Testimonials
We asked graduates about how their art therapy education has supported their professional and personal growth, and below are the narratives they shared with us. We are grateful for their insights, as well as their contributions to the art therapy profession and broader community!
Through the TATI Art Therapy program, I felt so privileged to have learned invaluable clinical and experiential skills, as well as being welcomed as a part of an exceptional professional community that really helped to support me as I entered the working field as an art therapist.
— Mollia May Weidman
September 2020 cohort
The journey of art therapy education has been very wonderful for me in many ways. I learned about modalities that can help individuals to claim back their mental health. Furthermore, every class we had in TATI was teaching us something about ourselves. Knowing about boundaries, emotions and self-care made me a more useful and helpful person. I am really grateful that I could be able to study art therapy. It is a very sacred profession because I can make a tiny difference in someone else’s life.
— Nafiseh Emadmostofi
January 2018 cohort
There have been several benefits professionally and personally that TATI has afforded me, however I am most grateful for the ways that the education was tailored to accommodate my neurodivergent learning style while also functioning as a foundational strength for the ways that I have been able to support my clients in the field. On a personal level, my education at TATI has also allowed me to overcome creative blocks and severe burnout that resulted from my previous competitive fine arts training during my undergraduate degree.
— Caitlin Black
As an art therapy graduate from TATI, I’ve experienced profound transformations in my professional practice. Alongside my education as an art therapist, I further expanded my training in couples and sex therapy. Integrating art into my sessions has become a defining feature of my approach, proving a powerful tool for open dialogue and emotional exploration among my clients. These experiences have deepened my understanding of the field and strengthened my commitment to holistic healing. My educational journey has been transformative, providing me with invaluable skills and techniques. More than that, I have found a deep passion within me—a passion for using art to facilitate healing and growth. I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the field and anticipate further exploration and discovery in my journey ahead.
— Christina Droumtsekas
At TATI, I was provided space for reflection, growth and the development of what has become my gentle but powerful voice. Despite my cohort being online due to COVID, I was able to foster connections and engage in conversations with others on similar paths of openness, desire for understanding and healing. TATI helped me find community and rooted deeper my desire for reconciliation and fostering of safe spaces for collective healing and liberation. Now as a graduate, I continue on my lifelong journey to spread compassion and work to make the invisible, visible.
— Aisha Husseini
September 2020 cohort
I’m so grateful for the connections I made in the program and the learnings I’ve gained both professionally and personally. I don’t think a lot of other schools practice an anti-oppressive and trauma-informed approach in a true way, and I believe that TATI has efforted to do that. I’m glad I took the art therapy program at TATI. The experience was invaluable.
— Janet Ho
Art therapy education has been instrumental in both my professional and personal growth. Professionally, it equipped me with the skills to effectively help clients navigate their emotional and psychological challenges through creative expression. Personally, it deepened my self-awareness and provided me with tools to manage my own stress and emotions. This dual benefit has made me a more empathetic therapist and a more balanced individual.
— Madiha Bhatti
September 2018 cohort
The process of becoming an Art Therapist has been an adventure in discovering a new career, a place like home, and the gift of truly belonging. It has been wonderful to learn more about myself through the process, but even better to use this new shared imagination to inspire all of us (therapists and clients alike) to journey towards a place of greater health and healing.
— Alex Nicholls
The education I received from TATI has been fundamental for my professional and personal growth. It has given me a unique skill set to help individuals express and explore their emotions through art forms, enhancing my ability to connect with clients. It has deepened my understanding of the therapeutic power of art and enriched my self-care routine.
— Rebecca
My experience in the graduate program at TATI has been nothing short of life changing.
On an academic level, I have never been so challenged and held to such high standards. The learning experience is very well-rounded and thorough, and the instructors bring with them a vast array of professional experience in their chosen area of focus.
The small class sizes are conducive to bonding as students and future professionals, and to creating a strong relationship with instructors. Each student is accountable, not only to the instructors and to Helene, but also to each other.
The supervised clinical practicum hours required to complete the program are absolutely valid and necessary in order for students to enter the art therapy field well prepared and competent in a clinical atmosphere.
Ongoing supervision is required throughout the practicum and the research process and I personally gained an incredible amount of knowledge and experience through the supervision provided.
The proposal, research and thesis components were well supervised and advised. I found my advisor to be very committed, approachable and clear and concise with his advice. He was a strong advocate for the work I did, and he guided me through the process with great support and critical evaluation.
The opportunity to grow and gain personal insight through participation in the TATI graduate program has allowed me to become very self-aware and balanced in my own life, creating the strong ability to practice in the most effective way for the clients with whom I work.
On a professional level, I now find job opportunities abundant, and feel very prepared and well qualified to work in the art therapy and the mental health field. In a recent interview, an interviewer remarked upon viewing my TATI education, “I’ve heard that is a VERY prestigious program”, and I agree wholeheartedly.
Since graduating from the TATI program, I have held contracts in long term care, hospital settings, community health centre settings, with those living with acquired brain injury, those living with Alzheimer’s disease, caregiver groups and those living with developmental and learning challenges.
