Art therapy

CRATE is a Calgary-based art therapy practice offering workshops for kids & kids at heart. Together we explore mindful, art-based, and STEAM-centered activities to enhance emotional well-being. Let’s make it CRATE!

Upcoming Workshops

Discover your inner strengths

As an art therapist, I will provide a safe space for you to build the skills necessary to cope with challenges related to:

  • Art therapy can help you identify the sensory experience of anxiety and regulate the nervous system through art-based grounding exercises in order to break unhealthy thought patterns.

  • Therapeutic art provides a method for understanding self-compassion, acceptance, and personalized meaning.

  • The use of mindful-based art can teach you to recognize, understand and manage our emotional states.

Building blocks for lifelong growth

At its core, CRATE uses a five-point framework designed to guide and represent my uniquely personal approach to art therapy.

 
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 Client-centered

Your story is unique to you, an individual; you are a meaning-maker who constructs your understanding of the world through your experiences and memories.

 
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Research-focused

Your creative exploration will incorporate research-based art therapy principles and techniques to help you obtain your unique therapeutic goals.

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Art-based

Visual art exploration will be the primary technique for you to express yourself. The artistic process can help you speak the unspoken—when you might not have the vocabulary to share it verbally.

 

Therapeutic

Using creativity as a therapeutic tool can help you build resilience, develop coping skills, and act as a cathartic release to aid in the regulation of emotions.

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Experiential

My role is to guide you in the hands-on art-based practice to improve psychological stability and be more self-aware.

 

Meet Christy

Hi, I'm Christy Herdman. My pronouns are she/her. As an art therapist, I see you as a unique soul with the capacity for empathy and self-compassion. I will work with you to help you find your voice, be a catalyst for change in your own narrative, and use creativity as a therapeutic tool to help you thrive.

I'm a Certified Art Therapist registered with the Canadian Art Therapy Association and hold a Bachelor's of Arts degree and a Master's Diploma in Art Therapy. I look forward to supporting you in your journey.

Honored to receive an International Avenue Arts and Culture Centre sponsorship, and be one of seven artists selected for the Fuse 33 Makerspace Artist in Residency Spring Cohort (April 1 – June 25, 2024).

Black and white headshot of Christy, smiling with glasses and hair in bun.
Illustration logo for International Avenue Arts & Culture. With the slogan "the heArt of the commUNITY"
Photo of a zine style book on wooden background. Pages ae water colored and words capture to be all the feels.
 
 

Are you a teacher, counselor, therapist, or community leader and interested in working with CRATE?