Finding an art therapist in Toronto!

Art therapy, is a modality in which art and psychotherapy are combined to help clients explore internal emotions and conflicts, as well as external behaviors and interactions. In an attempt to increase self-awareness, clients who seek art therapy are looking for deeper connection with their feelings, thoughts, memories, fears among many other things.

Art therapy helps connect individuals to their present, past and future without the pressure of having to use concrete descriptions.

How does a typical art therapy session look like?

In a typical assessment session, client will provide their background information including any history of medical or psychological issues in the family. Client is encouraged to share their goal for therapy or will be helped to identify and set a goal for their course of treatment. An art therapy intervention can help the client complete the background information section as it could include any images, shapes, memories, or feelings that are difficult to be verbalized but can be illustrated.

The art therapist will introduce an art therapy intervention that could help the client in achieving their goal. A verbal discussion often follow the period of art making to help the client evaluate their thought process and understand their emotional reactions.

What can art therapy help with?

Individuals of all ages can benefit from art therapy as this approach is not limited by age. However, children can benefit from art therapy when they present with:

• Mood disorders (anxiety and depression)
• Obsessive Compulsive traits
• Separation anxiety
• Childhood trauma (of any kind)
• Reactions to divorce (emotional, psychological, behavioral)
• Adjustment issues (distress that follows a transition in life such as immigration, starting high school, university, marriage, etc)

In addition to the above-mentioned list, teenagers can also benefit from art therapy to address sexual identity, self identity, and cultural identity in art therapy.

How can I do online art therapy?

In an online format, client will be asked to have simple art materials such as paper, pencil crayons or markers handy. The therapist will introduce the art therapy intervention and follow the client in her creative exploration via camera. A verbal discussion will occur post-creation to better understand the feelings/thoughts related to the intervention.

The client is welcomed to keep their art work and share an image of the art work with the therapist so they can keep it in the client’s file for future reference.

Our art therapists in Toronto are located at 769A Pape avenue and provide online and in person sessions. They are registered psychotherapists, which allows them to provide a receipt for Psychotherapy, for insurance purposes. Our art therapists are Masters graduates from Concordia University, Vancouver Art Therapy Institute, WHEAT Institute, and Toronto Art Therapy Institute. They also engage in regular continuing education courses to ensure that they are up to date with the best clinical practices to help their clients.