Dear Colorado Art Therapy Association Members,

The world continues to demonstrate the need for self-care and community as the fight continues. This PRIDE month has proven to be all the more essential to honor and celebrate as we face upheaval with new laws targeting LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities that remove and/or threaten human rights. Mental health professionals are noticing the work continues to expand in the wake of the recent Supreme Court rulings. 

Let this be a reminder of the importance of connecting with your community. The work we do and the commitment we have to help heal our communities are so important and it is widely recognized as a basic human need. We cannot forget to rest and take care of ourselves. Artists and therapists have been overwhelmed with the call to support the people they serve. Make time for rest, for joy, and for play. Those are ways to reclaim our power during this tumultuous time. 

Sincerely,

Jacenta L. Irlanda

President, Colorado Art Therapy Association

Meet Madi Musson (She-They// Ella- Elle), MA, LMFT, ATR-BC, EXAT Candidate

Musson serves as Behavioral Health Clinician and Creative Arts Therapist for the Ponzio Creative Arts Therapy Program at Children's Hospital Colorado. 

A powerhouse and knowledgable presence in the field of art therapy, Musson integrates new wave theory into their clinical work while inspiring interns as they navigate the challenges of becoming an art therapist.

Musson is an advocate for LGBTQIA+ populations, creating safe and inclusive spaces for gender expansive youth in Colorado.

LGBTQIA+ individuals experience higher rates of mental health disparities and troubling encounters when mental health providers who do not fully understand or appreciate the concerns that stem from being a part of a marginalized community. 

During Pride Month 2022, Envision:You offered Colorado Art Therapy Association a discount for our members to engage in multi-level training program that can be delivered online or in-person to address implicit and explicit biases that exist among behavioral health practitioners that hinder so many in their recovery process. 

The Envision:You program is designed to help registered and licensed mental health clinicians, addiction counselors, certified peer specialists, and anyone else working directly with LGBTQIA+ individuals to develop new skills

and gain critical knowledge to enhance the delivery of quality, culturally relevant behavioral health services and identify affirming behavioral health interventions for members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Any provider who completes Level 1 and Level 2 of the training also has the opportunity to receive continuing education credits from the Department of Psychology or the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Denver, or a CEU for LPC’s from the University of Colorado Denver.

Members of the Colorado Art Therapy Association can receive 25% off when purchasing the training by using the code ‘CAT2022’ at checkout. See link below.

In a recent zoom meeting, Colorado Art Therapy Association spoke with LGBTQIA+ therapist, Victoria Giles-Vazquez, LPC, RYT, she/her/Ella to learn about her work with Envision:You. 

Giles-Vazquez led us on a personal journey through her own coming out story and how she serves the needs of LGBTQIA+ individuals in Colorado through her work at Envision:You.

Read more about her touching story in the interview below.

How did you become a therapist and what is your background?

When I was 10 years old, my family and I moved to the United States from Puerto Rico. This life changing move impacted my mental health due to difficulties in acculturation and loss of our support system. A few years later, I began to explore my own sexual orientation and was eventually outed by one of my classmates, which caused an incredible amount of stress, rejection, and internalized oppression.

This is when I connected with my first therapist, who helped me tremendously as I navigated the impact of my intersecting identities and experiences. This wonderful therapist helped me foster ways of coping that in many ways saved my life. It is through this therapeutic support that I began to comprehend the need for affirming mental health providers from a client’s point of view.

As I got older and continued receiving therapeutic services for my mental health, I realized that there is an incredible lack of providers that understood the nuances of my story – my culture of origin, native language, acculturation and biculturalism, LGBTQ+ experiences of coming out, internalized oppression. I noticed a lack of understanding of how these identities and experiences intersected and influenced each other and how these impacted my mental health. This fueled my desire to focus my career on meeting the needs of my communities and to promote education for other well intentioned behavioral health providers to do the same.

How does a person become an LGBTQ+ ally?

I think that becoming an LGBTQ+ ally begins with the belief that all people, regardless of their identities, are worthy of dignity and respect. I love the phrase “compassion without comprehension” to encompass this belief, meaning that we should always embody compassion even when we do not understand or have not personally experienced the impact of holding stigmatized identities.

Second, I think the path to becoming an ally is twofold – understanding in what ways we continue to perpetuate discrimination (we all have biases!), and using the privilege as a cisgender and/or straight person to promote safety and understanding to the LGBTQ+ community.

