Private Practice Team

Clinical Supervisor and Licensed & Board-Certified Art Therapist

NOT ACCEPTING NEW CLIENTS AT THIS TIME

Lauren Chester (she/they) is a registered and board-certified art therapist (ATR-BC), a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist (LCAT) in the state of New York, a Licensed Certified Art Therapist (LCAT) in the state of Oregon and has over a decade of clinical experience. Lauren works as part of EBAT's leadership team, providing clinical supervision to staff. Lauren is passionate about cultivating environments where people can practice sharing their whole selves. Lauren believes in the process of art as a conduit for communication and expression and is passionate about the use of art to encourage meaningful conversations.  Lauren’s practice of Art Therapy has been heavily influenced by the Disability Justice and Healing Justice movements and is non-hierarchical, co-creative, neurodivergent-affirming, and gender-affirming.

Lauren focuses on work with clients who are navigating: grief, anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation, substance use/addiction, trauma, and themes of identity such as gender and sexuality. Lauren also specializes in working with ADHD and autistic individuals and is trained in Floortime for their work with young children. A significant portion of Lauren’s clinical work (7 years) has been with supporting clients who identify as members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Lauren has worked in a wide range of clinical and community-based settings and with a range of populations in over 14 years of experience, including: schools (K-12), psychiatric hospitals, affordable housing, day treatment, and HIV treatment and prevention. 

Lauren’s journey as a clinician began with formal education (a Bachelor’s of Fine Art at the University of Georgia and a Master’s of Professional Studies in Art Therapy from the School of Visual Arts in New York City).  However after navigating a major health crisis in 2013 Lauren became passionate about understanding how our minds and bodies can work together, and pursued additional training in supportive modalities, such as yoga (200-hour plus additional training in restoratives and trauma sensitive yoga).

When not working in Art Therapy, Lauren spends time loving their rescue dog and bestie Tucker, learning about motorcycles, digging around in the leaves for mushrooms, and herbalism.  Lauren's future goals include building out a schoolie as a mobile art studio, and using it to host meaningful conversations in the community through art making.

Lauren is available to see individuals ages 4 and up at the Oakland office on Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (or virtually). She facilitates the High School Teen Art Therapy Group and Middle School Art Therapy Group. Lauren is available for ATR supervision. They have also provided services for SCCOE, Human Good, ESUHSD, OUSD, The City of Oakland, and Satellite Affordable Housing Associates (SAHA).

ATR-BC #13-264 (National)

LCAT #001665 (New York)

LCAT #ART-C-10236427 (Oregon)

Fee: $195 / session

Sonja identifies as a cisgendered woman with Norwegian and Irish ancestry, a lifelong creative person, a toddler mom, and a recovering perfectionist. Sonja is drawn to this work through her own experience making art to cope with difficult feelings since childhood (she just didn’t know it was called art therapy!). She enjoys using art to promote self discovery and growth through the process of making, storytelling, and witnessing. Sonja moved from Sonoma County to the East Bay in 2008 to pursue a career in design and advertising. She received a BFA in Illustration from the California College of the Arts in 2011. After losing her mother to cancer in 2015, Sonja returned to school and obtained an MA in Marriage & Family Therapy and Art Therapy from Notre Dame de Namur University in 2021. Sonja is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist as well as a Provisional Art Therapist working towards full professional credentialing in Art Therapy.

Sonja’s style is warm yet direct, incorporating humor, compassion, and curiosity. She works from a Humanistic lens with a background in Cognitive Behavioral and Mindfulness approaches. Sonja’s clinical practice is rooted in trauma-informed, strengths-based care, and shaped by her own lived experience as a parent, artist, and someone who has personally navigated grief and loss. Sonja is committed to creating a space that is inclusive and welcoming for all abilities, identities, and backgrounds. With experience in both inpatient and outpatient settings, Sonja has special focus on medical trauma, chronic pain/illness, grief and loss, caregiver burnout, pre-and postpartum issues, identity and life transitions, neurodivergence, gender expansive youth and teens, and helping professional creatives reconnect with their inner artist. Sonja works with clients ages 4+, and particularly pre-teens, teens, and adults.

Outside of her clinical work, Sonja enjoys connecting with friends and nature, drinking too much coffee, painting, drawing and collaging, being near or in water, and discovering new playgrounds with her kiddo.

Sonja is available to see clients ages 4+ at EBAT's Oakland Office on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays (or virtually).

ATR-P #24-321 (National)
Supervised by Lauren Chester, MPS, ATR-BC, LCAT

LMFT #156720 (CA)

Fees:

$175 / session (Individual Therapy)

$195 / session (Family Therapy)

Art Therapist and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

Wei-Yun (Celine) (she/her) is a California-based Art Therapist and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a Master’s degree in Art Therapy from Notre Dame de Namur University. She specializes in Art Therapy and has extensive training in Gestalt therapy, Psychodrama, and Sex therapy.

