Art, like ritual, is a child of the imagination; it is a way of making meaning and expressing longing. Over the last 25 years, I have been privileged to witness how creative expression can help clients reduce stress, communicate difficult issues, and even transform and transfigure traumatic events imaginatively.

Tatjana Jansen graduated from the Vancouver Art Therapy Institute in 1992. Since then, she has worked extensively in a variety of non-profit agencies, with her area of specialization being trauma counselling. She has also worked in the field of grief and loss, and completed a PhD on the topic of grief and the expressive therapies. In her dissertation Taking Leave of Our Senses: Ruminations on Grief and Comprehending the Incomprehensible she focused on the liminality of grief and mourning in embracing the boundaries between life and death; the disenfranchisement of grief in Western culture is such that despite the fact that grief and mourning are universal aspects of our experience of love and love lost, we still silence grief, relegating it largely to a private experience and expression.

Tatjana has been involved with VATI since 1997 in different roles including online curriculum development, course instruction, and clinical supervision.

To me, art therapy is about creating a space in which people can use art to ignite their imagination, and exercise their creativity in order to see their world in new ways. I approach my work from a strengths based perspective, and I am particularly interested in the role that creativity can play in building resiliency.

Laura brings to her work at VATI over 20 years of art therapy experience. Laura graduated from VATI in 1995 and completed her MC:AT in 2006. Her role at VATI includes clinical supervision, instruction, curriculum and program development. She also has an ongoing private practice and is particularly interested in working with vulnerable client populations.

Lori Boyko has worked as an art therapist since 1996. She brings her experiences as an educator, life-long Learner and Creator to her work in her private practice in Rural Manitoba. Lori’s training encompasses a wide range; including work as an Educator and Trainer in Canada, Brazil, Mexico and Vietnam and as an Art Therapist and pioneer of School Art therapy programs in rural Manitoba. Her interest in working with issues of trauma has led her to further training in the areas of Sand Play Therapy, EMDR, Inner Relationship Focusing and Mindfulness. Lori has a post-graduate diploma in Art Therapy (VATI) and a Master’s of Counselling with an Art Therapy Specialization. Her interest in body – centered work, the practices of mindfulness, other creative therapeutic modalities, attachment research and Inner Relationship Focusing Oriented Psychotherapy have impacted her current work with clients.

Recently Lori relocated to another rural area of Manitoba where she continues to work passionately to apply Art Therapy within school systems and Art and Expressive Arts Therapy in working within the area of Trauma Therapy. Current areas of growth and interests include the creation of a Professional Development Company in order to meet the professional learning needs of the growing number of art and expressive arts therapists in central Canada; and further training and interest in providing clinical Art Therapy supervision across Canada.

Rachela Buonincontri has earned a Master’s degree in counselling from the Campus Alberta Applied Psychology program and has professional training in art therapy through the Vancouver Art Therapy Institute. She is a Registered Provisional Psychologist registered with the College of Alberta Psychologists, Certified Canadian Counsellor with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA), and a professional art therapist and member of the Canadian Art Therapy Association (CATA). She is also the Alberta representative for the Creative Arts Chapter of the CCPA, and a member of the Prairie Chapter of CATA.

Having pursued education in both psychology and art, I was ultimately led to art therapy where I found my niche. After graduating from Emily Carr, I found that the meaning of art for me was situated not in the commercial arts world, but rather in the healing arts world. I had discovered more consciously that the making of art heals, inspires, challenges, and has the potential to connect one to their possibilities in the world and the wonder of it. In making art, we see things anew.

In my practice since 1992 as an art therapist, I have worked extensively in agencies with women who have suffered severe trauma, sexually reactive children, and First Nations children as well as private practice. My work has included methods for treating trauma such as EMDR. More recently, I have completed a Master’s degree in expressive arts therapy (EXA) from the European Graduate School and am enrolled in the doctoral program where my emphasis of study has been on trauma and numinous experience. I am dedicated to the healing arts and as such am enthusiastic to welcome others into pursuing a similar journey.

Crystal began her education at the University of Saskatchewan where she developed a strong interest in research while attaining her undergraduate degree in psychology. Crystal was involved in conducting several neuropsychological research experiments at the U of S, including her honour’s thesis work that investigated humans interacting with visual illusions. Her research experience led her to a job as a lab technician for the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge, where
she later completed her Master of Science degree. A passion and curiosity for the possibilities of art therapy brought Crystal to the Vancouver Art Therapy Institute. Crystal has been teaching the Research Methods course and advising VATI students’ research projects since 2011, and strongly encourages students to publish their research in peer-reviewed journals. Crystal is full-time faculty at Columbia College in Vancouver, where she teaches Research Methods and other psychology courses.

