Art Therapy

As a clinician who holds credentialing in both Psychotherapy and Art Therapy, I utilize  talk therapy AND experience-based psychotherapeutic modalities. Due to my educational background, I utilize approaches based in neuroscience. Here's a quick breakdown of how neuroscience and art therapy inform each other:

When creating Art Therapy experientials, I use the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) as a theoretical framework. The ETC was developed by Art Therapist and Neuroscientist Dr. Vija Lusebrink and elaborated upon by Dr. Linda Hinz. The ETC organizes expressive media and its therapeutic functions into a developmental sequence based on information processing, brain function, and image formation (Hinz, 2009). The ETC can serve Art Therapists in determining client therapy goals by selecting media and directive choices that build upon strengths while exercising parts of the brain that don't get as much 'air time' (King, 2016). Art Therapy can literally change the way your brain processes information by creating new neural pathways that support the thoughts, choices, and behavior you are wanting to 'lean into.' This helps  you create a healing pathway based on your current value system (versus a value system from parents, systems, or institutions you are no longer consenting to).