As a child, I learned to use art as a creative and emotional outlet that continues into my graduate studies at the California Institute of Integral Studies where I'm entering my third and final year as an Expressive Arts Therapist. I began using art as a way to speak without speaking, and share my story in order to create connection within myself and my community. I leaned into group art making with children and adolescents during my time as a summer youth worker with the Kalispel Tribe, with which I am an enrolled member. As an adult, I found a passion for collaborative art making through bookarts and installations. During these workshops, I witnessed the participants experience personal growth as an individual and as a community. I learned how I am able to hold space for others and committed to deepening my strengths in art and community by becoming an Expressive Arts Therapist. When words are difficult to find, art steps in whether it be visual, sculptural, performative or written, there are endless forms of expression that can be flexibly curated to meet the needs of the person. Every story deserves to be told in the way each person wishes to tell it, espescially those without traditional access to care. My current work is anchored in working with low income children and families, with an emphasis on play therapy, trauma informed care, multicultural identity exploration, and all types of grief, within a safe, person centered, strengths based and compassionate space.

For as long as I can remember, I've used creativity as a way to express my emotions and process the experiences around me. As a teenager and member of the Kalispel Tribe, I began working in our cultural department, spending my summers with fellow youth exploring our heritage and learning about ancestral methods of art making, foraging, and spiritual practices. After becoming a mother, I volunteered with our local public schools using printmaking and sculpture as a way to support the kids exploration of individuality and recognize the community around us. These practices evolved into group art making in college, where I discovered how impactful group work can be in exploring identity and having a voice. When words are hard to find, art steps in as a medium for communication and self expression. As I begin my third year of graduate school as an Expressive Arts Therapist at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, I've cultivated a range of therapeutic modalities used to provide mental health support and healing with both individuals and groups of all ages. Integrating arts with therapy was and is a full circle moment, that honors my strengths as an artist and my desire to help those around me.