Impressions of our impact: A look into our collective and continued growth as we head into the new year.
Witnessing and repairing: Shared stories of healing through the rebuilding of community and connection.

Amanda Gee (Lower Sackville, NS)

I have spent winter trying to stay warm, and healthy. And learning new skills. It always feels good to learn something new in the colder months when I just want to be home, on the couch, cozy under a blanket, but still wanting to be creative.

Sarah Gysin (Ottawa, ON)

Throughout this issue, our contributors share the value that engaging in personal reflection and individual art practices has in illuminating new ways of understanding and processing our experiences, both personal and professional.

Art Therapy Conversations
Rebecca Montgomery (Vancouver, BC)

This interview with registered psychotherapist Stephanie Wu was overflowing with deep chats, Stephanie is a kind person with considerate awareness both of themselves and the world around them. They have experience working in social services, community clinics, drop-in spaces and shelters as a counselor, art therapist, facilitator and advocate.

Shae Anthony (Vancouver, BC)

Hello, my name is Shae. I am speaking to you as an Irish and Six Nations Delaware woman trespassing on unceded xwməθkwəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱ wú7mesh + Selílwitulh lands, with thoughts that I have for settler art therapists who wish to be strong allies to Indigenous peoples.

Featuring artwork by Dillon Lewchuk (Sooke, BC), Sherry Lynn (Grimsby, ON), Sarvatmika Rajeev (Chennai, India), and Jasmyne Smith (Hamilton, ON).

Jennifer Lee (Montreal, QC)

Not only has this practice emerged to shape and engage my challenging emotions using embodied and generative practices, but it has helped me to gain new perspectives and develop a new relationship with art-making: viewing the art process as a container and intermediate space of creation, contemplation, intention, and reflection.

Maria Riccardi & Gabrielle Gingras (Montreal, QC)

As art therapists, we make mistakes and enter the relationship with our own history, bias, and sensitivity. Consequently, it is important that we demystify and normalize potential ruptures and take ownership of our mistakes in order to repair them with our clients.

Patricia MacAulay (New Glasgow, PEI)

Repeatedly, I saw that a change in perspective on an adult’s part altered the way that they interacted with a child, thus increasing the child’s sense of safety. I also saw changes in the adult as they developed greater confidence in their ability to relate to children and deeper compassion for themselves and others.

Nature’s Way
Taylor Bourassa (Ottawa, ON)

The true nature of emotions is that they’re playful little communicators. So naturally, I think of the faeries. Those fair folk who live in the trees and underground, in mounds and hills, under the ocean and in the reeds.

Emmanuelle Cesari & Liliane El Dib (Paris, France)

On peut voir sans être vu, mais on ne peut toucher sans être touché, ce sens est fondamentalement réciproque, il tisse des liens. Il a deux fonctions complémentaires : il nous permet de définir les limites de notre corps, de nous sentir nous-mêmes, pour ensuite nous projeter, entrer en communication et agir sur le monde.

Anna Nike Leskowsky (Toronto, ON)

A desire to connect with other people through painting portraits was always a part of my creative work. I painted images of my daughter to express love for her; I drew impressions of my brothers to communicate the unconditional bond between us; I included my other family members in this process because I missed or admired them and naturally, I turned to painting self-portraits to explore my own identity.

Stefanie Munro (Regina, SK)

We learn, grow, stumble, and repeat to find deeper meanings in ourselves and in the world around us. There are no right or wrong answers; there are only layers, interpretations, and choices. Art bores into the solidified layers of our defenses to show us who we are and who we can become.