Marsha Cottrell Memorial Scholarship for Future Art Therapists

The year is 2020, and I’ve just moved into my apartment after living with my mom and 4-year-old daughter in a one-bedroom, one-bath apartment for the last three years. I was accepted into the Family Scholar House, a program designed specifically for single mothers providing wrap-around services, under one condition: I had to enroll in post-secondary education. Over the next 4.5 years, I would obtain two degrees and complete my first semester of graduate school. The journey was not without its challenges, as I navigated the academic world as a non-traditional, first-generation, single-parent student, but these struggles only fueled my determination. One of the services the program offered was weekly Art Therapy, both in group and individual formats. I attended my first group session and knew from that moment forward that I was meant to become an art therapist. These sessions have not only shaped my career path but also had a profound impact on my personal growth. I’m currently a 2nd year art therapy student at the University of Louisville. I’ve had the honor of working in collaboration with the houseless, youth, and substance abuse populations thus far as a student clinician, and I have left each group session feeling that the work I do as an art therapy student is empowering, impactful, and necessary. Being able to share space with women who are experiencing homelessness and the conditions that come along with it, to create watercolor portraits, or collages while also being transparent about life choices, mistakes, and lessons is the reason I continue to push through my trials. I often say, my art is my activism. Working with individuals who society has deemed as unfit, unworthy, or undesirable allows both me and the participant to humanize their lived experience through art, despite the “norms” we’ve been made to abide by. Being able to release in real time through wheel throwing or sculpting reminds me, as a mother, student, and person, that what I feel and how I feel are normal, and that they will always be valid. I intend to provide that same level of clarity and recognition to each participant I come in contact with. I’m currently interning at a local organization, the Center for Women and Families, that provides wrap-around services to women experiencing Domestic Violence, Intimate Partner Violence, and Sexual Abuse. Over the next year, as an art therapy intern, I plan to continue growing in my knowledge as a student clinician while also furthering my efforts to work with populations who have temporarily forgotten the power they possess within themselves. My dream is to be of and in community, and to serve as a tool of artistic and creative expression for those who need it most.

Art has been my passion for as long as I can remember. Before the world told me who I was, I was a carefree, free spirited child. After the suicide of my cousin at the age of 14 ( I was 15), I became anxious and hypersensitive to the well-being of others. I knew people suffered in silence, and I did not know what to do about that. I wanted people to know that I care. Even if i did not know someone, I cared. At that moment, I knew I wanted to be a therapist. At the age of 18, my mother was diagnosed with stage four sarcoma cancer and was not given a good prognosis. Living in fight or flight mode for over a year took a toll on me mentally and emotionally, but mental health was not talked about as much as it is today. I suffered in silence, not knowing if my mom would leave this earth at any moment. The day of her first surgery at Moffit Cancer Center in Florida, I paced around the hospital as the white sterile walls surrounded me. Upon turning a corner, there was a room on the corner with glass walls and color everywhere. My wonder made me inquire about the room, and I was told it was for art therapy, mostly for the pediatric oncology unit. This caused that physical ping in my heart. Art utilized in therapy? That sounded beautiful. I knew I wanted to become an art therapist. Years later after graduating with a degree in art history and studio art from The University of Georgia, I planned to attend graduate school to study art therapy. I took the GRE, but my path changed. The anxiety and worry I held in over many years caught up with me and I began to self medicate. I realized quickly I was an addict but those years, I look at as a blessing and a curse, provided life experience that will only benefit me in my endeavors to help others. I recovered. I saw women suffering in treatment with no options after detoxing. I had support, I had the means to get back on my feet. I vowed to never return to that life and started to teach art classes. I eventually owned the studio I worked at but there was something missing. My heart and gut were telling me to still pursue counseling. I did it. I have taken all of my courses in graduate school for clinical mental health counseling, and am finishing the last two semesters of my internship. I was offered an internship at a place called "Art It Out". Unfortunately, having two young children of my own, the schedules did not line up. I am currently finishing my last two semesters of internship at a holistic PHP/IOP Substance Use Disorder facility. They utilize art therapy at one of their locations and I intend on becoming certified so I can offer it to the clients at the location I am at (assuming they offer mea job)! Art has been a constant in my life and remains my means of self care and therapy. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and just need a little help at the moment. This is an concise as I could make my response with the word limit. Every way I facilitate a group involves expression and art. The clients love it and I want to continue to help others heal through self expression. Thank you for your consideration!