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Art therapy
Click on the phone icon to text,
e-mail to: neurolotusmx (a) gmail.com or directly book yourself in for a FREE
20-minute call to meet and find out if art therapy is a good fit for you!
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What is Art Therapy?
Art therapy is an integrative therapeutic intervention that facilitates non-verbal communication and emotional processing through our natural inclinations to express ourselves artistically.
Art therapy helps you connect and re-connect with your expressive skills: visual, sensorial and kinesthetic (movement). Art therapy is NOT an art class. It is a safe space to get support to process your emotional needs. In art therapy, the most important part of art-making is the process itself, rather than the final product, no aesthetic judgements!
Art therapy facilitates and presents itself as an empowering therapeutic venue to strengthen your self-awareness, self-esteem and guide you towards insightful healing experiences.
Maya Angelou once said, “there is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” I am here to support you in expressing your untold stories. I will witness and listen to your untold stories and help you express and process them through the tools that expressive arts therapies provide, particularly art. Art therapy is a less challenging medium to explore your emotional needs. Through the sessions, I will help you catch those overwhelming emotions and entangled thoughts. Together, we will find the best strategies for you to make the changes you need to feel better.
As an art therapist, I use humanistic, mindfulness and systemic approaches. Through these, we will find tools to empower yourself and feel supported in your healing process. I am committed to helping you learn life-long skills to set your goals, purpose and strengthen your self-esteem effectively. As time evolves and the Creative Arts Therapies communities recognize that some of our approaches, practices and interventions have utilized spiritual and non-Global North (Eurocentric White-generated knowledge) I take a humble cultural stance and I am committed to my continuing education and collaboration to learning from spiritual native healers.
As a multi-ethnic woman, I have experienced and endured the hardship of oppressive racism and social injustice. Consequently, I am empathic and advocate for Social Justice matters. To me, the most important thing is to help you navigate such issues in the best possible way.
Want to read a bit more about art therapy?
Read what some Art therapy associations say about it
Who am I?
Ah, existentialist questioning? Don't we all wonder?!
Lily (she/her)
I am a pet lover, melomaniac (music enthusiast), hiker, and I guess at times, dark existentialist joker ;)
I consider myself a decolonial feminist. As an art therapist, I feel it necessary to integrate my feminist stand within the therapeutic setting. This mindset helps us reach a safe and brave space where I can support you in processing internalized capitalism, becoming your own ally, and empowering yourself. Furthermore, this benefits the therapeutic relationship, allowing cultural humility to flourish to avoid oppression dynamics.
Associations, accreditations, professional orders
What are all these things?
Do I care as a person seeking a therapist?
Yes, you can. It might be to your economic benefit. As a client, you are entitled to understand and learn what credentials your therapist or counselor holds and what all these titles mean. I am a first-generation immigrant to Canada. Not only for me but for other colleagues who venture into private practice and social advocacy, it can be quite confusing what legal requirements are necessary to practice art therapy in Quebec and how things work.
I am a:
ATPQ- Art-thérapeute professional du Québec (Professional art therapist of Québec) by the Association des Art thérapeutes du Québec-AATQ
And I am a professional member of the
Canadian Counselling and Psychological Association-CCPA & Quebec Counselling Association-QCA (11241479)
And a Naturopath N.D. by the Academy of Naturopaths and Naturotherapists of Canada (21-6655) - a cool hack Art therapists and other Creative Arts Therapists (CATs) in Quebec do support our clients to request insurance refunds. Yey!
- A line of work that aligns with counseling from naturopathy is lifestyle, wellness & mental health guidance/ coaching.
In Mexico, to work in the professional fields, you need to obtain a national professional license from the Ministry of Education upon graduating with a Bachelors's degree. Thus, in Mexico, I am a professional psychologist (Licenciada en Psicología- 09070494).
In Québec, art therapists are not recognized to practice "psychotherapy" by the Ordre des psychologues du Québec. Nonetheless, Canada's Creative Arts Therapies degree programs provide us with tools and experience in the mental health field through rigorously supervised practicum internships (stag) in clinical settings (I personally gathered more than 250 hours of supervision, and more than 1000 hours of clinical work). Consequently, art therapists and other creative arts therapists in Québec practice art therapy as a therapeutic avenue for wellness.
The Art Therapy Association of Québec (AATQ) and other Creative Art Therapies professionals (Music and Drama Therapy) have been working towards the creation of an Order, which with time, will help us gain more recognition and rights both for our clients and us.
A summary of my professional path
(you can read more about me and my academic work in my bio and publications sections)
2021- I got my Masters of Arts in Creative Arts Therapies (specialty in Art therapy) from Concordia University, Canada.
- I recognize and am thankful the CAT Department for granting me an entry scholarship.
2015- I studied Music Cognition and obtained an MSc in Music, Mind, and Brain from Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom.
- Studying this MSc was possible thanks to the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT, Mexico) and the Banco Santander-Goldsmiths Scholarships, I'm deeply grateful to have been fully funded to have this study experience.
2014- For my undergraduate studies, I studied at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and obtained a BSc (Honours) in Psychology.
- While studying at UNAM, I had the opportunity and privilege to participate in two exchange programs with scholarship support one at the University of California at San Diego and the other at Concordia University.
I enjoy researching and collaborating on interdisciplinary academic research on
Neuroaesthetics and Music Cognition.
* I acknowledge and recognize I have the privilege to have been born into an academic family and was fortunate to be able to access scholarships from a very young age to continue my pursuit of knowledge and learn to deconstruct oppressive theories and value ethical research practices.
