Back in person, stitch by stitch.

After two years doing telehealth only, I have a new art therapy and counseling studio space in the loop, just off the Jackson CTA stop in downtown Chicago. I am having a studio warming on Friday, June 24th from 4 - 7 pm. If you would like to attend, please RSVP here.

Katharine's art therapy studio space. Includes large window, cozy orange chair, shelves full of art materials, a big red table with some small quilts in progress.

image description: a large window over a radiator is on the left wall, along with a framed collage. there is a cozy orange vintage chair with a high back in the corner. next to that are metro shelves full of collage, painting, drawing, and sculpting materials. a red table in front holds a container with colored pencils, some glue and embroidery thread, and a couple in progress quilts.

I will continue to offer telehealth— I believe it is important for access for disabled and immunocompromised people, people taking care of babies, people who live farther away from the office, or other reasons that would prevent access to care.

But for those who are able, doing art therapy in person offers so much. First, the obvious— choice of art materials. On telehealth, we are limited to what may exist in your own space. In the studio, we can be spontaneous and flexible. We can look at what challenge you are bringing to the room in the present moment, and how your nervous system is reacting to that challenge. We tap into your strengths and areas you’d like to grow. Then we can ask, which art materials or methods will best meet these needs? The answer may be different each time we are together and we will have options on hand. I will keep your projects safe in the space, so you can leave therapy “stuff” at therapy, without taking it home with you.

Another view of Katharine's art therapy and counseling studio in downtown Chicago. A large shelf of fiber art materials is behind a cozy chair and pillow, tall lamp, and aqua table with a basket of yarn underneath. A large window lets in light.

image description: a large metro shelf is fully stocked with various fiber art materials. a cozy orange chair with a pillow and a big lamp sit in front of the shelf. there is an aqua table in front, with a basket full of yarn stored below.


Beyond art material options, going to therapy in person can offer a sense of safety, an island of calm. A sanctuary away from a busy life, giving you time and space to reflect. No more wondering if your roommate/partner/children are listening in from the next room— this is time just for you. When you come in person to my new space, you will be greeted with tea and a cozy rug made by artists at Envision Unlimited in the private waiting room.

A view of the private waiting room with a shaggy blue rug and a basket of tea bags, with the door open leading to the main art therapy and counseling room.

Image description: a shaggy rug made of various shades of blue fibers is on the floor next two a small table with a basket of tea and mini-hand loom materials. There are two mustard colored chairs next to the rug and a table with a vase of flowers and a couple zines. there is a small quilt hanging on the wall. on the left is an open door looking into the main art therapy & counseling space, which includes a couple tables and a large window.

I am considering both physical and emotional safety for this transition to an in person therapy option.

I know we are still living in a pandemic. As far as physical safety, I am fully vaccinated and boosted, and I ask that you be as well (otherwise, telehealth is still an option). We can wear masks, wash our hands at the sink, use hand sanitizer. I will have an air purifier on, and I can crack the window for ventilation. We can both agree to switch to telehealth if either of us is sick.

But I know there’s an emotional risk in beginning to do more things in person, as pandemic life continues to shift. The past couple years we have had to adjust, again and again. I understand any trepidation about more change. In the photo above, you can see a small quilt hanging on the wall. It’s the first of a triptych I’m making of improvised quilts for the waiting room, meant to convey a sense of comfort, warmth, and flexibility when you first walk in— emotional safety. As I piece together scraps and make one stitch at a time, I remember that’s all we can do. Take one step at a time, at the pace that feels right for us, in the direction we want to go. If you want to learn more, please contact me or learn more about art therapy and counseling services.

Katharine's hand creates visible stitches on a colorful quilt.

Image description: Katharine’s hand is stitching with rose colored thread into a small quilt made of green, yellow, blue, and cream colored scraps.

Stuff to do while social distancing during COVID-19

Right now, we are experiencing a global COVID-19 pandemic which is causing most people to practice social distancing as an effort to flatten the curve. Epidemiologists are telling us, if you can stay home, stay home. Cancel everything. This is not possible for everyone, of course. But it is possible for me to help flatten the curve and work toward protecting community well-being as a therapist through video, or “teletherapy.” In many ways, this is heartwrenching. The relationships I have with the people I work with are based on presence, on artmaking, on the subtle expression through body movement that is easier to detect in person. I look forward to seeing the people I work with, welcoming them into my warm studio space, and offering them tea.

