Expressive Arts Therapy
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, or unsure of how to move forward — you’re not alone. So many women and queer folks carry invisible weight: unprocessed trauma, chronic anxiety, the slow ache of burnout, or the grief of transitions that haven’t yet found words.
Expressive arts therapy is a healing approach that invites your whole self — body, mind, emotions, and spirit — to be part of the process. You don’t need to be “an artist.” You just need to be willing to explore.
What is Expressive Arts Therapy?
Expressive arts therapy is a trauma-informed, somatic approach that uses creativity to support emotional healing, personal insight, and nervous system regulation. Sessions may include:
​
-
Gentle movement or body-based awareness
-
Painting, drawing, or collage
-
Storytelling or journaling
-
Sound, music, or voice exploration
-
Ritual, nature-based practices, or symbolic play
This isn’t about performance or producing something “good.” It’s about creating space to feel, to express, to integrate — especially when words alone aren’t enough.
​
What Happens In Sessions?
We usually begin with a traditional verbal check-in followed by a breathing exercise.
As you share, ​I'll guide us both through short exercises to help process what you're bringing in to session.
Depending on what creative forms you're open to, this may include things like drawing, writing, movement, guided visualization, or even vocal release.
We finish by reflecting on how this exercise connects to the larger reasons bringing you to therapy and any notes for our next visit.
Is This Art Therapy?
If you’ve been searching for art therapy, you’re not alone — many people are drawn to the healing power of creativity. While art therapy and expressive arts therapy are closely related, they’re more like cousins than twins.
​
Both support emotional healing through creative expression, but expressive arts therapy offers more freedom to move between different forms — like visual art, writing, movement, music, storytelling, and even improv. My training allows us to choose what resonates most with you, moment to moment.
Don't like drawing? No problem. Don't want to journal? Totally fine. Don't want to move? You don't have to! Your preferences are always respected and no specific artistic experience is required—just a willingness to be curious.​
Support for Anxiety, Depression, Trauma and Burnout
Many of my clients come to expressive arts therapy when talk therapy no longer feels quite right — or when they’re navigating something that feels hard to name.
​
You might benefit from this work if you’re:
-
Living with anxiety or chronic stress, and feeling stuck in overthinking or hypervigilance
-
Moving through depression, grief, or numbness — and longing to feel alive again
-
Carrying the impact of developmental, complex, or collective trauma
-
In the middle of a major life transition — becoming a parent, changing careers, ending a relationship, coming out, or starting over
-
Experiencing burnout, especially as a caregiver, healer, creative, or highly sensitive person
Together, we use the arts not as a way to escape, but as a way to come home — to your body, your inner knowing, and the life that wants to move through you.
Frequently Asked Questions
1
Do I have to be good at art making?
Not at all! This isn't about making art to hang on a wall. It's about engaging your primal and human urge to express yourself. Expressive Arts Therapy is an opportunity to focus on process over product, bringing you into the moment and into your body.
2
How does this help with personal growth?
Our language patterns are linear, but the neural networks in our brains don't operate that way. Sometimes you don't have the words! Non-linear expression can help us better understand ourselves and connect the dots about our confusing experiences.
3
What if I want to talk- can we still do that?
Absolutely. You can expect that at least 50% of the session will involve verbal processing and talking through whatever is bothering or challenging you. The creative tools are there to help us go deeper when we get stuck, don't have the words, or become overwhelmed.
Is Expressive Arts Therapy For You?
My practice centers women and queer folks navigating change, healing, and creative reawakening. I bring a trauma-informed, body-based, and anti-oppressive lens to this work — honoring your story, your survival, and your sovereignty.
​
Whether you’re moving through anxiety, depression, trauma, or simply feeling called to reconnect with your creative self, you are welcome here.
