Frequently Asked Questions About Art Therapy and Counseling
As a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and Board-Certified Art Therapist (ATR-BC), I believe that healing begins in safe, supportive, and compassionate relationships. Therapy is not about “fixing” what’s broken. It’s about reconnecting with your inner strength, resilience, and self-awareness.
This FAQ page answers the most common questions I receive about therapy, art therapy, and the therapeutic process. Whether you're navigating anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, eating disorders, life transitions, or complex issues facing military families.
I hope this resource helps you feel more informed and empowered to begin your healing journey.
I also have specialized experience supporting military families, teens, and adults through virtual sessions in Texas, Connecticut, and Virginia, and in person sessions in Virginia Beach, VA. Sessions are client-centered and designed to meet you exactly where you are—emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
Feel free to reach out if you have a question not covered here. You deserve therapy that feels safe, personalized, and aligned with your goals.
What is Art Therapy?
Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses the creative process as a way to explore thoughts, express emotions, and support healing. Instead of relying only on words, art therapy allows you to communicate through imagery, symbols, and sensory experiences, especially when emotions feel overwhelming or difficult to articulate.
You do not need to have any background in art to benefit from this approach. Art therapy is about the process—not the final product. It's a safe and non-judgmental way to explore your inner world using materials like paint, drawing tools, collage, sculpture, and mixed media.
As a Board-Certified Art Therapist (ATR-BC), I guide clients through creative experiences that support emotional regulation, self-reflection, and process trauma, grief, anxiety, depression, and more. Art can be a powerful tool for uncovering unconscious patterns, building resilience, and finding new ways to express your truth.
This approach is especially beneficial for:
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Clients who have difficulty verbalizing their feelings
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Teens and children who may feel more comfortable with creative expression
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Survivors of trauma or PTSD
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Individuals processing eating disorders, body image issues, or chronic stress
Art therapy can be integrated with talk therapy or used as a stand-alone modality. Each session is tailored to your preferences, comfort level, and therapeutic goals. Whether you're exploring creativity for the first time or returning to it as a healing practice, art therapy offers a path toward meaningful growth and change.
What is a Therapy Session Like?
Every therapy session is designed to meet you where you are. Whether you're working through anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, or personal growth, your session is a safe space for exploration, reflection, and healing.
Sessions can include a mix of talk therapy, art therapy, and mind-body practices—depending on what feels most helpful that day. Some days, we may focus more on conversation. Other days, creative expression may offer a deeper connection to your emotions and insights. There’s no right or wrong way to do therapy.
Here’s what a typical session might involve:
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Thoughtful, supportive conversation to explore what you're feeling or experiencing
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Optional use of art materials (drawing, painting, collage, etc.) to process emotions
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Reflection on the symbols, themes, or sensations that emerge
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Grounding and mindfulness practices to support emotional regulation and self-awareness
As a trauma-informed, client-centered therapist, I believe in honoring your autonomy and inner wisdom. You are always in control of your pace, your story, and your goals. I will never push you to do anything that feels uncomfortable or unsafe.
Whether we meet in person in Virginia Beach or connect through virtual therapy in Connecticut, Texas, or elsewhere in Virginia, every session is a space of respect, empathy, and possibility. My role is to walk beside you as you explore, heal, and grow—at your own pace.
Can You Do Art Therapy Online?
Yes, art therapy can be highly effective in a virtual setting.
In fact, many clients are surprised by how connected, supported, and engaged they feel during online art therapy sessions. You don’t need a studio or special supplies—just a few basic materials like paper, pens, markers, or colored pencils can be enough to explore your emotions and experiences creatively from the comfort of your home.
Online art therapy is delivered through a secure, HIPAA-compliant video platform. Before we begin, I’ll guide you in setting up a private and comfortable space where you can feel safe to express yourself. Whether you're working through anxiety, trauma, grief, eating disorders, or simply seeking self-understanding, art remains a powerful tool for healing—even through a screen.
Virtual sessions combine talk therapy with creative techniques, depending on your preferences. You’ll still have the opportunity to:
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Engage with art materials in real time
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Share your creations during or after the session
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Reflect on imagery, symbols, and emotions
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Receive professional support and guidance in the moment
Many of my clients across Connecticut, Texas, and Virginia have found virtual therapy to be a flexible, convenient, and effective way to access mental health care—without the need to travel or rearrange their lives.
Online or in person, healing through art is always possible. All you need is an open mind, a quiet space, and a willingness to explore.
How Does Expressive Therapy Support Trauma Healing?
Trauma impacts more than just our thoughts—it affects the body, nervous system, and emotional memory. Often, trauma can leave individuals feeling disconnected, overwhelmed, or unable to articulate their experiences. This is where expressive therapy and art therapy become powerful tools for healing.
Unlike traditional talk therapy alone, expressive therapies engage the senses and offer an embodied, creative way to process complex emotions. Using art materials like drawing, painting, or collage, clients can begin to express what may feel too painful or overwhelming to put into words.
Through this process, many clients experience:
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A greater sense of safety and emotional regulation
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New ways to externalize and understand trauma-related experiences
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A feeling of empowerment in reclaiming their story and voice
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Relief from symptoms like anxiety, dissociation, numbness, or hypervigilance.
As a trauma-informed therapist, I approach this work with deep sensitivity and respect. You always set the pace. There is no rush to "go deep" before you're ready. Whether we’re engaging in art therapy, talk therapy, or a combination of both, the process is grounded in creating a space where you feel safe, seen, and supported.
