Tonia's Approach to Art Therapy
Art therapy is an integrative approach to healing that helps clients connect their mind, body, and spirit. Tonia's approach to art therapy is trauma-informed and draws influence from Relational Psychodynamic and Humanistic theories such as Person-Centered, Existential, and Gestalt. She is also trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) which informs her approach. Tonia is a Health At Every Size (HAES) and Intuitive Eating informed therapist and has received training in these theories and approaches when it comes to working with clients' relationship to food/eating and body image.
Tonia usually starts off her sessions with a verbal check-in, followed by an art making directive, and concluding with reflection and verbal processing of the art. The amount of time spent in each phase varies depending on the client's needs and preference for that session. Some sessions may be purely verbal and others focused more on the creative process. Tonia may give her clients a specific directive or prompt for art making and other times clients work in a more self-directed way.
Some art modalities used include; drawing, painting, clay, collage, mixed media, found object sculpture, sewing, digital art or photography. No experience or skill with art making is necessary to benefit from art therapy.
Read more about art therapy on the American Art Therapy Association website: