ABOUT
Art Therapy for However You Arrive
You don’t need the right words. You just need to show up.
I’m Christa, an artist at heart and an art therapist in Cambridge, ON. I help teens and women set down some of what they’re carrying and make sense of it through art, no words or artistic skill required.
Where Words Run Out, Art Begins
So much of what we carry is hard to put into words. That’s exactly where art therapy meets you. Through colour, texture, and the simple act of making something, we give your inner world a place to land outside of your head, where you can look at it, work with it, and slowly make sense of it. You don’t have to arrive with the right words. You don’t have to arrive as your best self. You just have to show up.
Hi, I’m Christa, Your Art Therapist
For over eighteen years, I taught visual arts to grade 7 and 8 students. I loved the kids, their humour, their honesty, the relationships. But the system left me burnt out and heartsick, stretched too thin to give students what they needed. I knew I wanted a career where I could still help people, stay connected to my community, and bring my lifelong love of art-making with me. Then it dawned on me: art therapy was a thing, and it was exactly where all of those threads met.
During my training, I brought art therapy to an emergency women’s shelter, the YWCA, two sexual assault support centres, and a program supporting youth navigating addiction and mental health. I also volunteer on the crisis line at the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region. Again and again, I’ve been moved by the strength and resilience of the people who access these spaces, and by how much it matters to be witnessed, heard, and supported through the hardest moments.
Clients often tell me I’m “weirdly easy to talk to,” which I happily take as a compliment. I bring genuine curiosity, warmth, and a little playfulness to the work. However you arrive, in your pyjamas, overwhelmed, heartbroken, burnt out, or unsure, that’s okay with me. I can hold your story, and so can the art.
What I Believe About Art Therapy
I believe every single person holds creativity inside them. Not the kind that hangs in galleries, the kind that helps you process, express, and understand your own experience. You do not have to be an artist, or good at art, or even like art class in school, to belong here. In fact, some of the most powerful work happens with people who arrive certain they are “not creative.” There is no wrong way to make a mark, and nothing you create in this space will be judged, graded, or analysed behind your back.
I also believe you are the expert on your own experience. I will never tell you what your art “means.” Instead, I witness your process and help you explore it through curiosity, gentle questions, and conversation. Art therapy is not about the finished piece. It is about what happens while you make it, the release, the insight, the moments where something wordless finally has somewhere to go. Whatever you bring, the art can hold it, and so can I.
What Guides My Work
My approach is eclectic and shaped entirely around you. A few things stay constant no matter who I’m working with:
Client-centred: the work is shaped entirely around your goals, your pace, and what feels right to you.
Trauma-informed: we move at a pace that feels safe and supportive, never rushed.
A feminist lens: I understand the particular weight many women and teens carry, and the work is grounded in that awareness.
Culturally sensitive and inclusive: I’m an ally to gender-diverse folx, fat positive, and welcoming of all.
You should feel that this hour is entirely yours, that your treatment is tailored to you, and that you can make your marks freely, without anyone judging or watching over your shoulder.
YOUR FIRST STEP
Start With a Free Consultation
Not sure if art therapy, or working with me, is right for you? A free 15-minute consultation is a no-pressure way to ask questions and get a feel for whether we’re a good fit. No commitment. No art required.
