“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.”
The American Art Therapy Association
What that means to us at Spencer Psychology is that Art Therapy is a form of expressive therapy that uses the creative process of making art to improve physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Therapeutic art can help clients access unexpressed feelings, and give clients ways to articulate issues without having to find words. It can often help clients who struggle to talk in treatment, or who want to explore a deeper or different way to express what they are thinking and feeling.
Art therapy helps children, adolescents, and adults explore their emotions, improve self-esteem, process past traumas, relieve stress, and improve symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Skills
You don’t need to be an artist or have any artistic skills to receive the benefits of art therapy. Ms. Lewis will help you dive into the underlying messages and emotions communicated through your art. Art Therapy can be used as a sole method of treatment or it can be integrated into your treatment, at any time if you’re interested in adding that to your session.
Online Counseling Art Therapy
Our art therapist will help you gather supplies you already have in your home, such as paper, notepads, sketchbooks, and art materials in the same ways she would in the office, and you will create expressive works together while processing therapeutic material. She can also suggest art supplies you might order online for subsequent sessions, or give suggestions for DYI materials. Other than a difference in the materials available, the work itself is very similar to an in-person session.
Our Clinicians
Meg Lewis is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and a Registered and Board Certified Art Therapist. She earned a Master’s of Science degree in Art Therapy from Nazareth College of Rochester and a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Painting from Ohio Northern University.
Linda Bannister is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, and a Registered and Board Certified Art Therapist. She holds a Masters Degree from St. Mary-of-the-Woods College in Art Therapy. Her first career was in graphic design and communications. Art Therapy can help in expressing thoughts that are difficult to put in words. One does not need to be an artist to use art therapy, but a willingness to explore.
