art therapist’s guide to social media

The Creative Psychotherapist Podcast: Social Media Tips and Strategies for Therapists

Posted on August 6, 2021 by Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC

This week, The Creative Clinician’s Corner published this podcast, a conversation with host and art therapist Reina Lombardi and The Art Therapist’s Guide to Social Media author Gretchen Miller about social media tips and considerations for therapists!

Some of the topics discussed:

Social media sharing strategies
Privacy awareness and content management
Ways to create and strengthen a professional digital presence online
Digital footprint and online legacy considerations

Attention to centering our online presence and activity to align with our professional passions, strengths, and values informs a lot of the conversation.

Thank you to The Creative Psychotherapist podcast for highlighting the power of social media to amplify our work as clinicians professionally, ethically, and creatively!

Listen here: https://www.creativeclinicianscorner.com/episode51

Social Media and the Creative Process

Posted on August 14, 2018August 13, 2018 by Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC

This week over on the Creativity in Therapy blog, art therapist Carolyn Mehlomakulu posted Exploring the Stages of the Creative Process – a great read about how the creative process can unfold in art therapy. The post also explores how the creative process and its different stages can continue to be practiced or implemented in everyday life- even when not engaged in art-making.

Social media also has a connection to the creative process and its different stages! Below is an infographic for Chapter 7, Social Media and the Art Therapist’s Creative Practice which explores how social media impacts modern day creative work and suggestions for art therapists to consider for strengthening or adding to their creative practice.

As described in Chapter 7 (p. 137):

Social psychologist Graham Wallas (1926/2014) identified one of the early models of creative thinking, including essential stages of the creative process: preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification. Social media has become an active influence to these well-known steps and aid in how the creative process can now develop for many artists. An adaptable version of Wallas’ stages has been designed to meet the needs of today’s digital culture (LePage, 2015).

Social Media and Stages of the Creative Process (Adapted from LePage, 2015) | Illustration by Wiscy Creative Jones, Chapter 7- The Art Therapist’s Guide to Social Media

How do you use social media to assist with your creative process?

References

LePage, E. (2015, September 3). Social Media and the Creative Process. Retrieved from https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-and-the-creative-process

Miller, G. (2017). The art therapist’s guide to social media: Connection, community, creativity. New York, NY: Routledge.

Wallas, G. (2014). The art of thought. Tunbridge Wells, Kent: Solis Press. (Original work published 1926)

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Look Back… Media & Technology 1968

Posted on July 12, 2018 by Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC

It was a pleasure and honor to celebrate the Toronto Art Therapy Institute (TATI)’s 50th Anniversary with an invitation to speak at the Institute’s special gala event held this week. The TATI, founded in 1968, was the first art therapy training program in Canada established by Dr. Martin Fischer, one of the early pioneers in the field.

The evening offered a look back at the TATI’s great history and legacy of art therapy in Canada, as well as an opportunity to give attention to its active presence of faculty, alumni, site supervisors, and students, as well as what the future of the art therapy field holds ahead. This also included looking at the impact of technology on the art therapist, especially in the last 20 years for connection, community, and creativity.

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So what was the media and technology like/starting to emerge in 1968 when TATI was founded? Here is a fun look back:

Color television was just starting to become more conventional in use and the first live, network transmission of video took place (a view inside an orbiting U.S. space capsule). Now television includes an endless amount of channels and programs for the viewer — through real time and recorded network broadcasting, live streaming, breaking news, DVR recording, Netflix watching, and on the Internet, our mobile devices, and without the use of the conventional television set .

Music in 1968 could be played on an 8 track, which was considered the portable format for this time. Video tapes, such as Beta or VHS would not be available until the 1970s. Now, music and video have become digitized and very portable in the form of MP3s, media sharing and online content communities, YouTube, Vimeo, Pandora, Spotify, Soundcloud, and podcasts are easily accessible through our computers and mobile devices.

Computers. Back in 1968, the “Nova” computer which only had 32 kilobytes of memory (!) sold for $8,000. The computer that navigated the lunar module to the moon was introduced in 1968. Hewlett-Packard (HP) started promoting the first desktop computer this year too. The Internet as we now know it was very much undefined, but the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was starting to be developed in the early 1960s, which became the technical beginnings of the World Wide Web and Internet. ARPANET published its first program plan and made its first network transmission the following year. 50 years later computers are less expensive, hold lots and lots of memory in miniature form, and is widely used by the masses (not just researchers, scientists, and academics) everyday, everywhere, anytime. The Internet (and now Wi-Fi too) instantly connects us to endless sites, networks, people, places, news, apps, experiences, and more all around the world.

