Meet Our Team
Our trainers and staff come from the diverse backgrounds of ceramics, therapy, and the arts.
Joshua Beckett
Trauma Therapist, Potter, Founder
Joshua Beckett is a trauma therapist, ceramicist, educator, and developer of Haptic Healing at the Pottery Wheel™ (HHPW), a groundbreaking approach to healing and personal transformation that harnesses the therapeutic potential of working with clay. With over 12 years of experience in the field of trauma therapy as well as ceramics, Joshua is dedicated to exploring the intersection of art, mindfulness, and neurobiology, creating a unique and accessible path to well-being for those seeking non-traditional forms of healing.
As a trauma survivor himself, Joshua intimately understands the challenges and complexities of the healing process. His own devastating traumatic experience left an indelible mark on Joshua’s life and set him on a path of healing and self-discovery.
Through his journey, Joshua discovered the profound impact of working with clay at the potter’s wheel. He found that the rhythmic, tactile, and meditative nature of the process provided a unique pathway to healing, helping him to regain a sense of safety, control, and connection. This realization inspired him to create Haptic Healing at the Pottery Wheel™ as a means of empowering others to reclaim their lives and find solace in the transformative power of clay.
Joshua’s writing has been featured in the NCECA Journal, where his seminal article “The Ceramicist As Healer: An Introduction to Haptic Trauma Therapy” introduced the concept of HHPW to a wider audience. He has presented lectures and workshops on the therapeutic applications of ceramics at conferences and ceramic studios across the country, and his innovative approach has garnered attention from ceramicists, art enthusiasts, and those seeking alternative paths to healing and personal growth. He also presents regularly on trauma-informed issues and the neurobiology of trauma.
Amy Hines
Advisory Board
In addition to her work with CHH, Amy has been a production potter for years. She also facilitates clay experiences at Tikkun Farm, an urban regenerative farm, and offers trauma-informed, relational throwing experiences in her own studio, QuestionABLE Creative. She inspired programmatic shifts at Queen City Clay, where she is an instructor, to make the studio more trauma-responsive.
As foster/adoptive parent of bi-racial children with high Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) scores and as a cancer survivor, Amy has personal experience with the long term effects of trauma on the mind and body: personal, generational and societal.
Six years ago, Amy’s capacity for mindfulness and personal awareness expanded dramatically. Next, through meditation, her ability to notice sensations and emotions without judgment led to the realization that trauma recovery was also for her.
In 2023, an NCECA presentation on the power of the pottery wheel to help us heal from trauma sparked an epiphany in Amy: Her love for the pottery wheel, its draw in her life, was the genesis of her healing. Learning to throw clay, beginning in 2018, had gifted her the resilience needed to take on the daunting task of recovering.
Jennifer Whilden
Advisory Board
Jennifer has been a professional potter since 1995 and has sold her work locally, nationally, and internationally. She currently runs a 20-member community clay studio on her property with her partner. In addition to making and teaching wheel classes, Jennifer is pursuing an M.A. in Art Therapy and Counseling at Southwestern College in Santa Fe, NM. She is scheduled to complete this degree in fall of 2026. She received her undergraduate degree in Fine Art/Ceramics from Towson University.
She found Joshua and his work with CHH while researching a project for her program in the fall of 2023. Her desire to explore wheel throwing as a potential modality for Art Therapy and to see HHPW in person, led her to invite Joshua to facilitate a training session in her hometown of Richmond VA, in conjunction with NCECA 2024. Jennifer continues to explore and expand the research that Joshua has done by bringing her current study of Art Therapy into the conversation of Haptic Healing at the potter’s wheel.
Ben Clark
Advisory Board
Ben Clark is the owner of Queen City Clay and aside from teaching, he creates mainly wheel-thrown sculpture and functional pottery. He graduated from DePauw University and received an MFA from Wichita State University.
Milena Lukic
Director Trauma Education
Milena is a clinical instructor of psychiatry and the behavioral sciences at USC’s Keck School of Medicine, as well as a licensed marriage and family therapist. For the past 14 years, she has been providing therapy for trauma survivors and co-facilitating support groups for survivors of domestic violence, adult males who were molested as children, and high-risk youth. She is certified in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing).
Sohanya Cheng
Advisory Board
Sohanya is an executive leader with 20 years of experience across a range of therapeutic areas including and especially Oncology, and has held leadership roles in both small and large biotechnology companies. Her experience includes successful market building, driving growth in multi-billion dollar franchises, shaping a company’s strategic direction and pipeline assessment/prioritization, building large organizations, leading Business Development and engaging actively with the investor community.
She was a research fellow at Harvard Medical School with a focus on HIV resistance and also played a critical role at John Snow, Inc, a global public healthy consulting organization leading a family health program in Nepal in partnership with USAID. She has a Bachelors of Science Honors degree in Biochemistry & Pathology from the University of Cambridge, UK and she has a MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. She is also a published author of 2 children’s books.