Meet Our Therapists
The child-therapists at the Child and Family Art Therapy Center are master’s level art therapists or Clinical Social Workers. We have uncommon training in visual and nonverbal communication, play-therapy, supportive structure, and child development, providing deep understanding about the unique ways our young clients think, feel, and behave. We can’t wait to help! Our award-winning child counseling approach consists of art therapy, play therapy, and verbal therapy with parent support for children, teens, and college students. It is our passion to help overcome challenges and succeed at home, school, and in relationships.
With offices in four Delaware Valley counties, we are probably within driving range of you! The locations where each therapist sees clients is listed under their name listing.
You can reach our therapists at our main number, (610) 649-1080, and by dialing the phone extension found by their name.
Michael Fogel, MA, ATR-BC, LPC, PAATA HLM ext. 4
he, him
Board Certified Art Therapist, Licensed Professional Counselor
Founder/Director
Haverford and Plymouth Meeting, PA
Mike Fogel, MA, ATR-BC, LPC, PAATA HLM, is an author, visionary art therapy entrepreneur, and child whisperer. Passionate about childhood, parenting, and playfulness in therapy, he was inspired to found award-winning child therapy programs and businesses: the Art of Friendship Social-Coping Program® (2000), Child and Family Art Therapy Center (2007), Camp Pegasus (2013), and the BetterWorld Affordable Art Therapy Program (2019). Mike’s work is supercharged by heartfelt faith that every person has the innate capacity to heal, grow, and progress towards their vast personal potential. Mike published his first book in 2020, “The Social-Emotional Guidebook: Motivate Your Child to Master Social & Emotional Coping Skills”. The Pennsylvania Art Therapy Association twice honored Mike with awards for Innovative Application of Art Therapy in 2006 and Honorary Life Member in 2021.
Mike treats a wide range of childhood emotional-behavioral challenges at his private group practice. Since 1995, Mike cultivated a specialty in social skills group therapy with neuro-diverse children with autism, ADHD, and learning differences. The unique needs of this population stimulated Mike to create a comprehensive social skills training program (The Art of Friendship) and visually communicated S.E.L. curriculum. The program teaches young people social and emotional coping-skills and the Guidebook empowers parents and professionals to support and reinforce skill development. Mike preaches: social skills are for everyone, and social-coping skills hold the key to a kinder, more effective & compassionate society, and nothing short of world peace!
Mike is constantly involved in lay and clinical education. He was an adjunct professor and clinical supervisor at Drexel University’s graduate art therapy program for years. You’ll find Mike presenting at conferences and workshops around the country. His community service included volunteer positions on the board of directors of the Asperger & Autism Alliance of Greater Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Art Therapy Association.
Mike lives outside of Philadelphia, PA with his wife, two children, and Penny the Shih-Tsu. He loves comic books, progressive rock music, all things comedic, college basketball, and rooting for his Philadelphia Phillies and Eagles.
Candice L. Lespoir, B.S., MSW x714
she, her
Director of Operations
Candice is a social worker and is passionate about the development of others. She attended Chestnut Hill College and Temple University where she received her Bachelor’s degree in Business Communication and Master’s in Social Work, respectively. Candice worked at the
American Board of Internal Medicine (“ABIM”) where she served as an administrator to the Senior Vice President and was responsible for the development and distribution of all marketing publications for the organization. Candice continued her education and transitioned
to social services. During her time at United Communities of Southeast Philadelphia, she was a Program Coordinator for a girls’ mentoring program, Girls Today, Leaders Tomorrow (“GTLT”). Candice supervised nine case managers in a truancy prevention program that supported over 150 families on a monthly basis to break down barriers preventing their school-aged children from attending school daily by meeting families’ basic needs. A true self-starter, Candice also started two businesses!
