Art Therapist First | Art Always

Art Therapist First | Art Always

Art Therapist First | Art Always is a one-day symposium devoted to nurturing the art therapist self. Together we honor intuition, creative practice, and art as a lifelong source of healing, reflection, and professional grounding. This gathering invites art therapists to return to their own art-making, deepen clinical insight, and reconnect with the heart of the work through conversation, experience, and shared creative wisdom.

The day begins with coffee and a continental breakfast, offering time to arrive, settle in, and connect through informal conversation. This opening space is intentionally designed to support connection—offering time to meet one another, reconnect with colleagues, and settle into the day through shared presence before formal programming begins.

We then move into a rich and reflective conversation between Bridget Rose, intuitive mentor and coach, and art therapist Caroline Tye, exploring the role of intuition and gut knowing in art therapy practice. Together, they will reflect on how intuition guides clinical work and how it must be intentionally nurtured and cared for in order to remain a trustworthy companion. This conversation emphasizes the importance of tending to our art therapist self as an ethical, relational, and sustaining practice.

Following the conversation, Bridget will lead participants through a guided experiential process designed to help reconnect with deeper internal wisdom and the art therapist identity. This experience will create space for reflection, creative exploration, and embodied knowing, while also offering tangible techniques that participants can integrate into both their clinical practice and personal self-care routines.

Next, Cathy Hyland Moon, an art therapist whose roots are deeply planted in Chicago, brings her decades of work in higher education and community-based practice. As a respected author and longstanding contributor to the field, Cathy will facilitate a dialogue on art practices as self and community care in the midst of social upheaval. Using her own artwork and poetry as illustration, she will encourage attendees to reflect on how art can help us center, witness, process, and heal--both individually and collectively--during times of uncertainty and change.

Our final presenter, Bruce Moon, a pioneer of the art therapy field and a beloved academic and mentor, will offer an art therapy concert --- a unique, moving experience that weaves together art, music, storytelling, and reflection. Drawing from his 42-year career, Bruce will share lessons from his professional journey, highlighting the power of using one’s own art to process experience, integrate learning, and communicate meaning within and beyond the therapy space.

Participants will then have a midday break for lunch on their own, offering time to rest, reflect, step outside, or continue conversations at a pace that feels supportive and nourishing.

Following the symposium, participants are invited to an optional afternoon gathering hosted by Dandelion Therapeutic Art Center: Art Therapist First | Art Always Gallery Experience. This experience includes studio tours and a gallery-style art experience that honors art as central to healing, reflection, and therapeutic relationship. Light refreshments will be available, inviting participants to linger, explore, and continue conversations in a relaxed, art-centered environment.

Together, these experiences are thoughtfully curated to deepen clinical knowledge, support professional growth, and strengthen the relationship between art therapists and their own art-making. Art Therapist First | Art Always offers a cultivated space to reflect, create, connect, and be restored — nurturing both clinical practice and the art therapist soul.

3 CE

Dandelion Therapeutic Art Center is an AATCEP Provider℠ (ATCB Authorized Art Therapy Continuing Education Provider℠)

Caroline Tye and Dandelion Therapeutic Art Center are seeking approval to offer Art Therapist First | Art Always for continuing education credit. Please check back for updates.