Suddenly, I am instead welcoming people to therapy through the click of a button and a couple of screens. While it has its drawbacks, it is offering something new: a shared experience of resiliency and adaptation during tough times. An opportunity to self-reflect on why video therapy was not already an option for increasing access for disabled people. A chance to see the plants and pets and makeshift art supplies in your space instead of mine (speaking of pets, my cat Jane has made more than one video art therapy appearance). A chance to not rush around commuting— to allow for space.

Beyond teletherapy, what can help us get us through this time? I am starting to collect resources of stuff to do while we are at home. I categorized them, so we can mindfully think about which type of care we need in each moment. I anticipate editing this as I find more. If you have ideas, get in touch. Updated 3/25/20.

Absorb art.

Neil Gaiman offers free stuff.

Metropolitan Opera free streaming.

The African-American Art Shaping the 21st Century.

Take a musuem virtual tour.

Free catalogue of Indigenous films.

Free livestreams from Center for Puppetry Arts

Audible Stories - free kid/youth audiobooks.

Free video of Broadway plays.

National Film Board of Canada has 4,000 free streaming titles.

Chicago Public Library online resources.

Full length dance performance archive through Columbia College Chicago.

A list of virtual concerts.

The Social Distancing Festival.

Faces of Frida.

Search youtube and instagram for comedy, music…

Make art.

Lunch doodles with Mo Willems.

Art at home.

Lynda Barry teaches you how to draw.

Swear word coloring pages for adults.

Sew CDC-compliant face masks for staff.

Comics workshops.

The Art Assignment: introduces you to innovative artists, presents you with assignments, and explores art history through the lens of the present.

Artists, this is what we train for.

Make a movie using your phone.

Write, make comics, make stuff out of whatever you can find in your home, build a fort.

And countless craft tutorials on youtube…

Share stories.

COVID-19 Comics.

Another collection of COVID comics.

Disability Visibility Project.

The COVID-19 Chronicles.

#quarantinefiction

Archive your story.

Learn.

JSTOR makes database accessible to the public.

UIC library free online resources.

Skype a scientist.

NASA makes entire media library accessible.

10 university art classes you can take for free online.

Ten free e-books from Haymarket books.

Yale offers The Science of Well-Being Class for free.

Brush up on your sex ed.

Guggenheim releases over 200 modern art books online for free.

Experience nature.

Virtual national park tours.

Garfield Park Conservatory digital tour.

Birding is the perfect social distancing activity.

Virtual garden tours.

Take a walk. Look at the sky. Look at the lake.

Cope.

Care for your Coronavirus anxiety.

Ground.

Quarantine tips from my cat.

Free yoga livestream.

Mental health & COVID-19.

How communities are coping during coronavirus.

youtube or on-your-own yoga, dance, stretch, move, exercise, meditate.

Support/get support.

Chicago COVID-19 Mutual Aid Volunteer Sign-up

COVID-19 Mutual Aid Fund for LGBTQI+ BIPOC folks

Rogers Park Community Response Team.

Ways to support Rogers Park small businesses.

Free internet.

Reach out to friends, make a phone call, write a letter.

Disrupt racism.

Coronavirus fears show how ‘model minority’ Asian Americans become the ‘yellow peril’

Disrupt ableism.

Disabled oracles and the Coronavirus.

Podcast.

Corona community.

11 podcasts feminists should listen to while social distancing.

How to survive the end of the world.

Play.

Free games to download.

Improvise over video chat with friends.

Zoom karaoke with friends.

Feel your feelings.

That discomfort you’re feeling is grief.

What do we lose when we stop touching each other?

Hope.

Artists developed an app that allows strangers in quarantine to talk to each other.

Rogers Park mother and son paint rocks to spread positivity during Coronavirus pandemic.

Quebecers are putting rainbows on windows for people to find during walks.

Sign up to receive daily Storycorps stories to lift your spirits.

Dolphins and swans appear in Venice canals during quarantine.

Do nothing.

Slow down, practice stillness, make food, move your body, show the people you love that you love them, allow yourself to not be productive.

