She is totally committed to Racial Equity and Transformation and strives to emodying the principles and practices of InterPlay in her life's work.Toni is also a member of ABAFASI, a women's West African-style drumming and performance group.