Shereen Bar-or MPS, LCAT, ATR-BC is founder of Art Therapy Collective, a private practice based in Brooklyn, New York and serves as Social Action Chair on the Board of the New York Art Therapy Association. Shereen designs opportunities to engage in creative social justice endeavors and promotes the importance of expression, healing, and community engagement. As the daughter of Iranian Jewish immigrants, Shereen is an active activist, an avid gardener, and emphasizes the importance of self-care and social action within her personal and professional life. Follow @atcbklyn or check out arttherapycollective.com for more information.

Janeen Chasan and Alexa Inserra joins us this week on The Other Couch to discuss their personal and professional experiences with grief.  "Being the therapist you wish you had" is a major takeaway from this episode, as well as understanding what the grief process looks like from a realistic point of view and not rigid stages.  Janeen offers her perspective as an art therapist who works with hospice and has worked through her own complicated grief.  She shares her original archetypes and approaches to grief as a therapist and a human.  Alexa shares beautiful, vivid metaphors that anyone listening will definitely take with them.  As always, please connect with us on social media to continue the conversation and to join our community.  Thank you for listening! 

Steph & Jess are back for a brief discussion on their respective fields and what it means to be a therapist and a human being.  "You can't teach how to be a human being in a textbook". 

Hi, this is Jess. So this is an article that I wrote for the mighty.com called "Confessions of a therapist with an anxiety disorder". And this was one of the topics of the beginning burgeoning conversations that Steph and I had about creating a podcast.
I guess you could say this was kind of our inspiration.
It's pretty vulnerable. And it's pretty honest about the struggles that I have, and continue to have as a human with anxiety, and also as a human who happens to be a therapist.
So I wanted to share all this with you, as we're all getting to know each other because I think it's important for you to know this part of me too. And I hope that by me, sharing my experience that paves the way for all of you to share yours. And that's what we're really looking for here. We want to create a community that's based on cutting out the bullshit and this idea that therapists need to have it all figured out or that everything needs to be kind of wrapped in this pretty little bow have. I struggled it but here's what I learned that you could be still in the midst of the struggle and still be doing amazing work and being an amazing person. I saw this quote that goes kind of perfectly with Steph being an art therapist, which is that you could be both a masterpiece and a work in progress at the same time. And I would say that's definitely true for me.

Lynn Min joins us on the other couch this week to discuss money, clients and therapy.  She shares her journey to becoming a therapist, pastor and coach. 

Lynns bio:
I believe every dysfunction, disorder, and pain was somehow born to cope with life and protect the best parts of us. In the journey towards wholeness, we all need a power greater than ourselves (call it God, love, or family...) to provide acceptance, support, and a safe place to unravel. I invite you to that space to come and be; to take an honest look at yourself for who and what you really are; to realize your issues make sense.

My promise to all of my clients is: You. Make. Sense.

I'm a licensed mental health counselor, a certified life coach, a pastor, and a mom of three. Decades of counseling, working with people in and out of church, and motherhood- all of my experience has taught me that mental health and spirituality go hand-in-hand. Wellness is lived out when we are whole- mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically and relationally. And out of all relationships, the most significant is the one with all the pieces of our own selves. 

I believe in magical synchronicities. If something resonated with you, please reach out and let me know. [Lynn@lynnmin.com] Rooting for you on your journey towards wholeness and unapologetic boldness!

Andrea Brognano, LMHC

Happy Mothers Day! This week we interviewed three fantastic therapists that shared their experience of being moms and clinicians.  Jennifer Harrington, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Alexandra Brown, Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Krystie Izzo, Licensed Mental Health Counselor all share the joys and challenges of both rewarding roles.  "Being a therapist prepared me to become a mom and becoming a mom prepared me to be a therapist."

Jennifer Giuglianotti, M.S, BC-DMT, LCAT is a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist, Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapist, and founder of Balanced Life Movement in Brooklyn and upstate, NY. Her practice is steadily growing and now includes five Creative Arts Therapists offering integrative, holistic psychotherapies. She blends talk therapy with body-centered approaches: Dance/Movement Therapy, play therapy, and art-making. Her creative approach is grounded in Gestalt therapy, which asserts that our bodily experiences form the base of our relationships in the world. When words are not enough, movement and art languages communicate the feelings surrounding illness to better understand and heal. Jennifer also leads creative arts therapy retreats in nature at Bloom by the River Mountain House. With nature, creativity, and support, we have the capacity to create remarkable change in our lives. https://balancedlifemovement.com