There's so much happening behind the scenes that I can't share quite yet. More updates coming soon!

#aata25 #aata2025 #arttherapy #arttherapist #arttherapyresearch #arttherapyeducation #arttherapyconference #utaharttherapist

🚀 So many great conversations about elevating art therapy through research

🖌️ Handed out business cards you can paint on (because of course)

Quick wins from today:

📬 Collected signups for my latest project (details soon!)

📆 I'm hosting a "Research Nerds Breakfast Chat" meetup on Friday morning, and the people who've responded are really excited

What a privilege to connect with experienced art therapy educators and researchers, many of whom I've admired for a long time!

We've been deep in conversation about the best ways to teach, research, and lead art therapists, art therapy students, and graduate programs.

✨ Day 1 at the art therapy conference in Portland.

Wampold approves.

🤔 I didn't think I would go to the #aata2025 art therapy conference right in the middle of my PhD program.

🍁 But I just realized it coincides with my fall break! Better late than never.

🕺 See you there...? (Comment below if you're going, too!)

#arttherapist #arttherapy #arttherapyconference

Yes! I'm trying to find my way through the maze of opportunities as I start my second year of PhD coursework... but let's keep in touch about it! I have lots of support here.

I was introduced to graphic medicine last year (my first year of PhD) and I can’t believe it hasn’t gained more of a foothold in art therapy. Thank you for sharing!

CPTSD is a injury-- & we don't heal injuries by judging them for their severity. "That shouldn't have been enough pressure to break that bone" doesn't magically make the bone un-broken-- but it can put us at risk of trying to walk on it & making it worse.

It's the same w/ CPTSD.

Every few years I get obsessed with #murmurations all over again.

At one point I was trying to figure out if there was any way to concoct a murmuration tattoo.

They are beautiful and mysterious and magical all at once.

9/

#arttherapy
#arttherapist
#arttherapylife
#phdchatter
#phdsky
#academicsky
#backtoschool
#backtogradschool
#lfg

8/

❣️ I even understand a good amount of stats. 

❣️ I’ve made important professional connections and taken big risks.

🚀 Most importantly, I’ve gotten the same feedback over and over again. 

I’m in the right place at the right time doing the right things. 

🤿 Here’s to diving in without drowning.

7/

❣️ I’m not yet where I want to be eventually, but I can see clear progress.

❣️ I read articles differently and understand them more.

❣️ I have better questions.

❣️ I have new ideas for how to study art therapy, and those ideas are in line with the current state of scientific inquiry.

6/

Some might call it double-dipping. I call it multi-purpose, and it has always been one of my guiding principles.   

🎯 I can really see how much I have learned in just one jam-packed year.

5/

⿻ This year, I’m prioritizing overlap.   

🔶 I’ll write course assignments that advance my future research interests.   
🔶 I’ll use RA opportunities to gather skills for art therapy research.   
🔶 I’ll overlay data collection on top of the work I am already doing in my practice.

4/

Last year, eager and enthusiastic, I let myself get pulled into projects that were important to others but less valuable to my goals.

3/

We start with days of orientation, during which we’ll meet and mentor the new first-years, re-introduce ourselves to the faculty, and give elevator speeches about our research interests a dozen times or more.

↔️ It’s all made me reflect on where I’ve come from and where I’m going.

2/

In just a few days, the second year of my PhD program begins.

🧐 I’m going into this academic year wiser, more protective of my health and well-being, and more focused on what is realistic and what is possible.

This image shows a person wearing red sparkly glasses, black headphones, and a black face mask, holding up a sign that reads "Being Intentional About Going BACK TO SCHOOL" in decorative lettering. They're wearing a black shirt with colorful letters spelling "LFG" (which commonly stands for "Let's F***ing Go" as an expression of enthusiasm or motivation). The setting appears to be indoors, possibly in an office or institutional building, with modern lighting and furniture visible in the background. The overall tone suggests someone who is excited and motivated about returning to school or an educational environment.

1/

😷 Please indulge me with the masked-up pic.   
  
It’s a few years old, from my first day of chemo during COVID, but the sentiment seemed appropriate for this post.   
  
🌺 Especially the “LFG” shirt. “Let’s f—-ing go!”

#arttherapist #arttherapy #creativeartstherapy @creativeartstherapist #creativeartstherapies #therapistsofbluesky #academicsky

🤐 6/ There is a lot of momentum for CAT higher education right now in our state. I can't share all the details yet, but it feels like the culmination of all my career dreams to bring art therapy classes back to the University of Utah.

💟 5/ The art therapy class filled to the brim with a wait list.

🖌️ 4/ Because the 4 classes all started in the same semester, we had several get-togethers where the students could meet and interact with the other disciplines. We thought they deserved to know that they were part of something big.

👩🏻‍🎓 3/ We opened it up for undergraduates, graduate students, and even members of the community who were interested in learning about the field and whether they wanted to pursue art therapy graduate education.

👩🏻‍🏫 2/ Although I have taught undergraduate "Introduction to Art Therapy" classes in the past, there was something special about this one.

This image shows a website header for the University of Utah College of Fine Arts. The main visual element is bold, stylized text that reads "MORE THAN ART, MORE THAN TREATMENT" with "ART" displayed in yellow letters and "TREATMENT" in red letters against a yellow background block. The text "MORE THAN" appears twice - once in white at the top and once in red within the yellow section. The background has a teal/green color scheme, and there's a partial view of what appears to be a photograph showing hands on the right side. The University of Utah logo appears in the top left corner, and there are navigation menu items visible at the top right including "About," "Students," and "Faculty & Staff." At the bottom, there's a photo credit to Brandon Cruz and a byline indicating the content was written by Emeri Fetzer.

🚨 1/ The University of Utah College of Fine Arts just published a write-up on four introductory classes we launched last semester. We had classes for each of the main creative arts therapies -- music therapy, dance movement therapy, drama therapy, and art therapy.

finearts.utah.edu/studio-25/mo...

Sorta feels like "they are actively gutting cancer research" should be finding more purchase out there

We need to teach people the difference between being uncomfortable and being unsafe. Because the discomfort of the safest people is endangering the most vulnerable, all day every day.

This is such a good one!