Janek Dubowski

Previous Positions Held
1994 - 2003: Associate Dean for Research / Principal Lecturer, Faculty of Art & Design, University of Hertfordshire.
1990 - 1994: Principal Lecturer and Director of Studies: Arts Therapies, Hertfordshire College of Art & Design, St. Albans.

Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society (CPsycholAFBPsS)

Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)

Psychotherapy - The Centre for the Arts in Therapy and Education 2002
PhD (Comparative Psychology) 1983
Certificate in Counselling - The Lincoln Memorial Clinic for Psychotherapy 1979
Postgraduate Diploma in Art Therapy Hertfordshire College of Art & Design 1977
BA (Hons) Fine Art - Leeds Polytechnic 1975

My clinical work with patients including adults and children with diagnosis ranging from schizophrenia to pervasive developmental disorders has led me to asking questions regarding the role of symbolic function (and the symbols generated by this function) in the mediation between consciousness (our contact with the physical world of reality) and the unconscious (including our inner-world experiences and emotional lives).

I am particularly interested in how the imagination and creativity allow for the expression, exploration and mediation of symbolic communication and how this can be utilised as a form of therapy for those individuals for whom normal symbolic function has fragmented or has been delayed in its maturation. Curiously, these interests have taken me down some curious avenues including research into how robots can be used as therapeutic agents for children with autism.