Candice is passionate about watching and helping others grow, win, and become the best version of who they are. She is an excellent project manager and possesses skills which allow her to empower others to utilize their gifts and talent through advice and mentoring. One of her goals is to become a certified counselor and Life Coach to continue to empower and impact lives. She considers herself a life-long student and is driven to become who she was created to be- someone who empowers and impacts lives.
Candice enjoys spending time with her close-knit family and circle of friends. She likes to travel, eat, take 5-mile walks, and crash open houses.
Lindsey Weaver, MA, ATR-BC, LPC x707
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Board Certified Art Therapist, Licensed Professional Counselor
Haverford and Center City
Lindsey Weaver, MA, ATR-BC is a board-certified art therapist with a Master’s degree in Creative Arts Therapy with distinction from Hofstra University.
Lindsey has widespread experience treating folks across the lifespan, but specializes in working with children and adolescents with a variety of challenges including, but not limited to, anxiety, depression, ADHD, ODD, autism, and physical disabilities. Lindsey worked with children individually in an outpatient settings while also contributing to afterschool programs for parents and children, focusing on enhancing parent-child relationships while fading unwanted behaviors through positive behavior plans.
Lindsey offers a subspecialty in treating Trauma, as she completed postgraduate training in Trauma-Focused-CBT and EMDR therapy. Her holistic eclectic approach integrates creative art and play interventions that she emphatically tailors to each client's age, interests, strengths, and needs. Lindsey is especially brilliant at listening compassionately to the feelings, worries, and aspirations of children, teens, and their parents, and bringing forth just the right therapeutic strategy for the situation. She maintains a sense of gratitude that she has the rare privilege of witnessing clients of all ages overcome challenges and surge towards their dreams of success.
When Lindsey is not working she enjoys going for walks, watching football, making her own art, and soaking up rays and surf at the beach.
Julia (“Julie”) Gotthold, MA, ATR-BC, LPC x702
she/her
Board Certified Art Therapist, Licensed Professional Counselor
Paoli, PA
Julie is a registered, board-certified art therapist and a licensed professional counselor in Pennsylvania. She completed her Masters of Arts in Creative Arts Therapies from Drexel University, with a thesis entitled, Communication Impressions: A Printmaking Method with Children in an Elementary School Setting.
Julie has clinical experience working across various settings including inpatient, residential, long-term care, public school, and Camp Pegasus. She worked extensively with children, adolescents and young adults with varied neurodevelopmental diagnoses including Autism, ADHD and Intellectual Disabilities and neurotypical adolescents that presented due to crisis stabilization and persistent behavioral obstacles. Additionally, she provided creative and caring treatment to youth seeking support with emotional and behavioral issues such as depression, anxiety, trauma from abuse, PTSD, grief and loss, suicidality, homicidal ideation, psychosis, OCD, ODD and general life/family transitions. Julie’s work with highly acute patients spurred her professional growth in trauma-informed and sensory-sensitive care practices for the neurodiverse community, as well as stabilization after trauma, and verbal de-escalation.
Julie is grounded in authenticity, curiosity and compassion to promote healing, self-regulation and social-emotional understanding. She imbues her therapy sessions with strength-based and mindfulness approaches to best bring about empowerment and self-awareness with her clients and their support systems. She utilizes wide-ranging methods to explore and identify healthy coping strategies including art, storytelling, play, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) techniques. In Julie, you will find a dedicated advocate of accessibility to resources, equity, inclusion, diversity, and basic rights for those who are part of the neurodiverse, LGBTQ+, and/or racial minority communities in her professional and personal life. Julie’s personal philosophy is about celebrating the little moments of open communication, connection, and kindness.
In her free time, Julie enjoys painting, hiking, swimming, kayaking, trying new recipes and spending quality time with her spouse, young daughter, and two pets, Rubi the pitbull and Mango the orange tabby.
