I see you.
Traditional therapy can max out in effectiveness after a while.
If you’ve done therapy before but feel stuck still, maybe it’s time to try something new. Art Therapy, EMDR, or psychedelic-assisted therapy could get you through your stuck points. Alternatives to talking therapy can also help people calm their nervous system in a more substantial way, which can help them heal from the effects of trauma, alleviate symptoms of chronic illness, and live more meaningful lives.
Art therapy could help you level-up
Jess Minckley (they/them) is an artist, researcher, educator, art therapist / mental health counselor, dog enthusiast, & entrepreneur specializing in working on wellbeing in newer and less-traditional ways.
What is Art Therapy?
In practical terms, art therapy uses creative modes of processing and expression to promote healing alongside regular talk therapy.
Art therapy clients may use traditional tools and media or less traditional ones, such as stickers, perler beads, PlayDoh, or digital tools.
You don’t have to have any art skill or talent to benefit from art therapy
It’s not just for kids or people with Autism (not sure why this is what people think!) although it’s great for them and lots of other people.
A variety of mental & physical health conditions can be treated using art therapy.
A credentialed art therapist has studied at the graduate level to be able to plan the treatment of diverse people with a variety of issues using multiple interventions. Art therapy research is continuing to develop alongside advancements in neuroscience.
Art therapy as a discipline is a nationally regulated mental health profession
The American Art Therapy Association (AATA) sets ethical standards for our profession. The Art Therapy Credential Board (ATCB) gives credentials. These include Provisional (ATR-P), Registered Art Therapist (ATR), and can include Board Certification (ATR-BC). Do not endeavor to do art therapy with anyone who does not have these letters after their name as they may not be trained at all in art therapy! It’s not a weekend certificate or a can of markers in a regular therapist’s office.
In art therapy, your brain’s two hemispheres have a new opportunity to connect & integrate nonverbally.
Creative processes can “unlock” buried content without re-traumatizing clients by asking them to verbally recount painful memories. If you have tried talk therapy and it didn’t help, or if you tried a modality like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and left still feeling like there was deeper work to do, this may be why. You were only using half of your brain!
We work with
Individuals
Couples
Families
This includes adult children & their parents, adult siblings
We offer art therapy in Los Angeles, California in-person/virtual
+ tele-therapy for people in other states (and CA)
Using state licenses + National Credentials, we provide Mental Health Counseling in several states& we’re always in the process of getting licensed in more. We can use the Art Therapy credential to practice independently in some U.S. states. If you don’t see your state represented below, please reach out and I’d be happy to speak to you about whether we can work together!
Utah
Associate Clinical Mental Health Counselor (ACMHC)
License # 13269676-6009
Idaho
Mental Telehealth Counselor
License # 6161075
Washington
Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC)
License # LH61457229
Coming Soon
Florida, Michigan, California
California
Registered Art Therapist (ATR)
#22-455
Just a few of the issues we work with people on:
Twins & other multiples
Being a multiple is a unique experience that not every therapist can truly understand. Competition and jealousy can appear in the sibling relationship as well as outside of it. Feelings of loneliness can arise when you’re not with someone else. Deep connection but also enmeshment can arise. And individuals may have trouble intuitively knowing their own identity apart from their sibling.
Couples Intensives
I love working with couples, especially queer ones. Journey through communication skills, deepening honesty, regulating yourself, learning about each other’s past in a different way, creating deeper compassion and understanding, and maximizing love and pleasure in a consent culture.
Graduate & Doctoral Students
Students in master and doctoral programs face unique stressors. Many experience anxiety, imposter syndrome, financial anxiety, and suffer from sleep problems. Journey with me through your program, find coping tools and resources to make your time in school more manageable. Be more decisive. Understand what is important and what can go by the wayside. Learn to relax deeply between active periods of homework and reading and presentations and peer work. Manage the oppression that sometimes comes from programs, the institution, and faculty members, especially when they do not understand disabilities. It’s not you.
Estrangement/Cutoff
When you stop talking to someone in your family or if they’ve stopped engaging with you, it can be confusing, heartbreaking, angering, and lonely. It takes a lot to make this decision and you may even be considering it but can’t follow through because of guilt. Sometimes people need time apart to nurse their feelings and take care of themselves. Process what this is like for you in the safety of a nonjudgmental, understanding, compassionate relationship where nothing you say will make someone leave
Creatives
If you’re an artist of any kind: musician, designer, actor, or visual artist, you may experience artist’s block, imposter syndrome, comparison/envy, or feelings of grief. If you struggle to identify as an artist, thinking you’re not really good enough to be An Artist, therapy can help. As someone who’s been an art person and teacher since forever, I deeply slign with all the challenges creatives face. I’d love nothing more than to help you get back to the joy and pleasure art can give us.
Parents & Trans Kids
I have been blessed with a lot of experience counseling men, in particular trans men. I also really enjoy supporting parents or caregivers of trans and/or queer kids as they navigate their inner process in therapy so their kids don’t have to witness it, which can be confusing and incredibly painful for kids.
Check out PFLAG for free, location-specific support for parents by clicking the button below.
Consultations
20-minute consultation video or phone call $25.00
10-minute call FREE
