Vala Kondo Legan
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Art Therapist
424-290-8048
valakondolegan@gmail.com

Clinical Art Therapy

Art therapy is a powerful modality that helps people resolve conflicts, improve interpersonal skills, manage problematic behaviors, reduce stress, and achieve personal insight.
The integration of art and therapy allows increased expression of emotions and access areas of the brain frequently impacted by traumatic experience.
I I am trained in the California style of art therapy that requires me to hold an additional license as a marriage and family therapist. This clinical approach means that I draw on a wealth of psychology to inform my work.
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Art Therapy does NOT require you to “be good at art”.
Art therapy is NOT “an art class”.
Artwork produced in therapy is completely private.
Is Art Therapy right for you?
While anyone can benefit from Art Therapy, it is especially helpful for;
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Children and adolescents; especially those who are adverse to attending therapy.
Art is a non-threatening and familiar experience for children.
Art therapy allows children and adolescents to work within a “metaphoric” structure, frequently allowing healing to occur without immediate verbalization of painful topics.
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Individuals who have been through any form of trauma: including abuse, combat, natural disaster, criminal victimization and long-term stressors during childhood.
Neurobiological research shows therapeutic imagery can “build a bridge” from the right side of the brain (where visual centers are located and where trauma is stored) to the left side of the brain (where language is located), allowing processing of trauma through verbalization.
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Families who are experiencing problems in communication.
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Individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder or Dementia.
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Any person with limited ability to express themselves verbally or persons with tendency to over-express themselves verbally.
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People who have had negative or unproductive experiences in verbal therapy or are resistant to therapy.