With over 15 years of experience, Wei-Yun (Celine) has provided trauma-informed care in diverse settings, including schools, psychiatric clinics, group homes, colleges and universities, domestic violence and sexual assault prevention centers, non-profits, assisted living and memory care facilities, substance use treatment programs, and the criminal justice system.

She is deeply committed to a mindfulness-based, holistic approach, often integrating concepts from Chinese medicine to help clients strengthen inner resources and cultivate self-acceptance. 

Wei-Yun (Celine) values collaboration in the therapeutic process and works to support clients in achieving their mental health goals. Her areas of interest include working with Asian American communities, LGBTQIA+ individuals, immigration-related trauma, second-generation experiences, international students, trauma survivors, stress and burnout, grief and loss, attachment wounds, relationship and marital challenges, depression, and anxiety.

Outside of work, Wei-Yun (Celine) enjoys spending quality time with friends and family. She holds a deep appreciation for spiritual growth and has practiced Zen meditation since 2009. Passionate about exploring diverse cultures, she enjoys traveling, studying various art forms, and discovering music from around the world. She also looks forward to learning hang gliding and scuba diving.

Wei-Yun (Celine) is available to see individuals ages 4 and up, couples and families at our San Jose office on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays (or virtually). She offers therapy in English, Mandarin, and Taiwanese.

ATR-P #24-954 (National)

Supervised by Lauren Chester, MPS, ATR-BC, LCAT

LMFT #130594 (CA)

Fees:

$185 / session (Individual Therapy)

$205 / session (Family & Couples Therapy)

Administrative Assistant & Intake Coordinator

¡Habla Español!

Carolina Garcia (she/her/ella) is a first generation Mexican-American and is bilingual in Spanish and English. Carolina received a Bachelor’s in Social Work with a minor in family studies from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. She is passionate about community outreach and connecting people with the proper resources to assist them in getting closer to their goals. Raised in the diverse city of Las Vegas, she has grown to become culturally mindful through her case management experience working in medical, mental health, and drug recovery settings. 

Carolina enjoys painting, digital art and content creation. Creating art since she could hold a pencil, she’s learned that being touch with your artistic side is a conduit for cultivating creative solutions to life's everyday problems and stressors. She thinks the journey and process of creating art makes space for exploring different avenues of working around or with mistakes, oftentimes creating something even more beautiful than the original plan. She believes the process parallels life itself and helps people learn how to trust the process along the way. 

Outside of work, Carolina loves camping with her partner, hosting her friends, live music and playing ping pong. 

Carolina feels privileged to be your first point of contact towards the next step in your mental health journey where she feels confident in connecting you with the proper services that fit your needs. Carolina is also EBAT's content creator and social media manager.

Drama Therapist

张一萌 Yimeng Zhang, known as Clara, is a bilingual (Mandarin and English) Provisionally Registered Drama Therapist. Originally from China, Clara identifies as a cisgender woman and has a strong connection to her Asian cultural roots. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Statistics from UCLA and a Master of Arts in Drama Therapy from NYU. Clara’s passion for drama therapy emerged from her experiences in both theatre and psychology, where she witnessed the profound impact of creative expression on personal healing and community building. As both an actress and a mental health advocate, Clara discovered that combining these worlds through drama therapy offers a powerful path to foster emotional growth and resilience in others.

Clara’s approach to therapy is client-centered and strengths-based, drawing from psychodynamic and embodied drama therapy techniques. She creates a safe, non-judgmental space for clients to explore their emotions through creative practices such as role-playing, improvisation, and storytelling. On her clinical journey so far, Clara has encountered young children and their families, adolescents and young adults,  female groups, mixed-race clients, and elders at nursing homes. Her clinical focus is on issues related to identity, trauma, body image, and emotional regulation. Her clinical work is deeply informed by her intersectionalities, because she believes that "what brings us here takes us home." This belief has deeply fueled her passion for fostering inclusion and understanding through drama therapy.

Outside of her clinical practice, Clara is dedicated to personal growth and community engagement. She is the founding member of many community theatre groups, and works with theatre artists globally. In her free time, Clara enjoys yoga, kickboxing, crafting, and engaging in theatre performances. Oh, and drinking boba!

Clara works off-site facilitating drama therapy groups at Sutter Health Mills Health Center (Adult & Adolescent Psychiatric Unit) in San Mateo, CA.

P-RDT #106 (National)

Supervised by Krista Verrastro, MA RDT #374, BCT #158