I have never found myself without opportunities, and most recently have begun working full time in the addictions field. I have been given the opportunity to present my art therapy research at the Canadian Collaborative Mental Health Care Conference in 2014, and most recently have been asked to complete a book review for the Dementia and Ageing Research Team in Manchester UK.
None of this would have been possible without the education I earned at TATI, so thank you, Helene!— Krista Schneider, BA, DTATI
Thanks so much for everything… I am currently making a living as an art therapist at 6 different worksites (including groups and individual sessions with people with addictions, brain-injured clients, survivors of domestic violence, children and teens who have witnessed domestic violence, and people with severe mental illness) and I am always looking to expand my practice.
I am currently proposing seniors groups at the various local retirement homes. I’m working in Lindsay, Sutton, Port Perry and Port Hope.
I cannot tell you what a difference my time at TATI has made in my life, and how grateful I am to you, and to all my instructors and supervisors.
I am so proud to say that I am an art therapist.
In 2013 The Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General awarded me a Victim Services Award of Distinction for textile art project with survivors of domestic violence in Kawartha Lakes.
— Annalisa Danowski, DTATI
During my time as a student with TATI, I participated in group therapy sessions and immersed myself in unbelievable placements, gaining valuable experience in and knowledge of an art therapy career as a result. Not many students could say they were given an opportunity to lead Addictions Rounds at CAMH, or co-implement an art therapy program for men seeking addictions treatment at the Good Shepherd DARE Program. I’ve also spoken during Mental Health Week at McMaster University and volunteered for a “new memory project” for women staying in a shelter in North York.
Currently, I working with a new program being offered by Youthdale Treatment Centres which is located at Covenant House in downtown Toronto. The Intensive Extended Day Program seeks to fill the vast gap in mental health services for youth aged sixteen and older. Working with an incredibly dedicated team of administrators, a psychologist, social worker, child and youth workers and many others to shape this necessary endeavour has been a dream.Currently, I working with a new program being offered by Youthdale Treatment Centres which is located at Covenant House in downtown Toronto. The Intensive Extended Day Program seeks to fill the vast gap in mental health services for youth aged sixteen and older. Working with an incredibly dedicated team of administrators, a psychologist, social worker, child and youth workers and many others to shape this necessary endeavour has been a dream.
Feeling like what I’ve accomplished and will continue to work on has been meaningful and had an impact on the lives of others is truly a gift. I also value the incredible connections I made with my classmates, and hold them in the highest regard. Their work and dedication continues to fascinate, motivate and inspire me most of all.
— Sari Richter, BFA, DTATI
Changing careers is a difficult proposition and one that saw me retiring from one career and starting another through the distance learning program at TATI.
I selected the distance learning program because it was the best option for me and traveling to Toronto for two semesters was easier for my circumstances.
The course covered a lot of information and was delivered in manageable chunks that were easy to absorb. The structure of the course was clear, logical and concise and allowed me and my fellow students to expand on our posts, thoughts and get feedback from each other as well as the instructor. Meeting on line through a visual chat for the experiential course was something I had never participated in before, but the instructor made sure that we all had time to present to the group, ask questions of fellow students, and provide feedback as a facilitator. It was an interesting experience to meet everyone in person for the first time in Toronto but it seemed like we had already formed a bond with each other than carried through the whole course.
It wasn’t just about the new knowledge and the skills that we were learning to become art therapists. The main benefits came from doing assignments, the experiential exercises and sharing our stories and experiences on line, receiving individual feedback and interacting with the professors who were patient, experienced and knowledgeable. It’s been some time since I was a full-time student, and it took some time to adjust, but it was easy to follow the lessons and the format of the on-line program and with the help of the instructors and fellow students, it became second nature to participate in the posts and on line discussions.
I chose to do a major project and my advisor was amazing. She was extremely supportive throughout the whole process and when I needed guidance, she was willing to point me in the right direction and helped me stay focused through skype calls, phone calls and emails. I even had the chance to meet her in person on one of my trips to Toronto that wasn’t related to TATI.
My practicum site was a private psychiatrist’s office in Thunder Bay and although supervision was through skype calls, my supervisor was always available through messaging, emails and if I needed an extra skype call, she was willing to be there for me. She sent information and articles that would help with my practicum and the feedback was beneficial for my development. I also branched out to complete group sessions at CMHA which was encouraged by my supervisor to broaden my experience and my training. Helene worked extremely hard to find places to complete my practicum hours and contacted many organizations to help me get placed.
The distance learning format gave me the ability to work in my own community with the constant support of the office staff and instructors. The two on-site semesters allowed my cohort to bond and by the second semester, it was clear that we had been a part of something special and would stay in touch for years to come. The on-site guest instructors and lecturers were extremely well prepared, and imparted not only knowledge but their wisdom about the profession and their specialty whether it was puppet-making, sand therapy or working in different settings with various populations.
I feel confident moving forward with this career with the education, support and guidance that I have received from TATI and look forward to my future as an art therapist. I will be opening my own practice soon, as I recently graduated, but feel confident that I will serving the community well with the tool and knowledge I have gained through TATI.
— Tammy Reynolds, HBA, BEd, DTATI