I practice a multiform, bottom-up art therapy approach that integrates the creative process with evidence-based practices, such as psychotherapy, somatic therapy, and CBT to provide high-quality treatment. While I have a particular interest in clay as a therapeutic medium, my practice remains multidisciplinary, drawing from a range of art mediums based on the needs, preferences, and goals of each client. I use strength-based, Humanistic, Behavioral, and trauma-informed frameworks, depending on the need of the client. I hold specialties in working with Black, brown and multi-ethnic individuals experiencing depression, anxiety/panic, complex trauma, and relationship or social transitions. I hold an interest in somatic art therapy, the use of clay as a medium in therapy, and improved mental health outcomes for racialized people.
THE APPROACH
THE WORK
INDIVIDUAL THERAPY
Within individual therapy sessions, you will have an opportunity to learn to channel instincts towards mind-body integration using methods of creative expression, talk therapy, and somatic exploration. We will build a space to freely explore and identify strengths and spaces of improvement, allowing the rawness of your own self-narratives to be not just felt but contribute to your overall healing.
COLLECTIVE THERAPY
Collective therapy workshops foster the opportunity to explore both personal and group experience. Through therapeutic approaches rooted in creative expression, you will develop tools to navigate communication, connection, and collectively heal within a space of mutual support and community cohesion. Group-work will include open studio and method workshops.
THE PROCESS
BODY INTEGRATION
Clay is an ideal medium for exploring someone’s experience and capturing it in a seeable, touchable form. It brings forth expressiveness of the inexpressible, tangibility of the intangible, and visibility of the invisible, making space to reveal what is hidden. Tactile, hands-on approaches like clay facilitate a more process-oriented approach within art therapy, particularly within the treatment of trauma, by integrating the body and touch with somatic-based interventions. Within my own work, this can make space for individuals to slowly discover parts within their self, feel moments of discomfort, and develop new ways to better work through them.
WHY CLAY
Few art materials kindle growth like clay. Clay is naturally responsive to human touch and movement, creating space to immerse oneself in a felt experience and explore emotions through expression. At times when our deepest thoughts and feelings are controlled by anxiety, or hidden beyond our obvious awareness, clay can offer a way to become deeply introspective without the need for verbalization. The motions of molding, shaping, carving, and wedging become part of a cathartic process, creating space to notice and make sense of sensations in the body.
THE VESSEL
Vessels hold both an inside and outside, the hidden and the exposed; that which can be seen and that which cannot. Their use supports the conceptual embodiment of the human “Self”—consisting of both an exterior, open to being perceived by outside viewers, and an interior, hidden and containing inner components of one’s identity. The vessel provides the opportunity to create a self-portrait of sorts, building up coil by coil and transforming it into a new form. From the somatic manipulation with one’s hands to the methodical use of carving tools, clay facilitates a meaningful experience of creating something out of nothing.