The case for doing nothing.

And the New York Times has lots more…

Comics, community, and the acupunk

Next Friday, July 28th, I am co-facilitating The Tao of Art workshop II: Comics! with Sonny from Purple Cloud Center for Eastern Medicine. During our last workshop I was incredibly moved by the participants creating together in community. I can't wait to learn more from Sonny about Taoism, practice meditation, and see what wild or sad or funny or weird stories we can tell through words and pictures. You can learn more about Sonny here, but I have to add to his bio that I like to call him "the acupunk" based on his sweet musical taste and style. If you want to come, we would love to have you. No experience needed. Click here to reserve your spot.

 

Sonny the Acupunk

Comics are powerful. Last week I had the honor of leading a comics workshop at Artworks, a drop-in community artmaking space at the Harold Washington Library. Here's a little about Artworks from the library's website:

"The mission of ArtWorks is to cultivate inclusive communities through the arts and cultural exchange. Our aim is to foster the development of understanding and compassion between people, despite social and cultural differences. ArtWorks programs are based on the beliefs that the arts belong to everyone, and that collective art making practices promote respect for difference and inspire positive social change."

I thought maybe 6 or 7 people would show up for the workshop, but just before it began, ten people were around the table... then twenty.... then thirty! We pushed tables together, grabbed extra paper and pens, and started drawing! It reminded me of just how accessible comics are. You only need paper and pencil or pen. It might seem intimidating to think of how to tell a visual story, but with a little structure and support the ideas start to flow. Check out Artworks on the 8th floor of Harold Washington, every Wednesday 4:30-7:30-- free!

What I'm reading

One of my favorite things about being an art therapist is that I never stop learning. While technically a requirement of maintaining licensure, through continuing education credits, learning is really so much more than that. 

I learn from each person I meet, whether in individual therapy, a group, a community-building setting, supervision, or in my teaching practice. I learn by listening. I also learn by reading. It seems like each time I have a new client or have a meaningful conversation with a friend I am inspired to read or re-read another book, which then feeds back into my conversations and my art therapy practice. This is a photo I took today of all the books I am currently reading or re-reading. A mix of non-fiction and fiction, of comics and prose. A mix of subjects including cartooning, grief and loss, gender and sexuality, HIV/AIDS, neurodiversity, cancer, end-of-life, death, slavery, history, feminism, trauma, joy, and creativity. You know, life.

I will never stop learning. But perhaps I should impose a moratorium on buying books for a while...

AllTheBooks

 

 

Collaborative Workshop: The Tao of Art

Lorel "Sonny" Zaide is an acupuncturist, meditation teacher, and owner of Purple Cloud Center for Eastern Medicine in Rogers Park. When I met Sonny for coffee, we immediately bonded over our mutual love of Lynda Barry.  In Lynda Barry's book What It Is, she talked about overcoming the doubt and worry that blocked her from enjoying drawing by sitting with the uncertainty of not knowing whether the drawings would be "good." When she could admit that she didn't know, "that strange floating feeling of being there and not being there came back [...] To be able to stand not knowing long enough to let something alive take shape!" Sonny and I discussed the Taoist concept of "wu-wei," or effortless action, and its parallels with the flow state that can happen during artmaking. This called for collaboration!

We are offering The Tao of Art, a workshop designed to allow you the chance to express yourself through effortlessness. Click here for more information and to register.

I can't wait to see what happens, but I will try to sit with the uncertainty of not knowing. Hope to see you there!

What is art therapy?

The simplest way to put it is, art therapy is like talk therapy, plus artmaking.* Let's say you want to work on identifying problematic relationship patterns, processing grief/loss, or even coping with stress or fear due to the political climate! Have you ever felt that you can talk and talk about a problem, but nothing changes? Art therapy provides a way for you to take control of your story. You are the creator of meaning in your own life. Whether you think of yourself as an artist or not, adding a nonverbal form of expression to talking things through can increase your understanding of yourself, others, and your community. 

I field the "What is art therapy?" question nearly every time I tell someone what I do. There is no shame in not knowing! Do you have questions about what art therapy looks like? Contact me, and I'll be happy to discuss them with you.

*I'm referring to individual art therapy/counseling in this context. Art therapy can also look like activism, community-building, group work, and more!