Art as therapy utilizes creative practices like drawing, painting, movement, fiber arts, storytelling, collage, or pottery and sculpture, to explore and better understand your thoughts, emotions, and experiences.

You don’t need any art skills to benefit from it. It’s not about making “good” art, it’s about using creative expression to connect with yourself in a deeper, more meaningful way.

Can’t I do “art therapy” by myself?

Making art on your own can feel really good. It can help you understand your emotions, calm your nervous system, and express things that are hard to put into words. It’s a gentle, powerful way to reconnect with yourself and move toward healing.

Working with a registered art therapist builds on that natural power of creativity, but adds a trained, intentional practitioner who can help guide and deepen the process. I am uniquely equipped to help explore what is underneath the images you create, how they relate to your inner world, and how they might connect to emotions, memories, patterns, or parts of yourself that are asking for attention.

I can also offer tools, reflections, prompts, and problem-solving strategies that can help you find your way to solutions and new possibilities faster than if you were going it alone.

Art as therapy is powerful and research-supported

Decades of research in clinical, community, and educational settings have shown that art can:

  • Help regulate the nervous system and reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and trauma

  • Support emotional expression when words feel inaccessible or overwhelming

  • Strengthen self-awareness and insight through symbolic and visual processing

  • Improve self-esteem and body image, especially for people with marginalized identities

  • Foster resilience and meaning-making in the face of grief, loss, or life transitions

  • Offer a safe, contained space to process complex emotions and life experiences

  • Support neurodivergent individuals in processing sensory input and organizing thoughts

  • Engage both hemispheres of the brain, supporting integrative healing and cognitive flexibility

  • Provide a nonverbal, culturally adaptable way to explore identity, memory, and relationship

Art is for everybody

You don’t need to be “artistic.” The focus isn’t on the final product, but on what rises up through the creative process. Together, we reflect on what the art reveals and how it connects to your inner world.

Some experiences are quiet and introspective, others more expressive. I’ll offer tools and support, but the work is collaborative. We follow what feels true to you.

Many of the people I work with haven’t taken an art class since elementary school but they often fall back in love with their creativity and discover new ways to express themselves.