Questions, Curiosity, and Care
Therapy is a journey that begins with curiosity — “Is this for me? Will I belong here? How does it all work?”
At Third Object, I want you to feel informed and at ease before you take that first step. Below are answers to some of the most common questions I receive about therapy, art therapy, creative cohorts, and how I work. If your question isn’t answered here, please reach out. I’d love to connect.
There’s no such thing as a silly question in a space built for exploration.
Working Together
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I offer both traditional talk therapy and art therapy, depending on what best fits your needs. Some clients move fluidly between both approaches, using talk, imagery, writing, or visual art as tools for reflection and expression.
I facilitate creative cohorts, group therapy spaces, and community workshops, which allow for healing and creativity in a collective environment.
All services are offered online throughout California. I offer art therapy only, both online and in-person therapy in Portland, Oregon.
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Talk therapy and online art therapy sessions are 50 minutes long. We’ll begin by exploring what’s most present for you, an emotion, a relationship, a creative impulse, or a theme. I carry a casual but grounded energy into sessions and I invite humor, honesty and occasional irreverence to the center of our work. I am both playful and serious, and have a skill in identifying held pain and limits of vision.
In person art therapy sessions are 90 minutes long, including set up and clean up time. We will get embodied, often sitting in chairs or on the floor, and identify narratives that want to surface. We will explore mark making from a somatic place, utilizing art materials that feel enticing to you. Sessions will evolve based on your individual orientation to the art materials and the objects that you create. We may spend some time sitting with created objects, inviting relationship with them, and playing with positionality to elicit emotional release and story. We will always wrap up by resetting the space together and acknowledging the work of that day. There’s no “right” way to do therapy here. Every session is a collaborative unfolding.
Please note that my current art studio in Portland, Oregon is not friendly to those with ability challenges. There are many stairs to enter the space. I am available to bring art therapy to your art studio, home studio, or any space you are able to make for our work.
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I do not bill insurance directly, but I provide superbills. These are itemized receipts you can submit to your insurance provider for potential out-of-network reimbursement.
You can also use HSA or FSA funds to pay for therapy. I’m happy to help you understand how this process works before we begin.
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Session rates vary depending on the service type (individual therapy, groups, or workshops). I occasionally offer sliding-scale options for those with limited financial access.
Transparency is important to me. Please reach out if you’d like details about fees or payment options.
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Start by reaching out through the contact form or by email. We’ll schedule a brief consultation call to get to know each other. This will be a conversation about what brings you to therapy, what you’re looking for, and whether we’re a good fit.
If we decide to move forward, we’ll find a time that works for you and begin our sessions online or in-person.
Art Therapy Questions
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Absolutely not. Art therapy is not about skill, it’s about expression, meaning, and embodiment. You don’t need experience with art at all.
Think of art therapy as another language. It’s one that helps us express what words can’t quite reach. You might use color, shape, texture, or even found objects. What matters most is curiosity and willingness to explore.
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For online sessions, you can start with whatever you have, paper, pens, markers, collage materials, clay, or digital tools. We will discuss what you have available in advance so that I can tailor our sessions to your materials.
For in-person art therapy, you have the option to work with my materials (which alters the session fee), or work with me to build a list of materials to source and bring to each session. For working artists, or anyone with an existing art practice, I may offer the option to work with you in your studio, rather than you coming to my space. We can discuss this during intake.The goal isn’t to have the “right” materials, it’s to have access to something that feels safe and alive in your hands.
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Art therapy helps by engaging the whole self: mind, body, and creative spirit.
When we make art, we activate sensory, emotional, and symbolic parts of the brain that traditional talk therapy sometimes can’t reach.
It can:Ease anxiety and regulate emotions
Create distance from overwhelming memories
Help process grief or trauma in non-verbal ways
Unlock creativity, imagination, and play
Connect you to your inner wisdom and sense of possibility
Creative Cohorts & Groups
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Creative Cohorts are group spaces that blend reflection, creative practice dialogue, and community to foster shared healing and supported artmaking. Each cohort centers on a specific theme, such as grief, gender, faith, or community, and welcomes participants from across the country (where licensure allows).
These are therapeutic communities where you can show up as you are, connect with others, and create your work in a supportive container. This is particularly helpful if you are engaging in artmaking that is deeply connected to your healing but difficult to move through in solitude.
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Creative Cohorts are open to clients in states that accept AT-R (Registered Art Therapist) licensure. If you’re unsure whether your state qualifies, I can help you check.
Workshops, Talks, and Events
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Yes! I love collaborating with colleges, community centers, art collectives, and activist spaces to create custom workshops or classes around creativity, healing, and liberation.
Each offering is shaped by the needs of the group — it might include art-making, storytelling, music, or guided reflection.
Some past and upcoming themes include:
Decolonizing Creativity
Art and Spiritual Recovery
Grieving in Community
Queer Imagination as Resistance
If your organization or classroom would like to host a workshop or speaking engagementi let’s talk about what we can create together. If you represent a university or similar professional organization, please feel free to request a copy of my CV.
About Values and Accessibility
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Absolutely. My practice is intentionally queer-affirming, trans-inclusive, anti-racist, and anti-ableist. I believe that therapy should never reproduce the systems of oppression we’re trying to heal from.
This means I continually engage in my own education, community accountability, and reflexive practice to ensure that this space remains welcoming to all identities, bodies, and backgrounds.
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Yes. I hold a limited number of sliding-scale spots for clients who need them. These are prioritized for queer, trans, BIPOC, and disabled clients with limited financial access.
Please reach out to discuss current availability.
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As we all adapt to the presence of AI and the increased uncertainty around data privacy, I believe it is important to offer the option of limited-technology therapy. All clients have the option to opt out of AI-assisted note-taking. I am open to dicussing all needs and concerns about technology.
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To me, decolonizing therapy means questioning the hierarchies and frameworks that therapy has inherited from colonial and Western traditions. I reject the notion that healing happens in isolation, or that there’s one “right” way to grow. I work to understand the damage dealt by colonial mindset, to cultures, communities, and to individuals.
Below I have shared a small sampling of the resources that inform my work on this journey:
Decolonizing Therapy by Jennifer Mullan, PsyD
Crazy Like Us - The Globalization of the American Psyche by Ethan Watters
We Will Be Jaguars by Nemonte Nenquimo with Mitch Anderson
The work, life, and teachings of Baba Ibrahim Farajaje (peace be upon him)
Colonial mindset is rooted in extraction, rather than resource management, and in hierarchy rather than interdependence. This will always result in inequity, disconnection and a loss of collective joy. We have opportunities to restore joy, collectivization, and balance with awareness of these damages, and with an eye towards their repair. When mental health is fixated on behavior and pathology rather than isolation and collective grief, there is no true path forward. In short: we heal through connection, not correction.
Still Curious?
If you’ve read this far, you’re already doing the work, exploring, questioning, and listening to your own curiosity.
If something here resonates, I’d love to meet you and see what we can create together.