Hello, my name is Mariah
I am open-hearted, playful, and forever curious Art Therapist with a passion for learning new things and making time to travel locally and globally to explore myself as I learn from other cultures and nature. Some of my favorite things to do when I travel are checking out the local art scene, getting lost in a book, loving on every animal and beautiful plant I encounter, then allowing all that history and inspiration to make its way into my art that I then hold onto as a gratitude anchor. I am a big nature and animal lover and always enjoy taking my two Bernedoodles along with me on my adventures! My desk, bookshelf, and planner are rainbow coordinated with a collection of rocks, crystals, plants, and various gratitude and sensory objects there to greet me on my desk with art and lists surrounding me with gentle reminders.
My Story
I know the feeling of being told to not take up space and that your best is not enough, leaving you to feel like you are lacking something, but don’t know what it is that will fill that hole. Nature, creativity, and self-empowered education helped me find solutions within and around me, and now I find it immensely fulfilling to help other people dare to take up more space, prioritize what's important, break things into doable steps, and together see what is possible, especially as it connects to neurodiverse, LGBTQIA+, and polyamorous communities. I work alongside people who have learned they need to turn off certain emotions and needs and had to grow up fast to carry the burden. After being told that parts of their authentic self were not welcome or desirable people come to me when they are ready to do the work to reclaim their worth, identify boundaries, set gentle expectations, and explore what balance looks like.
As a big fan of getting to know how the brain works and someone who enjoys reading the entire manual before trying to get something to work or fix it, I like to use what research has shown us about how the brain heals by being engaged on both sides to inform my somatic, creative approach to therapy. We often overuse and rely on our left, logical brain when talking and rationalizing, but at the end of the day that’s not where our emotions live, so it’s only so helpful on its own. That’s where the trauma-informed approaches of Art Therapy, nature, and SAFE EMDR come in to honor the body and our emotions’ roles in healing trauma, getting past feeling stuck, and creating inner balance. In Art Therapy, everything you create is correct because no matter what it looks like it's done its job of giving your emotions and body intentional time and space to create change.
~ Not taking new clients ~