Healing from trauma is not about reliving the pain—it's about gently reconnecting with yourself, your resilience, and your capacity to move forward.
Can Art Therapy Help with Grief and Loss?
Yes. Art therapy can be a powerful tool for processing grief and loss, offering a space to express what words often cannot. Grief is not linear—it doesn’t follow a fixed timeline, and it doesn’t always look the way we expect.
Whether you’re grieving a loved one, a relationship, a part of your identity, or a major life change, creative expression can help you move through it with compassion and presence.
In art therapy for grief, there is no pressure to “move on” or “be okay.” Instead, the process creates space to honor your loss, explore your emotions, and begin to make meaning in your own way.
Art therapy can support:
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Expressing complex emotions like sadness, anger, guilt, or numbness
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Honoring memories of loved ones or symbolic losses
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Exploring identity changes and “who am I now?” moments after a loss
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Finding meaning, resilience, and hope in life after loss
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Creating visual rituals to support remembrance and healing
Whether used on its own or alongside grief counseling, art therapy allows you to slow down, tune in, and gently process your experience. You don’t need to be an artist—just open to the possibility that healing can come through color, image, texture, and creative reflection.
Grief isn’t something to "get over." It’s something we learn to carry. Therapy helps you carry it with care, strength, and support.
How Does Therapy Support Veterans, Active Duty, and Military Families?
Military life brings unique emotional and psychological challenges—whether you're an active-duty service member, veteran, spouse, caregiver, or child. Frequent relocations, deployments, exposure to trauma, and the ongoing stress of military culture can deeply affect mental health, family stability, and personal identity.
As a trauma-informed Licensed Professional Counselor and Board-Certified Art Therapist, I offer therapy that is culturally sensitive, flexible, and grounded in real-world understanding of military life. Therapy may include a blend of talk therapy, art therapy, and mind-body approaches, tailored to your individual or family needs.
Through this work, I support military clients in:
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Managing symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, depression, and hypervigilance
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Processing combat trauma, military sexual trauma (MST), moral injury, and loss in safe, empowering ways
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Navigating reintegration, identity shifts, and relationship transitions after deployment or discharge
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Coping with the emotional impact of separation, caregiving, and family stressors
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Strengthening communication and emotional connection in families, partnerships, or co-parenting
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Rebuilding a sense of meaning, purpose, and personal identity
Therapy can help military spouses and partners:
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Cope with stress, anxiety, and loneliness during deployment cycles
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Navigate identity challenges, isolation, and caregiving fatigue
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Process experiences of loss, grief, or trauma
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Process relationship strain and strengthen communication
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Manage the impact of repeated relocations and disrupted routines
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Reconnect with themselves and build resilience in the face of change
Therapy can help military teens:
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Navigate frequent moves, school transitions, and social changes
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Cope with deployment-related stress, sadness, anger, or worry
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Strengthen emotional regulation, communication, and coping skills
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Explore and stabilize a sense of self-identity and purpose
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Process experiences of loss, grief, or trauma
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Reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem
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Find safe ways to express emotions that may be hard to articulate
Whether in person (Virginia Beach, VA) or through virtual therapy in Virginia, Texas, or Connecticut, my approach honors the courage and complexity of your story. You don't have to face these challenges alone—therapy offers space to process, recover, and reconnect, at your pace and on your terms.
How Can Art Therapy Support Healing from an Eating Disorder?
Eating disorders often involve complex relationships with control, emotion, body image, identity, and self-worth. Recovery isn’t just about food—it’s about healing disconnection from the body, regulating the nervous system, and reclaiming your sense of self.
Art therapy, combined with mindfulness and somatic approaches, offers a powerful pathway toward this kind of deep, integrated healing.
In our work together, we may use:
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Art-making to explore body image, identity, and emotional expression without judgment
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Somatic awareness to gently reconnect with bodily sensations in a safe and compassionate way
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Mindfulness practices to build presence, reduce reactivity, and foster self-compassion
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Narrative and symbolic art to process inner conflicts, trauma, and relational patterns
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Creative rituals to honor progress, transitions, and growth in recovery
Because eating disorders often disconnect us from our inner cues, emotions, and sense of safety, art therapy helps rebuild that connection—at your own pace. It allows for expression beyond words and offers a space to witness your story through a new, empowered lens.
Do I Have to Do Art Therapy?
No—art therapy is always optional.
While I am a Board-Certified Art Therapist (ATR-BC), I am also a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), and many clients choose to work with me through traditional talk therapy.
I offer an integrative, trauma-informed approach that includes:
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Client-centered talk therapy
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Somatic techniques to support nervous system regulation and body awareness
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Strength-based counseling that focuses on your resilience, values, and goals
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Mindfulness and grounding tools to help with anxiety, stress, and emotional overwhelm
Art therapy is available as a resource—not a requirement. Some clients never use art in sessions, while others may incorporate it occasionally or regularly. You’re always in control of how we work together.
If you're curious about art therapy, we can talk about how it might support your goals. And if it's not your thing—that’s completely okay. Healing looks different for everyone, and my role is to support what feels right and effective for you.
How Do I Get Started?
If you have additional questions or want to learn more about how I work, please don’t hesitate to reach out. You’re welcome here—exactly as you are.