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Building a Future, One LEGO® Brick at a Time
December 11, 2019
Building a Future, One LEGO® Brick at a Time
It’s often said that when one door closes we only have to wait for another to open, but Counselor and Traverse City native Christina Collins made a bolder choice when doors closed at B. Dalton Booksellers in Traverse City. Instead of being stunned into inaction by losing a job, the intrepid and creative spirit marched out and got a tattoo. The artist marked the change in her life with the image of a LEGO® brick, a long-time interest and a bright symbol that to her represented building something new.
The colorful building blocks of her future were spread out in front of her. Creativity courses here, Human Behavior courses there, but some assembly was required. Collins scooped up the pieces she had to work with and took them to the faculty and advisors at Grand Valley State University in Traverse City, and together they began constructing something amazing.
“Like all creative people I had a bunch of random classes and [had to] make all my credits work,” she says.
The Integrative Studies program allowed Collins to take advantage of the work that she’d already done as well as gain experiences that she describes as invaluable. She was encouraged to integrate all her passions into a unique career, and was forced to engage creatively by being allowed to struggle.
Integrative Studies Program Information
“They let you mess up. You had to earn it,” Collins says. She describes how rather than being spurred to adopt a prefabricated professional identity, the program and its faculty allowed students to develop naturally. When conflict or obstacles arose, Collins recalls being allowed to negotiate solutions for herself. She credits the experience with allowing her to “figure out who she was” rather than become who her career path might dictate she needed to be.
To say that Collins seized this opportunity is an understatement, as she has blended her passions into an incredibly distinctive and life-changing professional service. Collins studied Clinical Mental Health Counseling and focused in creative counseling interventions and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders during her time in graduate school. Collins currently works with children, teens, and parents using an approach that includes play therapy.
Collins shares the opinion of many in her field that play is an underutilized educational tool. Her advocacy and belief in therapeutic and educational play inspired her to present at the 2019 Michigan Association of Play Therapy’s East Regional Conference in Howell, Michigan. Collins serves as an Assistant Event Director at the annual National Cherry Festival, building on her undergraduate experiences exploring creativity and instituting LEGO®-based summer camps at Northwestern Michigan College’s College for Kids.
“Play is a neurobiological process in the brain,” Collins says, explaining that a reduction in play for children leads to a reduction in the opportunity to integrate what they learn. With standardization on the rise and the arts disappearing from curriculums, children have fewer opportunities to develop their ability to creatively adapt after making an error. “I work with teens that have an intense fear of failure. Very intense.”
Collins utilizes play therapy for people of all ages, even providing adults the opportunity to rediscover play at corporate events and trainings. LEGO® continue to be a passion for her and have shown themselves to be enormously useful as a therapeutic tool, provided clients with chances to experience failure and opportunities to explore other solutions while still having fun.
Collins plans to pursue a Doctoral degree, and will be writing a book describing her philosophy. She will draw not only from her professional experiences, but also her personal ones. Being a Counselor Collins knows all the tricks, but parenting three children has granted her the experience of seeing the best laid therapeutic plans fall flat.
“It’s been a humbling experience to say the least,” she says, with a laugh. “ [Sometimes] I’m literally doing everything I tell parents to do.”
Collins is articulate, enthusiastic and incredibly self-possessed and her work will no doubt be a revelation.
Integrative Studies Program Information
For more information about experiences at GVSU Traverse City and the Integrative Studies Program, contact Shannon Owen, Director of Northern Michigan Programs for Grand Valley State University at 231.995.1785 and at www.gvsu.edu/traverse.
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