Personal statement:

When I first heard of art therapy, I was inspired and delighted. As a young adult, I had struggled to find meaning and purpose in my life. Art always seemed to play a big part in the answers I found or created for myself.

I had long recognized that art taps into significant, special or troublesome feelings and ideas like nothing else seems to. But I had not realized how healing it could be for anyone and everyone, including people who don’t consider themselves particularly “artistic.” At mid-life, when many people begin to plan for their retirement, I went back to school and became an art therapist. I’ve never looked back.

This work brings me a great sense of joy and achievement. When I do my own artwork, the process of discovery is satisfying and exciting. When I can facilitate this kind of experience for my clients in art therapy, they often discover for themselves what I have come to know so well: Art can work wonders in the human heart.

Bio:

I am a registered and board certified, licensed clinical professional art therapist. I earned a Bachelors degree in Fine Arts and a Masters of Art Education prior to completing the Graduate Certificate in Art Therapy from George Washington University. I am Registered and Board Certified through the Art Therapy Credentials Board, and licensed by the State of Maryland Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists.

My clinical experience includes twelve years providing art therapy for children, adolescents and adults in inpatient and residential psychiatric settings. I have treated patients and clients with a wide range of clinical diagnoses, including mood and impulse control disorders, trauma history, impaired attachment, and the spectrum of autism. I have provided services in individual and group settings, in brief therapy and in long-term interventions.

I have been engaged in private practice since 2008. Past employment included the position of art therapist for the Inpatient Psychiatry Department at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. for nearly ten years, and prior to that, as an art therapist with the State Hospital System of Maryland’s Department of Mental Health and Hygiene, at Crownsville and Springfield Hospital Centers.