Art therapy is a unique approach to mental health care characterized by the use of the creative process in the context of a therapeutic relationship. While art has been used by many communities and cultures since the beginning of human history as a means of healing and self-expression, Art Therapy did not emerge as a distinct profession in western psychology until the 1940’s. Art therapists are artists who receive all of the same education as other mental health counselors and social workers in addition to training in art education and art therapy theory and practice. Many art therapists receive a dual credential and become licensed by their state regulatory agency in their field as well as receiving a national credential from the Art Therapy Credentials Board as a registered art therapist (ATR). Some art therapists will pursue the additional step of passing an exam to become board certified (ATR-BC).

Art therapy focuses on cultivating creativity, a type of thinking that can contribute to increased resiliency and problem solving ability in all areas of life.

Art making is an integrative experience often accessing sensory, affective, and cognitive functioning simultaneously making it a powerful tool in increasing mind-body connection when practiced intentionally. Art making has many benefits most notably including the ability to give form to thoughts and feelings for which there may be no words, to illustrate and make sense of our internal world, and bring to light unconscious material. Art making builds new neural pathways, and regulates the central nervous system through patterned, repetitive, and rhythmic sensory input. Art making in a relational setting, like therapy, can help re-write relational templates. It is a form of play much needed for both children and adults. In art therapy sessions, I may provide specific prompts, or invitations to use certain materials, or we may employ an open studio approach in which you are invited to create spontaneously and without a directive. The approach will depend on your needs, and I will be there as a guide to help you make meaning of your experience. For children, or other non-word oriented people, art can be an especially powerful means of symbolic communication and self-expression.

I practice from a framework that views art making and creative expression as healing, growth producing processes in and of themselves, not adjunctive to traditional therapy. While reflection on process and product may be part of the work, the emphasis remains on the capacity for therapeutic transformation inherent in giving form to creative expression. This approach also highlights the importance of the natural world as the model for creativity, the cyclical nature of the creative process as it occurs in nature and in human life, and the creative process as a primal driver of therapeutic change. 

Furthermore, body knowledge, intuitive wisdom, subjective experience and emotions are expressed and honored as valid ways of knowing, in and of themselves. Rational analysis is not required to validate these ways of knowing.