About Ben
Ben Rivers was born in Scotland and raised in the UK and Australia. He is currently based in California, USA.
Ben holds over eleven years of combined experience as a community worker, psychotherapist and project leader. He specializes in initiatives that promote trauma healing, community building and conflict transformation.
Ben has worked with a broad range of populations including farm workers, immigrants, the homeless, the disabled, marginalized youth, the incarcerated, and families impacted by forced disappearance (Mexico). He has also worked with various migrant and refugee communities in USA including Tamils and Sinhalese, Palestinians and Israelis, and Hindus and Sikh’s to address legacies of oppression, colonization and collective trauma.
As a psychotherapist and community worker, Ben helps to facilitate spaces where individuals and communities can access imagination and creativity, engage in dialogue, transform obstacles and move towards more meaningful and empowered lives. He draws from a variety of arts-based therapeutic, pedagogical and social justice traditions including Theatre of the Oppressed, Playback Theatre, Psychodrama, Therapeutic Spiral Model, and Popular Education.
Ben holds a Masters in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Drama Therapy from the California Institute of Integral Studies, USA. He is currently undertaking doctoral research in Peace Studies through the University of New England, Australia.