I work with the basic principles of connection, compassion and creativity as a practitioner and educator in the field of art therapy. I believe the creative process is a powerful means of bringing us into connection with our bodies, the senses and natural intelligence that supports healing and wellness. I also find art making provides a wonderful opportunity for developing more compassion and genuine care for ourselves as we consciously work with the inner critic and fears concerning self expression. Compassion can be also be deepened in our relationship with others when we risk sharing our hopes, fears, strengths and vulnerabilities through the arts; helping us see and understand each other from new perspectives. I use my own creative practice for self-care and the pure enjoyment of making things. I am currently working with textiles and experimenting with therapeutic weaving and storytelling.

Gretchen completed her BFA at Emily Carr University with a focus on sculpture and community arts in palliative care. She went on to further her studies at VATI while continuing to work with patients and families facing end of life. For 12 years, Gretchen was the art therapist at Callanish Society; a non-profit organization offering residential retreats, support groups and creative arts programs for people living with cancer. While completing her Master’s in Counselling Psychology at Simon Fraser University, she began to focus her studies on clients who had experienced trauma. Gretchen is currently training in a body-centred approach to trauma resolution through Somatic Experiencing®.

Gretchen teaches art therapy courses locally at VATI, UBC, Justice Institute of BC and Adler University. She also teaches in Asia and works closely with Nepal House Society in Pokhara, Nepal.

My approach to art therapy is influenced by a lifelong career in the visual arts. As I strive to blend a passion for creativity with a deep interest in healing and personal growth, my understanding of how to be an effective therapist continues to evolve. I have been in private practice as an art therapist in Vancouver since graduating from VATI in 1996. As a general practitioner, I provide therapy to a diverse range of populations, working with a broad spectrum of issues. I especially enjoy engaging with clients’ dreams, and continue to explore the effect that focus has on their healing.

Mehdi is a graduate of VATI with a background in the visual arts (UQAM) and a master’s degree in counselling psychology from Yorkville U. He has extensive training in play therapy and verbal therapies. Mehdi has been active in the field of professional art therapy as a board member of the Canadian Art Therapy Association since 2003. His research interests range from potentials of collage in assessment, to the history of art therapy, and the role of men in art therapy. Mehdi lives and gardens on Vancouver Island.

Nicole Parekh graduated from VATI in early 2011 and completed a Masters of Expressive Arts Therapy and Psychology from the European Graduate School in 2017. One of Nicole’s practicum placements through VATI was the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation. Upon graduation she was hired as an art therapist and has been working there ever since. Nicole has also worked on contract with various local organizations such as the Vancouver School Board, Adler University and the Stanley Park Ecology Society. As an artist she has volunteered her time to community arts events and organizations such as the Eco-Arts Salon with the Community Arts Council and the Moon Festival with the Still Moon Arts Society. She has also presented at CATA and BCATA conferences, and loves to research, write, and talk about the arts therapies.

Nicole currently seeks inspiration while exploring the fields of eco-psychology, art activism, virtual reality, and therapeutic textile arts and discovering how they can relate to and broaden her perspective on art therapy. Nicole loves painting, singing, dancing and generally infusing her day to day life with imagination, play and the practice of creative expression, and is particularly fond of sharing her love of the arts with her family.

Susanna Ruebsaat, Jungian oriented art therapist, clinical counselor and supervisor, has developed a mythopoetic mentorship for clients and practitioners wanting to bring an archetypal lens to their practice. Exploring life narratives (personal myths) as a process of transformation, Susanna follows the journey of Individuation as it presents the possibility of stepping into an archetypal awareness of soma and symbol, shaping a mythopoetic inquiry that acts as a container for the metamorphosis of trauma: PsycheÂ’s ulterior motive towards wholeness.

Encounters with the Authentic Self and false self (or selves) are an inherent part of this deep journey. The Authentic Self and the false self speak in different languages. They have different (and often differing) voices and speak of different things. What are they speaking about? What do they each tell us of ourselves? Therapy can be a place of inquiry into these voices and inner figures they are connected to in relation to the Self, Ego, Anima/Animus and the Shadow archetypes.

Micheala has a B.A. in Psychology, a B.F.A. in Fine Arts and a Masters Degree in Creative Arts Therapies. She is a registered Counsellor and Clinical Supervisor with the Canada Counselling & Psychotherapy Association and also holds registration as Art Therapist with the American Art Therapy Credentials Board.

Micheala is currently working towards a Doctor of Education in Distance Education at Athabasca University with dissertation focus in the use of digital storytelling in video clinical supervision for counsellors working in rural and indigenous communities to mitigate risk of compassion fatigue. She works in private practise and offers in-person and distance counselling and clinical supervision services throughout the Northern and Interior regions of B.C. Her clinical specializations include wellness and healing across cultures, trauma therapy and the integration of Somatic Experiencing Trauma therapy with creative arts therapy modalities. She maintains studio practise as an abstract painter and shows work on a bi-annual basis.