Amelia Hutchison

Amelia is an artist and art psychotherapist living and working online from the Slocan Valley of British Columbia. Art therapy combines approaches from psychotherapy, counselling, and art-making to support people in their mental health.

Making art is how I take care of myself. I love the way art opens up space to explore feelings through colour, poetry, movement, and metaphor. As a person with ADHD, big feelings, and more questions than answers (not to mention living through a global pandemic), making things helps me feel safe, alive, and connected. Creativity has also been my pathway to healing after trauma and grief.

For the past decade I’ve worked as a facilitator and teacher in Canada, the United States, and Vietnam. I noticed how art creates opportunities for connection and self-discovery in ways that conversation alone sometimes cannot. I became an art therapist because I wanted to combine my passion for mental health and creative expression to offer a unique approach to community-care and self-care.

The name “Art Therapy in Real Life” came from my research as a graduate student. In the early months of the pandemic, I created a podcast to explore how the field of art therapy was adapting to the online world. As a student, I didn’t expect to build a practice online instead of in-person. “Real life” now seems to include both the digital and analog ways we move through the world. Today, my work as an art therapist seeks to explore how we can feel well while navigating this digital age.

As a person with privileged intersections of identity, (I’m white, a settler, queer, cis, and neurodivergent) I am curious about what it means to engage in wellness practices while challenging systems and beliefs that cause harm. I believe both the client and therapist bring wisdom, creativity, and insight into the art studio. Together, we co-create a therapeutic relationship.

Hello@ArtTherapyInRealLife.com