I believe that engaging in our personal work of understanding the power/privilege rooted in our identities, addressing our own personal biases, and how we benefit from systemic bias is imperative to becoming an ally.

Also, allowing space for LGBTQ+ voices to be uplifted and using our privilege to set clear expectations of respect for LGBTQ+ identified people. Examples of this may include sharing your pronouns while introducing yourself in a work setting, calling out a family member when they make negative comments or jokes about the LGBTQ+ community, and not assuming that everyone is straight and cisgender.

Can you please talk about the training at Envision:You?

How have you seen the work impact the community? 

EY’s Behavioral Health Provider Training is focused on bringing cultural relevance into working with LGBTQ+ clients in a behavioral health setting and creating affirming and inclusive environments for LGBTQ+ clients.

Our level I training is an asynchronous webinar format and it goes over the most introductory and foundational information regarding LGBTQ+ affirming care. Once Level I is completed, then participants can register to take Level II, which is offered either via a two day synchronous virtual training or a full day in person training. Level II training provides more in depth information, as well as the opportunity to learn in a group-based context.

This training series in unique in the sense that it addresses the needs and unique experiences of the LGBTQ+ community through the intersectionality lens. It is also created through research findings, as well as through the support of an advisory committee made up of people with lived experience, subject matter experts, and behavioral health providers.

I have seen the impact this training has had in our community through the perspective of a trainer. It is one of my absolute joys to actively engage other behavioral health providers in this training from a place of non-judgement and curiosity. I feel honored to help educate other providers in this subject matter that is not easily accessible, and to answer any questions or concerns that may otherwise go unasked. It is in this training space that I see the shift for many providers in their confidence to be able to provide culturally relevant services to their clients, as well as advocate for institution wide changes.

Can you discuss the important work that Envision:You is doing to make change on a governmental level?

EY is doing some amazing work in public policy efforts. We work with Brandeberry-McKenna Public Affairs to inform elected state officials and policymakers about the disparities in care facing LGBTQ+ individuals. By doing so, we are actively engaging in advocacy efforts to ensure that mental health concerns of LGBTQ+ individuals are being addressed in legislation and policy. For example, the most recent bill passed through these public policy efforts is the HB22-1267: Concerning Culturally Relevant Training Available to Health-Care Professionals. House Bill 22-1267 would create a $900,000 grant program to fund the development of culturally relevant and affirming healthcare training programs for healthcare providers. 

If you are interested in any of these efforts or programs, or would like to learn more about Giles-Velazquez's work, please see the contact information below.

Contact information: 

(e): victoria.giles-vazquez@envision-you.org 

(w): www.calmacounseling.org 

(p): 720-432-5409

The Colorado Art Therapy Association is excited to welcome four new board members to our local chapter. Each of these wonderful members come with a zest to develop the field of art therapy in Colorado. We couldn't be more excited that they have joined us and we feel encouraged by ways we continue to evolve to meet the needs of our members.

Since December of 2021, art therapy events and workshops have taken place along the Front Range, creating space for individuals to process loss of home and to work through traumatic stress using art materials.

Among many therapists supporting victims, Krista Reinhardt-Ruprecht, MA of Lafayette, Colorado continues to offer monthly art-based groups for children and adults, utilizing creative processes to engage themes of protection, positivity, healing and remembrance.

In May, Children’s Hospital Colorado: Ponzio Creative Arts Therapy Program hosted a weekend workshop, Recovery Through Creativity, where volunteer professionals: social workers, art therapists, child life specialists and spiritual care provided children and families opportunities to engage in yoga, art-making, collage and other art media, while processing the Marshall Fire event. 

Art therapy holds an important role in facilitating community healing. By creating space for individuals to continue to gather, Reinhardt-Ruprecht, says, “these groups have allowed people to feel, without judgement, around the level of loss that was experienced. It is incredible.” 

Resources for Marshall Fire Victims:

https://www.thenestcreativetherapycenter.com

https://www.superiorchamber.com/art-therapy-program-marshall-fire/

https://www.boulderjcc.org/index.php?src=gendocs&ref=Resources_1

We are seeking to fill the following positions:

Public Affairs Chair

Peer Consultation Chair

Treasurer

Board Member benefits:

free membership

free trainings and workshops

free art submissions to the Annual Art Show

networking opportunities

great experience and resume builder