Art making will allow participants to work through life/professional/academic experiences in a safe and expressive way. Art as healing is a growing movement that has a lot to offer to people working through emotions that are difficult to put into words.

Art Therapy is the use of the creative process partnered with psychotherapy which offers a chance for self-exploration and understanding. Art allows us to explore things we may not have words to explain. While Art Therapy can be a deep and intense form of counseling, this group will focus on a lighter form of art therapy – ‘art as healing’. We will be using art as a tool for expression and discussion.

Session:

- Participants will have access to an array of collage materials

- They will be asked to consider what their goals are for wellness and reflect on what helps them most to stay in balance.

- “Balance” teachings from a Haudenosaunee perspective.

Facilitator Information:

Melanie Gray graduated from Queen’s University in 2016 with a BAH in Art History and Indigenous Studies. She went on to do her graduate program at the Toronto Art Therapy Institute where she graduated in 2018. Her thesis was titled The Ohén:ton Karihwatéhkwen

Project: Introducing Art Therapy to Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory using the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address. As an Indigenous Art Therapist, Melanie continues to be grounded in her Haudenosaunee culture and uses this understanding in her practice.