Donald "Donn" Lonnquist, MA, ATR-BC, LPC, x703
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Board Certified Art Therapist, Licensed Professional Counselor
Haverford, Paoli, & Telehealth
Donald “Donn” Lonnquist is a Registered, Board Certified Art Therapist and a Licensed Professional Counselor in Pennsylvania. He completed Drexel University’s graduate program in Creative Arts in Therapy with his Master’s thesis entitled ‘Treatment of the Bullying Phenomenon: A Survey of the Art Therapy Community’.
Donn is passionate about treating children and adolescents, in fact, it’s his specialty! He has 17 years of experience working with children, adolescents, and families. Donn spent most of his career as a school-based therapist and advocate for children’s needs and rights with the School District of Philadelphia, as well as private facilities and alternative emotional/behavioral placements for children.
Donn’s passion has been recognized through honors, awards, and promotion to supervisory/management levels for his outstanding therapy work with and coordinating services for children at multiple schools in the Philadelphia School District. He also was a part of the Child and Adolescent Crisis Response Team, where Donn compassionately and ably supported children with the most severe of emotional needs.
Dedication to professional learning and development is also important to Donn. He attended seminars/trainings on Treatment of DSM 5 disorders, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Mindfulness and the Body, Autism Awareness, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. He has also organized trainings on multiple topics, including multiculturalism, childhood health disorders, and safety precautions.
Donn has experience working with children and adolescents diagnosed with Mood Disorders, Anxiety, ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorders, PTSD, Thought Disorders, Adjustment Disorders, and Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder. His unique person-centered, strength based, holistic approach helps children and families reach their fullest potential. Donald believes deeply and passionately that each individual has the ability and strength to learn and grow. “All we need to do is to create a space with the right balance of ingredients: safety, consistency, and trust - and children work through and overcome their issues naturally.”
Eve Atkins, MA, LSW x712
she, her
Licensed Social Worker
Haverford, PA
Eve Atkins is a licensed social worker who graduated with a master’s degree summa cum laude from New York University's Silver School of Social Work. Impressively, she simultaneously obtained a master's degree in infant and child development from Sarah Lawrence College.
Eve was an intern and then a staff social worker at The Parent Center at Henry Street Settlement in Manhattan offering parent and child/infant dyadic therapy, individual parenting support and therapy, and psycho-educational groups for parents of children with developmental delays and behavioral challenges. Eve offered intervention to a variety of complex presentations, including multiple traumas such as forced parent/child separations, abuse, substance use, and poverty. Her grounding in trauma-informed attachment-based work shaped her supportive approaches to clients. Eve gained additional clinical experience in an outpatient clinic in the Bronx treating children and adolescents with anxiety and depression, behavioral and attentional challenges, and relationship difficulties. There, Eve collaborated with caregivers, teachers, and other professionals to maximize young clients’ gains in the therapy office.
Throughout her life, Eve has always been passionate about working with young children. She participated in a hospital-based training for child-life specialists and worked at a daycare center. For two summers, she was a counselor for the youngest campers at Camp Pegasus and returned triumphantly in summer of 2022 as a clinical supervisor. Eve employs a flexible and integrated approach to therapy, geared toward fostering self-expression, coping skills, and healthy relationships. She applies a child-focused and attachment-based framework, incorporating play and evidence-based practices such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).
In her free time, Eve enjoys art using watercolor, clay, and resin, reading, and spending time with friends and family.
Ive Ortiz, MA, x704
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Art Therapist
Haverford, Center City, & Plymouth Meeting
Ive Ortiz completed her graduate education with a master's degree in Art Psychotherapy from Goldsmiths University of London. Following her academic journey in the United Kingdom, Ive transitioned into the role of Mental Health Project Manager and Art Psychotherapist in school settings. In these capacities, she provided supervision to master's-level students pursuing careers as Art and Play Therapists. She also led in-school art therapy programs for children ages 4 to 19, facilitated psychoeducational seminars for teachers, parents, and staff, and conducted classroom workshops, mental health assemblies, and crisis interventions. Additionally, Ive has worked with non-profit organizations, offering trauma-informed art therapy in after-school programs to communities impacted by collective trauma, where she led groups for adolescents and teens.
