As part of our mission to make creative engagement available to all, our Creativity Center is free to use without training. We think the training will be enormously helpful - but it’s not required.
Certification assures you that you have successfully transitioned from training to practice, and enables you to facilitate storytelling circles and call them TimeSlips sessions. Certified Facilitators can “model” Time Slips for others, but they can not “certify” others. That is reserved for people trained as In-House Trainers and Master Trainers.
Be sure your computer isn't on MUTE. Turn up the volume on the computer and in the module sound icon.
Once your payment is processed, our system will grant you access. Refresh the page and you should see "My Dashboard" at the top of the page.
Easy peasy. Log in and click on My Dashboard. Then click on your name and your profile will pop up. You can the ability to edit your own profile - in fact we rely on you to keep it all up to date!
Nope. You can go into your profile (via My Dashboard) and undo the Display Profile button.
When you take our Creative Community of Care training, you can pick which of our story projects you would like to do. We can guide you through the process to create Wendy's Neverland as part of the CCC training. Wendy's Neverland (and other story projects) are part of our Artist in Residence CCC training, which includes costs to support artists to collaborate on the process and celebration event. We are happy to help you with templates to support your grant writing. Medicaid Certified nursing homes can apply for CMP funding to support the CCC trainings. Other organizations have received ACL grants, or local foundation grants to support their training and projects.
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Yes! TimeSlips works beautifully with people in the mid to late stages of memory loss. We have run many successful groups made up of people at all stages and abilities. One just needs to remind people that TimeSlips is about the imagination, and to reflect the joy at the base of the process. Learn more about working with family members. Learn more about organizational training.
Yes! People with low vision are already envisioning the story in their minds. Once a story gets started (just a few basic answers) in a group setting, people with low vision commonly jump in and carry the story. You can also use high contrast or contour copies of an image to make it more visible.
That’s up to you! Training simply means you completed the online training. Certification assures you that you have successfully transitioned from training to practice. Why Certify? Certification:
Yes! Just make sure when you invite them to the Creative Campus you use the same email address they used to create their account. (Or they can update their account to match your invitation if needed.)
We recommend at least 5-6 so they really get into the swing of things. It usually takes 2-3 sessions just to feel comfortable facilitating and it’s good to have enough sessions for them to get to know the elders. But TimeSlips does not have a requirement - do what is right for your group of students, your aging services partner, and your timeframe.
Not necessarily, we understand schedules are hard to accommodate so do what works for you. At one school for example, they actually partner with three aging services partners who give possible days and times that work on their end and students can sign up for whatever times works in their schedule. This requires clear and direct communication between the students and the aging services partner, so ensure everyone is set up for success on that front. Some schools that have smaller groups of students and an aging services partner who is geographically close by the school, actually use class time to all go together which is a great option whenever possible. Students being able to co-facilitate makes for great reflection and learning.
We prefer that it is the same group so facilitators can get to know the storytellers and develop relationships and rapport. These sessions also go a long way for developing a sense of community among residents and even between residents and staff. But if it doesn't work out that way, it’s also not a bad thing to spread the creativity and love around a little either!
Certification is pretty simple. We ask that they facilitate a minimum of 3 sessions; post the resulting stories to the Creativity Center on our website, and then complete our Self Evaluation form. If someone from your Creative Campus is trained as an In House Trainer, the Self Evaluation form will show up in the students tasks. When they complete it, the In House Trainer will get notification that it needs to be reviewed. They can comment on the Self Evaluation and either send it back to the student for some discussion or simply approve it which will complete the certification process. If your Creative Campus does not have an In House Trainer, the student will need to purchase certification on our Products page and will go through the same process but will be assigned to TimeSlips Master Trainer/staff member to go through the review process with instead of someone internal in your Creative Campus.
Of course you can! In fact, we designed this site for you so you can have something meaningful and playful to do at home and also invite family members who might be far away to play with you (through the "collaborate" button). The main challenge will be to open yourself to word-play and let go of any desire to “clean up” language. TimeSlips is about experimenting and playing with expression. There are no wrong answers. Also try our Creativity Journal, specifically designed for one-on-one use. It's a beautifully designed keepsake with simple instructions for families, friends, homecare and hospice workers.
Check our our MAP to find TimeSlips near you. If there isn't one near you, try bringing info about the program to your current aging services provider (senior center, day center, early memory loss program, or long term care facility). This approach is inexpensive and easy to learn and can easily be incorporated into any program.
Just click on Org Training in Services (or here). We offer fully online or in-person training.
Have your organization become a Creative Community of Care. This includes training two staff members as In-House Trainers. This status enables your organization to train and certify staff at a dramatically reduced rate. Learn more about becoming a Creative Community of Care.
It IS fun isn’t it? TimeSlips was originally designed for people with cognitive disabilities like dementia. Creative engagement is an ideal way for people with cognitive challenges to communicate. Our main audiences are families, care providers and elders experiencing isolation, whether from disabilities or social situations. But it’s fun for everyone and effective for community building of all kinds.
We often hear people say “We’re already doing that...” but when we ask a few questions, we hear, “well, maybe not...” Here’s a handy checklist:
Check out our map and see if there is a Creative Community of Care or Certified Facilitator near you who would be open to a demonstration. Or simply watch one of our videos to see TimeSlips in action. Our Online Training also has extensive videos of the process in action.
Click here to learn more about our many services and products. Or contact us directly with your questions.
With over 500 Certified Facilitators, we have lots of image hunters! We often find images that have the Creative Commons license and ask permission to use it for non-commercial purposes. But you can really use anything as a prompt. Try looking out the window, or holding a piece of fruit to prompt a story exchange. The images are fun and thought provoking, but the world is your prompt! In general, you can find images in greeting cards, calendars, online image banks (like the Metropolitan Museum of Art or the New York Public Library) and magazine ads. But be sure to have permission to use the image if you plan to sell it in book or calendar form.
Yes! Click on Creativity Center (under Resources) and scroll down to the Browse Stories section. There you'll see stories we've marked as favorites from around the world, and a search feature to help you find others.
From our Founder, Anne Basting:
The best training for artists in our Creative Care Institute - three inspiring days here in Milwaukee, learning alongside care professionals and other artists. But many artists also take our on-line or in-person training workshops to become certified facilitators. If you are already certified and are interested in working with us as an artist in residence, let us know. We are currently recruiting in Kentucky and Tennessee, with more to come!
Click here to learn how to invite a friend to collaborate on a story from our creativity center.