Art Therapy & Other Expressive Therapies
When words just aren't enough.
Clinical Art Therapy is an approach that can help you unlock your inherent creativity and harness it for enhancing self-discovery, achieving symptom relief and improving problem-solving. When provided by a specially trained psychotherapist, Clinical Art Therapy combines traditional talk-therapy with guided explorations using easy to use, but high-quality art materials within a therapeutic relationship of safety, encouragement and connection. Art therapy is incredibly useful for not just children but teens and adults as well (although different methods, materials and interventions are used). Absolutely no prior experience or “artistic talent” are required, just an openness to new experience!
When words are not enough, art therapy assists clients to more fully express feelings, understand relationships and imagine new possibilities in ways that they often find surprising, intense and exciting.
Expressive Therapies use various experiential activities including art, but also music, poetry and journal writing, drumming, drama/role-playing, songwriting, and more to explore your inner and outer world through engaging more of your senses than just listening and speaking. Your therapist or counselor helps you communicate your thoughts and feelings about both the process and the product (whatever is created or experienced) in order to more fully understand yourself, your problems or issues and how to move through them.
Since the therapeutic work is based on the creative process, not on the final result, it is not necessary to have a background or training in art, music or any of the modalities to benefit.
Throughout the process, you learn new and different ways to use the mostly nonverbal language of creativity to communicate inner feelings that were not previously available to you by simply thinking or talking about them.
My Experience
I completed my Master's degree in a dual Marriage & Family Therapy/Art Therapy program at Phillips Graduate Institute in Los Angeles in 2010 and have practiced psychotherapy, counseling and expressive arts therapies in a variety of settings since then. I am a nationally Registered Art Therapist (ATR) since 2002 with the Art Therapy Credentials Board (ATCB) and complete ongoing continuing education in that discipline. Personally, I paint, collage and create three-dimensional work most actively during times of personal and life transitions and have found them incredibly helpful. I am certain that you will too.
I have led numerous therapeutic groups and individual explorations in various settings using different expressive arts therapies working alongside talented art and music therapists, recreation therapists, yoga therapists, psychologists and social workers and other MFT’s. The interventions they’ve shared with me often show up in my counseling work. And these practices greatly expand the “menu” of options I can use to help you achieve your goals.
What do I need to do now?
Get in touch and we’ll see if we’re a good fit. Together, we'll create a plan with concrete strategies to help you feel better and create a more beautiful life (and it won’t take years!)