Artist/Therapist
Dr. Rhonda Smith, LCSW
Working in the mental health field for the past 15 years has taught me a little about life and a lot about human beings. What I have found is that we all have our own problems, and we deal with them in different ways. I spend a lot of time as a therapist steering people in a direction of healing and personal growth. One way to overcome life stress is to find something that brings you joy - and do it – a lot.
I began teaching myself how to paint in 2012 after working in a group setting in a nursing home. My clients and I discovered together that creating art was magical and soothing, and then after experimenting a little bit (and with a lot of practice), I found out that I was quite good at it. Art became my own personal therapy.
Brush Strokes: A Journey to Healing was born from a dream. After I discovered how wonderful art-making was for me (mentally and emotionally), I wanted to teach other people about it. By combining my gift of therapy with my love of art, I wanted to create an inspirational space for other folks to gather to create, express, and learn…about art AND themselves. My goal is to provide an artistic outlet for all people to communicate their thoughts and feelings, especially when they can’t put those thoughts and feelings into words.
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In addition to selling my own commissions and artwork, Brush Strokes will offer art lessons to beginners of all artistic giftings. I will teach classes using the mediums of acrylic, oil and watercolor, with guest instructors from time to time. I will also regularly offer specialized art therapy workshops in groups on the topics of depression, negative thinking, anxiety, stress, grief, self-confidence, trauma, relationship difficulties, anger, interpersonal skills, and post-partum depression. Individual art therapy sessions will also be offered upon request.
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Because this world is full of undiscovered artists, I will also offer open-studio time for those who have a passion for creating, but do not have the space or solitude to do so in their own studio. These times will be posted in the online calendar and memberships will be offered on a monthly basis. Individual pay-by-the-hour open studio hours will be available upon request and availability on pre-determined days of the week.
