Art Therapy

Do you struggle with feelings of depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, or loss? Is navigating life transitions challenging for you? Are you seeking healing and growth to live a better life?

Whether you’re already working towards living a more authentic and meaningful life, or you haven’t thought about using therapy to feel better about yourself and to actively create the future you want, skilled therapeutic support can help you better address the challenges you face.

Liz Hartz brings 20 years of experience and extensive professional training to help you realize greater emotional well-being and stronger mental health. She combines her training as a board-certified Masters level art therapist and as a licensed independent clinical social worker to help you develop the skills you need to move your life forward and to strengthen your confidence in your unique identity.

Rest assured - you do not need artistic talent or experience to benefit from art therapy. Liz guides you to use readily accessible art therapy options that complement meaningful conversations about your concerns. This creates a synergy, catalyzing and developing your inner resources.

Art therapy engages your brain on multiple levels: sensory, kinesthetic, perceptual, emotional, cognitive, and symbolic. During the creative process, your brain shifts into a flow state - one of heightened awareness and deepened relaxation. This flow state supports more holistic thinking. It helps create deeper ways of knowing. And it stimulates insight and helps integrate emerging awareness.

This creative place allows communication between the conscious and the subconscious mind. It is a bridge between the abstract and the concrete, making thoughts and feelings visible and accessible for processing, integration and transformation.

The human brain has a strong visual dominance. People generally think in images. We mostly dream in images. We thought in images before we had language. Images have a special power to express, to hold meaning, and to communicate with others. These qualities make art therapy effective for everyone, and allow it to take people where words alone cannot. And it can be especially valuable when dealing with problems that are not encoded in the brain in words, such as trauma and pre-verbal experiences.

In her personal and professional experience, Liz continues to be amazed at the power of art therapy to expand self-awareness, activate the healing life force, regulate emotions, and strengthen positive functioning. The creative process is empowering. It promotes individuation. It is both calming and uplifting. It is a safe space for exploration and rehearsal of new ways of being. It promotes healing and growth, and it expands and anchors your emerging wisdom.

Throughout her career, Liz has helped people with a variety of mental health concerns. She has become especially focused on helping people with dysthymia, a long-lasting form of low-grade depression, with healing self-esteem issues, and with developing a resilient, positive identity. She also specializes in treating adjustment disorders, helping resolve the stress of significant life change, transition and loss. Liz is here to help you transform and thrive as you live forward.

Liz is constantly expanding her repertoire, pursuing many different tools and approaches, just as life challenges us to evolve. Liz can help you incorporate relaxation skills, mindfulness, self-compassion, and positive psychology principles into your life. She can also help you develop a strong resiliency narrative, clarify your values, and overcome dysfunctional beliefs and thinking patterns.

Liz has training in sand tray and soul collage. All of these resources and techniques interface with the art therapy process. Liz also utilizes neuroscience principles to support change and enhance integration of your personal growth. Liz will work with you to develop a customized approach that best meets your needs and helps you realize your goals.

“Love Called Him Like a River”

To get a feel for what Art Therapy is and what it can do to deepen and enrich your life, please watch this moving tribute to Don Jones, one of the founders of the American Art Therapy Association. Don was an inspiring teacher, a dedicated therapist, an artist, and a muse to many people, including Liz. He spent part of his career working in Columbus, Ohio.