According to the American Counseling Association, counseling is “a professional relationship that empowers diverse individuals, families, and groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, education, and career goals.” (ACA, 2010)

I work with individuals, couples, and families to help improve communication, connection, and personal growth.

Art therapy is an integrative mental health and human services profession that enriches the lives of individuals, families, and communities through active art-making, creative process, applied psychological theory, and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship.

Art therapy, facilitated by a professional art therapist, effectively supports personal and relational treatment goals as well as community concerns. Art therapy is used to improve cognitive and sensorimotor functions, foster self-esteem and self-awareness, cultivate emotional resilience, promote insight, enhance social skills, reduce and resolve conflicts and distress, and advance societal and ecological change.

Through integrative methods, art therapy engages the mind, body, and spirit in ways that are distinct from verbal articulation alone. Kinesthetic, sensory, perceptual, and symbolic opportunities invite alternative modes of receptive and expressive communication, which can circumvent the limitations of language. Visual and symbolic expression gives voice to experience, and empowers individual, communal, and societal transformation.

(AATA, 2017)

You may use a variety of art materials in the context of our work together. Deepening your sense of self through artmaking can be a powerful part of your therapeutic work.

Clinical supervision is first and foremost to ensure the welfare of the supervisee’s clients. Secondarily, it will focus on promoting your personal and professional development, expand your competence, and deepen your therapist identity.

My approach to supervision is constructivist in nature with a focus on collaboration in the supervisory relationship. My role may be more consultative than hierarchical in that we are both sharing and creating the scope of our interactions. The goal of supervision is to offer support, education and collaboration in your growth as a therapist. We will be working to identify and develop your strengths as a therapist. Throughout the supervisory relationship, I may recommend the use of art-making processes with a goal of aiding your personal and professional growth through this approach. Depending on the nature of the clinical setting, supervision may be live, videotaped, audio recorded or through transcripts.

I have heard time and again from clients that they have experienced symptoms of anxiety for years and years, never really believing they could find relief. There are so many elements of our current world that contribute to feelings of anxiety, and it may feel like you are trying to find your way through a maze while wearing a blindfold. Many people find ways to self-medicate or distract from the experience of anxiety merely to get through the day. I believe you can find relief from anxiety by learning new ways of managing, exploring the root of your anxiety, and allowing yourself the space to breathe without that inner voice of judgment.

Depression is not simply feeling sad. I think the experience of depression is unique to each individual and can range from feeling numb and unmotivated to feeling like you’re walking through life while wearing the lead x-ray apron from the dentist’s office to feeling all sorts of pain throughout your body. It may leave you with feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, worthlessness. For some, depression is constant, for others it may be cyclical, and for many it is situational. Whatever the origin, we can explore these feelings and build your resources to manage them through counseling and art therapy.

Sometimes I think of addiction as navigating a long and winding river. There are areas of relative calm and others that present more like dangerous rapids. The path of the water alters what it passes over, wearing away rock and earth. The water is inviting and promises adventure.

Many people experience trauma, but few have the resources to understand and move forward from these events. At times, it can be difficult to even put into words what has happened. Art therapy can give voice to your experiences where words fail. I will work with you in a safe, paced, and thoughtful way to explore these experiences, regain control of your emotions, and find relief from the often crippling symptoms you may be encountering. You deserve to be heard and I am here to do that.