With over seven years of experience in community arts programs, Ive is passionate about utilizing art and play as powerful methods to form deep therapeutic relationships with children and adolescents. She believes these creative outlets provide children with a more comfortable space to express and process their emotions - and to work through hard feelings and overcome challenges. With her warm and engaging style, she quickly identifies each client’s most comfortable way of communicating, and then collaborates with them to develop the necessary skills and tools for emotional resilience. Ive's therapeutic approach is integrative, combining child-centered art and play therapy, verbal therapy techniques, and child-friendly Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and psychodynamic models.
In her personal time, Ive enjoys horseback riding, hiking, ceramics, and cooking with family and friends.
Claire Duncan, MA, LAPC, x708
she, her
Art Therapist
Haverford and Center City
Claire Duncan received her master’s degree in Art Therapy from the Lewis & Clark
Graduate School of Education and Counseling in Portland, Oregon. For Claire's master's degree capstone project, she wrote about the role of intergenerational patterns in shaping family mental health and communication patterns. This capstone, entitled "Ghosts in the Nursery: A Case Study in Child Art Therapy," explored how clinicians can harness the transformative power of art therapy and the therapeutic relationship, as an opportunity to correct missed developmental experiences, and support caregivers and children in expression, communication, and emotional regulation. She worked in outpatient treatment and nature-based therapy settings, where Claire provided individual, parent-child, family, and group therapy for children and families across a wide range of challenges, including autism, ADHD anxiety, depression, anger, trauma, and stress-related behaviors. She worked with clients as young as two-years-old through adulthood, but especially loves working with younger children and their parents.
Claire is deeply committed to her work with children and families, and she takes the time to carefully consider parents’ concerns for their child and family’s situation. Through her thoughtful assessment process at the outset of treatment, she individualizes treatment precisely for each client based on their cognitive, verbal, and emotional developmental level. Claire utilizes an attachment, psychoanalytic, and family-structure lens to inform her work with children. Her passion is to support the relationship between children, siblings and parents/caregivers, broaden kids’ coping and communication skills, and improve emotional regulation. Claire preaches that, when those broad objectives are met, children soar towards their vast personal potential.
In her free time, Claire loves gardening, book-binding, making art, and spending time with her cat, Suzy. As a recent transplant to Philadelphia, she is enjoying exploring and getting to know her new hometown!
Emily Bensinger, MA, ATR-BC, LPC, x706
she/her
Board Certified Art Therapist, Licensed Professional Counselor
Haverford and Plymouth Meeting
Emily Bensinger is a registered art therapist and licensed professional counselor in PA. She earned her Master’s Degree in Art Therapy from George Washington University. Emily is most passionate about working with children, adolescents, and their parents. Her friendly, kind communication style puts people of all ages at ease and her unbelievable range of clinical experiences empower her to handle just about any need your family has. She has worked with seniors in hospice and memory care at an assisted living facility, children and adolescents of US military service members at a partial hospitalization program, with women in recovery from substance use and trauma at a halfway house, with children and their families at an outpatient community mental health organization, as well as at a private practice treating clients of all ages.
Emily provides a warm, playful space of unconditional acceptance and curiosity in her therapeutic relationship with your child and you. She strives to create a calm, safe, and accepting environment where all are welcome to express themselves freely and authentically. Emily seamlessly blends child-centered, trauma Informed, holistic, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy approaches with her art, play, and verbal therapy. She provides just the right balance of autonomy and structure and will meet you and your family exactly where you are. She is pleased to work with your child and you on: life transitions, anxiety, depression, trauma and PTSD, grief and loss, family and relationship issues, and self-identity. To top it off, Emily is cross trained in treating and advocating for neurodivergent youth with ADHD, autism, and learning differences.
Away from the office, Emily spends time with her family, friends, and loved ones shopping, watching movies, and enjoying concerts or live theater performances. Painting, drawing, listening to music and podcasts are some of her favorite pastimes. Emily also loves taking her Springer Spaniel Henry on hikes and snuggling up with her two cats Ralphie and Finn.
