Art Therapy IRL

Today, I'm joined by art therapist and fellow podcasters, Vicky Linnane for a crossover episode.

Vicky is an Irish art therapist working in person and online. Her mission is to use art to help folks of all ages recognize and celebrate their unique stories and accept their authentic selves. Her research has examined the ways that art therapy can serve as a tool for increasing empathy and addressing bullying in elementary schools. Vicky is also the host of the excellent podcast: Embrace Therapy. Where she host all kinds of therapists to talk about the work they do.

In this episode we chat about how the pandemic have shaped both of our practices, avoiding burnout as art therapists, and spirituality in creativity.

You can find more about Vicky's work here:

Website: https://www.enricharttherapy.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enricharttherapy/

Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/34mW4R7vtMoCEidXvjVmDe?si=0f07f0e28bb34ec0

Did you know this podcast was my graduate research?

Join me with my academic supervisor, Nicole Le Bihan, as we discuss season one. We answer the big question of the show: How do art and expressive therapists adapt during a pandemic? Nicole and I talk takeaways, ethics, blindspots, and what we mean when we speak about "decolonizing clinical spaces."

Special thanks to everyone who made the first season of this show possible; Nicole Le Bihan, Elijah Zimmerman, Monica Carpendale, Millie Cumming, and everyone at the Kutenai Art Therapy Institute. 

Decolonization is not a Metaphor by Tuck and Yang

Virginia Jahyu is an expressive arts therapist based in Toronto, Ontario. In addition to seeing clients and running expressive therapies groups for folx with diverse abilities, she is a passionate advocate, activist and facilitator. I know her from her impactful workshops on anti-racism and anti-oppressive practice in creative therapies. Virginia is also the vice-president of the Ontario Expressive Arts Association.

In our conversation, Virginia takes us on her journey through teaching and community organizing to expressive therapy. She breaks down the advantages and limitations of working digitally, what it means to challenge oppressive systems as a clinician, her passion for hip hop music and culture, and why JOY is a radical tool for healing and liberation.

Virginia's Website

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 94 Calls to Action

Decolonization is not a Metaphor by Tuck and Yang

Markus Scott-Alexander is an expressive arts therapist and founder of World Arts Organization and is based in Edmonton, Alberta. As a therapist and educator, he’s interested in how art honours the differences between people while holding space for the creative spirit that is essential to all humans. He believes creativity can help us live our ordinary lives in Unordinary ways. Markus is also the author of the recent book: Expressive Arts Education and Therapy: Discoveries in a Dance Theatre Lab Through Creative Process-based Research.

To be in a workshop with Markus is to experience something active, dynamic and truly touching. I asked Markus to join me in conversation because I wanted to know if that work was still possible in the midst of a pandemic. In our conversation we touch on avoiding burnout and the intimacy and resonance that is possible on Zoom. Markus offers up a new definition of holding therapeutic space and how it still exists in digital therapy.

Markus' Website

Markus' Instagram

Sarah West of Earthen Vision is an environmental art therapist based in Nelson, BC. She blends art therapy practice with land-based healing in a unique way to serve clients and groups. She even uses art and nature as a way of supporting organizations and governments to plan and make decisions about sustainability and land use. Sarah believes strongly in the role nature can play as a co-facilitator of the therapeutic process.

Before her career in art therapy, Sarah worked for more than ten years doing policy and strategic planning on environmental issues between First Nations and government in Ontario.

In our conversation we explore her unique process of guiding clients as they listen to the land, how she has created a practice in the midst of a pandemic, and why nature is such a crucial tool for holding collective grief.

Sarah's Website

Sarah's Instagram

Youhjung Son, of Thirsty for Art, is an art therapist and business consultant based in Silver Spring, Maryland. She describes herself as being on a mission to use social media to amplify the work art therapists do. She offers online programming for wellness and self-discovery as well as groups for newly graduated art therapists. I was so excited to find Youhjung’s work because she has created such specific resources for art therapists looking to start and grow their practices, online, during a pandemic. 

In our conversation we focus on the business side of art therapy and the potential in bringing that work online. She eases some of my fears about holding professional boundaries on platforms like Instagram, and we really get into it about MONEY. Youhjung is so unafraid to talk about how to make money as an art therapist and why is it crucial (and feminist) to value our own emotional labour.

Youhjung's Website

Youhjung's Youtube

Youhjung's Instagram

Rapinder Kaur is an art therapist, psychotherapist, public speaker, community organizer and the founder of Art as Therapy. As a therapist, she works from a relational, anti-oppressive framework with adults and children. She is passionate about systems change and using art to disrupt traditional thinking and imagine new possibilities for the world. Rapinder also facilitates trainings for other professionals on cultural humility. In our conversation Rapinder speaks about therapy as being a space to “light an internal revolution.” We explore how she has adapted her practice for the digital demands of the COVID era, why empowerment through art is crucial to social change, and practical advice for anti-oppressive therapy.

Art Therapy IRL ("in real life") is a show about the new reality of art therapy. 

Join host, Amelia Hutchison, in conversation with professional art and expressive arts therapists from Canada and the United States. This 8-episode series explores why creativity is a crucial tool for mental health in the wake of collective grief and trauma and how art therapists can address issues of social justice.

Learn more at www.arttherapyirl.com

or on instagram @art_therapy_irl