Yuli is currently studying to become an art therapist at the Canadian International Institute of Art Therapy. She decided to take this career path because it has been her life mission to use creativity to help others.

She graduated from Algonquin College, Ottawa with a Bachelor of Interior Design. She has worked in Tokyo at an art installation firm, and learned how to create comfortable and joyful physical spaces for people. She also worked part time teaching English conversation to adults and art to children. As a teacher, she had the privilege of working with age groups ranging from 4 to 70 years old. This is where she found her strength for holding safe learning environments to help her students grow.

Growing up as a second generation Asian Canadian, Yuli experienced the cross-cultural challenges living in Canada, Taiwan, and Japan. Art has been a tool for her to navigate and understand how her environment makes her feel. It helped shape her identity and gave her a safe platform to express her true thoughts. This sparked her love for art therapy. Yuli looks forward to providing creative guidance to clients, making a welcoming safe space where they can explore, grow, and express themselves authentically.

Yuli is currently studying to become an art therapist at the Canadian International Institute of ... Read More

Richard is a student art therapist currently residing in Ontario Canada. He has received an advanced diploma with honours from the Georgian College of Applied Arts and Technology and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax Canada. With his artistic background, Richard uses art as an integral part of daily life and is now studying under the Canadian International Institution of Art Therapy in order to spread the wonderful magic of art-making in a therapeutic, creative environment. Richard can usually be found painting away in his studio or researching theories and concepts to add to his eclectic creative practice. While Richard’s main focus was painting in school, he has come to love all art processes.

Richard views art as a magical door that helps open us up to new worlds, new experiences, and new ways of self-discovery.

Richard is a student art therapist currently residing in Ontario Canada. He has received an advan... Read More

Charlotte is a student art therapist, and fine artist based in Surrey, British Columbia. Graduating from Grant MacEwan University in 2009, with a Diploma in Mental Health. Charlotte worked in the human services field for 5 years, spanning her experience in age demographics and therapeutic practice. She’s worked with adolescents to seniors and has exposure in the fields of autism, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and complex post-traumatic stress disorder.

Charlotte continues to practice her traditional creative process in oil painting; and through this expression, advocates on how creative expressions provide insight opportunities in exploration and identification into one’s underlying causations within their behaviours and perspectives. Furthermore, she believes innate emotional therapy comes from the “process-making”; and not from the end product results.

Further into her Art Therapy profession, Charlotte will be enrolling in external courses/readings outside of the CiiAT Art Psychotherapy Program, that focuses primarily on trauma-informed therapy; in hopes to have an additional future specialization for her clientele demographic.

Charlotte’s primary approach comes from both an attachment and solutions-focused modality; and aspires to meet her clients with compassion, empathy and authenticity; thus, ensuring to hold space to meet her clients where they are at presently in order to facilitate their healing journey.

Charlotte is a student art therapist, and fine artist based in Surrey, British Columbia. Graduati... Read More

Sabrina Louie is an art therapy student in the Art Psychotherapy Diploma program with CiiAT. She has previously completed an Art Education major with a minor in Psychology, at Concordia University in Montreal, where she currently resides. Through her experience in an art education program, she has experience working with various populations. It is also through these experiences that she has witnessed the evolution and transformations of individuals who discover new ways in which to express themselves creatively. Thus, beginning her journey to become an art therapist and satisfying her need to create and express creatively and to help others express themselves as well. Sabrina’s past experiences have been mostly arts-based and promote an exploration of art-making and creative expression that is authentic and genuine to one’s self.

Sabrina Louie is an art therapy student in the Art Psychotherapy Diploma program with CiiAT. She ... Read More

Tina is a Canadian born Chinese daughter of immigrants from South China and Hong Kong. Tina’s family journey in Canada began in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal and she grew up mostly in Tkaronto/Toronto. Her professional work in finance and human rights education has taken her all over the world. She has spent over 20 years in the social services field focused on child and family violence prevention, child and youth friendly community development, and advocacy in child rights, human rights, and anti-racism.

Tina is now a mother of two children and lives on the traditional territories of the Lekwungen people with her family. She is in her final year of the graduate art therapy program and is also a practicum student at the Victoria Native Friendship Centre. She is currently working at a BC mental health policy advocacy organization.

Art making has been a part of Tina’s life since childhood and art therapy has been so important to her own healing and self-care journey. She recognizes the need for more access to mental health supports for racialized communities and is striving to contribute to decolonizing, anti-oppressive, anti-racist, and trauma-informed practices.

Tina is a Canadian born Chinese daughter of immigrants from South China and Hong Kong. Tina’s fam... Read More

Ummul-Kiram Patrawala is a mom to 3 boys and a former marketing executive, who was born in India and immigrated to Canada when she was 18. Ummul-kiram’s passion to serve was born from her own challenges she faced as a mother of young kids, managing a career and household and not knowing how to take care of herself.

For the past 7 years, she has been practicing in pelvic health rehabilitation by coaching women to come into the driver seat of their healing journey, using a blend of somatic trauma therapy, mindfulness, yin yoga and meditation approaches. Weaving in art therapy, allows her to bring playfulness into the healing journey, and she personally enjoys creating using oil pastels, chalk, clay, and materials found in nature. Ceremonies and rituals are how she weaves in the medicine of art in her daily life.

She hopes to make art therapy and psychotherapy more accessible to women from her own lineages (East Indian and/or Muslim faith). She offers sessions in English, Hindi and Gujarati). She works from an anti-oppressive and trauma-informed lens.