Corinne Greskiewicz, MA, ATR-BC x709
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Board Certified Art Therapist
Paoli, PA
Corinne holds a Master of Arts in Creative Arts in Therapy, specializing in Art Therapy, from Drexel University, where she focused her thesis research on the experiences of homeless adolescents through an art-based intervention called the ‘life map art task’. Her academic foundation includes advanced studies in developmental psychology and therapeutic interventions for both adults and children. With twenty years in the field, she combines these skills with a passion for creativity and a love of supporting individuals navigating life’s challenges through the transformative power of art and visual communication.
Throughout her career, Corinne had the privilege of working with clients across a broad spectrum of needs—from children with developmental delays to adults in crisis care. She led individual and group therapy in settings ranging from schools and therapeutic camps to residential facilities. She's especially proud of her work in integrating art therapy with social skills development for neurodivergent children in educational and therapeutic environments. Most recently, Corinne spent the last two summers as part of the clinical team at Camp Pegasus/Mini Pegasus. These experiences equipped her to approach each neurodivergent client with empathy, a deep understanding of their inner needs and goals, and a flexible, strength-based approach. In addition to all that great clinical work, Corinne is now taking her experience to academia; she recently became an adjunct professor in the art therapy department at Arcadia University.
Outside of her professional life, Corinne enjoys traveling with her husband and two kids, and sometimes with their two dogs, Wallie and Poppy in tow. As a lifelong learner, she is passionate about expanding her knowledge, making new connections, championing the environment and social justice issues, and learning and growing alongside her children.
Luisa Gray, MA, ATR-BC, LPC, x700
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Board Certified Art Therapist, Licensed Professional Counselor
Plymouth Meeting and Center City
Luisa Gray is a registered, board certified art therapist and a licensed professional counselor in Pennsylvania. Luisa earned her Master of Arts in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Art Therapy from Naropa University. Her child-friendly art therapy approach to treatment helps both expressive and non-expressive children resolve a wide variety of emotional, behavioral and social problems. Her work with families employs a child-centered art therapy approach, play therapy, family systems, and a Mindfulness inspired outlook.
Trained in the rigors of outpatient mental health clinics, Luisa worked with both individuals and families on issues like grief and loss, depression, truancy, parenting issues and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders. She also gained valuable experience in facilitating art therapy groups for children with emotional and peer relationship problems.
Promoting social awareness and helping children learn how to connect to others in meaningful and respectful ways are some of Luisa's main therapeutic goals. She is currently taking a post graduate training course in play therapy at the Family Play Therapy Center in Mt. Airy. When Luisa is not working, she is enjoying the whirlwind of raising her two young children with her husband.
Petra Artz, MA, ATR-BC x715
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Registered Art Therapist
Center City
Petra Artz is a registered art therapist with a master’s degree in Art Therapy from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. A child-adolescent specialists, her studies at SVA focused on art therapy treatment with children and adolescents during internships in both a school environment and a pediatric inpatient psychiatric setting. Petra has extensive experience with neuro-diverse populations and enjoys entering into the world of play and creation with all her clients. Additionally, she spent many years in childcare as an au pair and nanny both locally and abroad. Petra's experience in childcare provided her with a deep understanding of family dynamics and the many ways children and their families communicate, and differ, within their unique home environments.
Petra’s most recent clinical experience has been working with adolescents and their families through a municipal intensive diversion program in Philadelphia, aiming to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline. She has treated children who experienced a wide range of challenges or diagnoses, including, ADHD, trauma, anxiety, depression, O.D.D. conduct disorder, D.M.D.D., and many others. Masterful at connecting with adolescents and children of all ages, Petra helps each individual find their voice using art, play, or verbal therapy approaches. For the past two years, Petra's expanded her expertise working with parents and families around trauma, in the context of client-centered treatment. Petra includes parents in all aspects of their child’s care, from in-session training and support with the child to break out caregiver-only progress meetings. Blending warmth, humor, and a reassuring grounded confidence, her gift for connecting with people of all ages shines through. Petra approaches all treatment with compassion and humanity, with a strong emphasis on fun and unlocking one's creative potential. You will feel accepted, cared for, and understood the minute you meet her!
Petra enjoys spending her free time hiking, quilling, and spending time with her two cats, Ace and Mikey.
Sarah Voystock, MA, ATR-BC, LPC, ext. 713
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Board Certified Art Therapist, Licensed Professional Counselor
Haverford and Paoli
Sarah is a master’s level, registered art therapist, and a licensed professional counselor in Pennsylvania. A graduate of Drexel’s Art Therapy and Counseling graduate program Sarah was always passionate about helping children achieve wellness, have fun, and thrive. This drive to help children and families continued through her graduate experiences interning at the Easter Seals developmental preschool with young children with developmental delays. Since graduation, Sarah has worked with children and families in crisis to help create pathways for success and lasting positive change. Sarah has a deep understanding how to help parents and children better communicate and listen to one another, as well as how to develop meaningful structure, for a more peaceful home environment for all. She has extensive clinical experience providing therapy for children with a wide range of diagnoses and symptoms including (but not limited to) ADHD, ASD, PTSD, ODD, depression, anxiety, life transitions, and trauma.
Sarah pulls from several different therapeutic modalities while gravitating toward a child-centered systems-based approach to help family and individuals meet their goals. By allowing clients to work at their own pace and with their most comfortable art and play materials, Sarah facilitates an incredibly safe environment in which children can overcome and thrive. Trained and supervised in the Ecosystemic Structural Family Therapy model for three years, Sarah also understands the importance of the family unit for the success of the child. Her non-judgmental appreciation for parents’ role in the family is disarming for the parent who in the past felt judged or criticized by others. Sarah is warm, caring, empathetic, accepting, enthusiastic, and silly. These interpersonal skills enable Sarah to build relationships with even the most skeptical child or family!
When Sarah is not at work, she enjoys creating mixed media artwork, reading, and most of all, spending time with her husband, their young daughter, and her dog, Leela.
Kerry Janson, M.A., ATR-BC, LPC x710
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Board Certified Art Therapist
Haverford, PA
Kerry Janson is a board certified art therapist and licensed professional counselor from Bryn Mawr. Kerry received her master’s degree in Art Therapy from Drexel University. Her graduate thesis explored the development an original art therapy treatment approach for reducing anxiety in school aged children directly in the classroom through journaling with mandalas (traditional circular design motifs).
Prior to joining CFATC, Kerry enjoyed working with people of all ages with a variety of concerns including depression, anxiety, trauma and abuse, anger issues, and relationship struggles, among a wide range of general psychiatric issues., She treated teens and adults in acute inpatient psychiatric and partial hospitalization settings, and children and teens with autism in school settings, and certainly has seen it all!
Most recently, Kerry served as a school-based counselor in the emotional support classroom in a local public middle school, as well as a group therapist in an after-school program for children with autism. It is through these positions Kerry developed a dual passion for working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder as well as emotional-behavioral challenges. Her gentle, compassionate manner and easygoing sense of humor puts her young clients at ease. Kerry is equally ready to use creative arts and play approaches or pivot to verbal therapy and CBT to meet her client’s needs.
Outside the office, Kerry enjoys spending time in nature with her seven nieces and nephews. She crafts artisan soap with her sister and spends time propagating her large collection of indoor plants.
Celeste Wade, MA, ATR-BC, LPC, x701
Board Certified Art Therapist Licensed Professional Counselor
Plymouth Meeting
Celeste Wade is a registered, board certified art therapist and licensed professional counselor. She attained her Master’s Degree in Creative Arts Therapies from Drexel University, with a thesis exploring the linkage of family of origin dynamics to the group dynamics sought out later in life.