Ummul-Kiram Patrawala is a mom to 3 boys and a former marketing executive, who was born in India ... Read More

Rebecca is a student in the Art Psychotherapy Diploma Program at the Canadian International Institute of Art Therapy. She has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and has been working as a Registered Nurse and nursing educator for almost fifteen years. She has worked with clients across the lifespan and has supported those struggling with mental health, addictions, grief, trauma, and loss. She draws upon this knowledge while moving into the realm of artistic expression as a means to healing. Rebecca does not consider herself an artist but has always been drawn toward artistic means of expression, including visual arts and music. Within a safe and non-judgmental space, her caring and empathetic approach creates an environment for creative expression and healing.

Rebecca is a student in the Art Psychotherapy Diploma Program at the Canadian International Insti... Read More

Before studying art therapy at the Canadian International Institute of Art Therapy, Miream spent over 20 years working with corporate, NGO and government clients to improve services for people in challenging and vulnerable life situations. She has experience working with people of all ages in many different life situations (out-of-home care, transitioning to independence, parents, low-income, experiencing shortage of affordable housing) with a diverse range of abilities, physical, neurological and mental health conditions and levels of digital and English literacy in both Australia and Canada. As a practicum student at the Art Wellness Studio & Clinic, Eric Martin Pavilion, Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, BC she helps co-facilitate a safe and inclusive environment for artistic expression. Her Bachelor of Arts degree focused on Environmental Studies, Psychology, and Sociology. She is part of local weaving, writing and creative groups. She has experienced first-hand the transformative potential of art therapy. She is originally from Toronto, ON, spent 13 years in Sydney, Australia, and now calls Victoria, BC home. Please feel free to connect at your convenience.

Before studying art therapy at the Canadian International Institute of Art Therapy, Miream spent ... Read More

I have always found a strong sense of purpose in helping others and making art. I couldn’t imagine a better way of supporting people in their healing than through a process of creative expression.

Over the past fifteen years, my studies, artistic practice and professional life have been motivated by a desire to understand the human condition. What I have learned is that creativity is an innate and fundamental aspect of the self, and one of the most powerful inner resources we have to restore balance to our mental, emotional and physical wellbeing.

Before I had an understanding of the influence that different art materials and processes have on the brain, I couldn’t fully appreciate the role creativity played in my health or how to make the most of its benefits. That is why I value an evidence-based approach to art therapy that is grounded in neuroscience and prioritizes psychoeducation as an essential part of the therapeutic experience. My hope is to provide my clients with a warm and relaxed environment where creative play enables greater self-awareness for empowered self-care. I look forward to working together towards your therapeutic goals in a style that is in tune with your personal comfort, interests and needs.

I have always found a strong sense of purpose in helping others and making art. I couldn’t imagi... Read More

Teresa’s background in early childhood development, education, and family relationships has readied her to support children and parents on their healing journey. Through play and artistic exploration, she will discover your strengths, abilities, and art-making’s healing power. She has varied professional and life experiences as an early childhood educator, a business entrepreneur, and a mother of two. Teresa is a graduate of Sociology from The University of Western Ontario, a registered Early Childhood Educator, and a graduate of Fine Art. This abundance of experience has enriched her identity and grown her abilities to co-create positive outcomes with those around her. Teresa will guide you through your journey of challenges to uncover your strengths. Teresa is inspired in her journey as an art psychotherapist student gaining more tools to assist others on their healing adventures. She appreciates being creative through painting and sharing her vision through the lens of a camera. Teresa’s goal is to create a safe and welcoming environment where you can feel comfortable during your time exploring artistic expression.

Teresa’s background in early childhood development, education, and family relationships has readi... Read More

Stephanie Kilby is an art therapy student at the Canadian International Institute of Art Therapy. She is Canadian, having graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Algoma University and now lives in the Cayman Islands, where her maternal family originates. She has extensive professional experience providing crisis intervention, stress reduction services, wellness workshops, and human resource management. With compassion and empathy, she provides a safe and non-judgmental space in which the client can explore their thoughts, feelings, and needs, assisting them to gain insight into themselves, and facilitating their healing journey through the creative process. Although she does not consider herself an artist, she loves being creative and finds activities such as journaling, decorating, and crafting, to be therapeutic, meditative, and healing. Her philosophy is that we are all a work of art, in progress, and the healing journey although sometimes difficult, can also be playful, without pressure, and filled with love.

Stephanie Kilby is an art therapy student at the Canadian International Institute of Art Therapy.... Read More

Sarah graduated from Dalhousie University with a degree in Neuroscience and a certificate in Disability Management. Sarah was ‘late’ to embrace art in her life - it wasn’t until she sought Art Therapy in her own healing journey that she recognized the importance of this work and wanted to share it with others. With no formal training in fine arts, Sarah will be the first to tell you that creativity is for everybody, no matter their experience and/or abilities. With a background in group home and respite work, Sarah has experience working with diverse populations, including neurodiverse folks and clients with intellectual disabilities. She embraces a person-centred approach and works to meet clients where they are in ways that are meaningful and effective for them.

Sarah graduated from Dalhousie University with a degree in Neuroscience and a certificate in Disa... Read More

McKayla Stewart is a diploma student at the Canadian International Institute of Art Therapy. Growing up in a family affected by mental illness inspired her interest in helping others who struggle with mental health. She has experience working with diverse individuals through homecare, tutoring, and as support staff in acute inpatient mental health and residential addictions treatment settings. After receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Alberta, she was unsure of which career path to choose. When she discovered the field of Art Therapy, everything clicked. McKayla strongly believes in the healing power of creative expression, and has always found joy in a variety of artistic endeavours such as drawing, painting, embroidery, and mask-making. She aims for a gentle client-centered, collaborative approach, and always appreciates the opportunity to work with and learn from new people.

McKayla Stewart is a diploma student at the Canadian International Institute of Art Therapy. Grow... Read More