Celeste began her therapeutic experience as a mental health therapist at a Philadelphia adoption agency. She specialized in stabilizing interventions for at-risk youth and families who experienced multiple and prolonged traumatic stressors. While there, Celeste received specialized training in the ARC model (Attachment, Regulation and Competency) which emphasize caregiver emotion management, psychoeducation, routines, expression, and self-development.
Next, Celeste collaborated with a mental health agency and a non-profit arts intervention organization to pilot art therapy groups for refugee populations in Philadelphia. She facilitated these unique therapeutic groups for several years, often co-treating with music and dance/movement therapists, and continues to volunteer for the agency. Celeste creatively utilizes a variety of the arts in her current practice, including music, movement/dance, creative writing, and drama.
Celeste also gained experience as a school and home-based behavior therapist, specializing in research-based and validated applied behavior analysis interventions for verbal and non-verbal children with ASD, Down’s syndrome, ADHD, Tourette’s Syndrome, OCD, oppositional defiant disorder, and emotional disabilities. Along the same lines, she facilitated social skills groups at The Center for Autism.
Celeste currently facilitates grief-focused art therapy groups multiple times a year for Camp Koala, a children’s bereavement camp in the Harrisburg area.
By integrating the aforementioned wide-ranging experiences and professional influences, Celeste is able to flexibly utilize an eclectic approach to meet the needs of any child in her care. With a strong background in behavioral therapy, she utilizes the power of reinforcement in her sessions in order to motivate learning and increase positive behaviors. Celeste also incorporates cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques to foster awareness and coping skills. Out of a humanistic/child-centered philosophy, she communicates to each and every client her deep belief that they have the ability to overcome challenges and reach their vast personal potential. Celeste passionately believes in the power of creative arts and play as powerful tools to help children and adolescents understand and navigate their confusing internal and social worlds. Above all, Celeste thrives off of working with children and appreciates their genuine spirit, curiosity, zest, spontaneity, resiliency, humor and sense of FUN.
In her free time, Celeste likes to run, read, make art, cook, volunteer, play with her five nieces and nephews, and coach Girls on the Run.
Aimee Pugh, MA, ATR-BC, x705
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Art Therapist
Haverford and Paoli
Aimee is a registered, board certified art therapist. She attained her Master’s Degree in Art Therapy from Drexel University, with a thesis that explored an art therapy approach to treating children with chronic pain (Art Therapy and Acceptance, an Approach to Treatment for Children with Chronic Pain).
Aimee began her clinical career as an outpatient therapist for a Philadelphia community-based foster care agency. Within this agency, she then worked as a member of a team that provided clinical transition and stabilization services for children and adolescents. Most children that Aimee worked with had a history of multiple traumas, separation from biological parents, and chronic psychosocial stressors. At this agency, Aimee was introduced to Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or TF-CBT. Through participation in postgraduate training and supervision meetings, she developed a stronger interest, and the necessary toolbox, to help children and adolescents cope with the effects of traumatic life events. Aimee gained further experience with children who encountered a different type of trauma, loss and grief, through participation in a unique volunteer program in the Philadelphia area. After intensive training in facilitating grief support groups for children, adolescents, and their families at Peter’s Place, Aimee harnessed the powerful healing potential of child-directed therapeutic group work for children of all ages.
In addition to her work at this private practice, Aimee continues to pursue her passion for working with children and adolescents through work in the Children and Family Services division of a large community-based agency in Philadelphia. Aimee works with children ages 4 to 18 who experienced chronic stress related to racism, marginalization, and other psycho-social stressors. Aimee’s overall treatment approach with children and adolescents combines art therapy, teaching coping skills from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), elements of mindfulness, and other expressive arts (movement, music), play, and verbal therapy, depending on each client’s needs.
In her free time, Aimee enjoys yoga, spending time with friends and family outdoors, sketching and reading authors from every corner of the globe.