Art therapists now live in a world of glocality (where the local and global co-exist!) where we can easily connect to and virtually engage with our colleagues, beyond our local, regional, and national surroundings. Platforms and programs like Skype, Zoom Facebook Live, What’s App, and more allow us to communicate and interact with one another. The benefits of this connection are many- such as but not limited to:

Decreases isolation
Provides relational support
Obtain and exchange resources
Collegial engagement
Professional belonging
Creates opportunities for advocacy and awareness

The Internet has also held the concept of community as an important value to its early activity. Online resources and virtual spaces for art therapists were already surfacing in the mid 1990s, 15 years before social media really became widely embraced and used. For example, Toronto art therapist, TATI alumna and faculty member Petrea Hansen-Adamidis created Art Therapy in Canada in 1996, the very first online web resource and forum in Canada. Learn more about Petrea’s experience and pioneering efforts with technology in this Art Therapists on the Grid interview here.

Online virtual communities can help art therapists:

Share and exchange information
Learn from one another
Create a sense of belonging
Strengthen professional identity

In addition, we can also keep strengthening our global digital citizenship as art therapists. We can enhance our understanding about the societal impact of living in a world without geographical boundaries due to technology and our use of social media.

This awareness first includes an individual understanding about how our personal and professional conduct online can impact the profession’s global digital footprint and art therapy’s international integrity. Having respect for the self, others, and what we access or engage with online deserves attention. Choosing to engage in online environments with empathy, compassion, generosity, and benevolence acknowledges the powerful influence our connections and interactions have on overall well-being, relationships, and creating community. It also recognizes how we as art therapists have a valuable role in helping create a better digital world through our online presence and example.

Thank you to TATI for the opportunity to celebrate their historic milestone and include a little bit about technology and how it connects us all together, not just now but will continue to in the future. The media, programs, methods, and ways art therapists use technology will keep changing, developing, and offer new possibilities beyond our imagination for the future of the field… Also exciting to keep watching is how art therapists and future art therapists keep contributing to this digital landscape!

Congrats to TATI on their 50th year and here’s to 50+ more! 🙂

Spring 2018 Events

Posted on March 3, 2018March 2, 2018 by Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC

There are a couple of events taking place this spring inspired by The Art Therapist’s Guide to Social Media:

On the campus of Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania on Monday, April 16 I will be presenting a free community lecture sponsored by the school’s undergraduate art therapy program. The evening event (6-7:30 pm) also includes 1.5 free continuing education credits (CEU sign in and registration 5:15-6 pm) available for ATR-BCs, social workers, marriage and family therapists, and professional counselors.

Social Media: Connection, Community, and Creativity will explore how social media can enhance and strengthen professional engagement, collegial relationships, and creative practice. Discover how, as mental health professionals we can take a meaningful look at some of the challenges and benefits that social media can have on the clients we serve, the therapeutic relationship, and how to best navigate social media with purpose and responsibility in our own use. The significance and value of digital community for professionals will also be explored and its role in building knowledge, cultivating collegiate relationships and exchange, support, and professional identity. Finally, the role of how social media sites can also support creative drive, artist identity, and enthusiasm for art making and art-based endeavors will be presented. Meet the author and book signing to follow the event.

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This all day workshop on Saturday, April 28 is presented by the New York Art Therapy Association and will be held on the campus of New York University in New York City and includes 6 ethics of continuing education for ATR-BCs and LCATs (and for less than $100!).

The morning program, Bridging Social Media’s Digital Divide: Navigating Ethical Considerations as Art Therapists will be a didactic presentation looking at some of the challenges and benefits that social media can have on the clients we serve, the therapeutic relationship, and how to best navigate social media as an art therapist with purpose and ethical responsibility in our own use. Content will explore the role and influence social media can have on our lives and work, both negative and positive , as well as the challenges art therapists may face in their social media use related to privacy and boundaries. Practical suggestions to help minimize potential risks will be also be presented, including strategies to help empower an art therapist’s digital presence with professional responsibility.

The afternoon program, Empowering Our Digital Presence: Art Therapists and Social Media Workshop explores how art therapists can empower their digital presence online with mindful attention to digital boundaries, ones digital footprint, and the ways we navigate social media personally, professionally, and creatively. Attendees will use art making to discover and learn more about these digital landscapes, the challenges art therapists can face, and ways we can leverage social media and ethical frameworks to promote our professional interests, values, and work.

An author Q&A and book signing will follow the event. To register, visit this link.

Looking forward to seeing friends and colleagues from the art therapy community, as well as anyone interested in the event topics at both of these offerings!

An Art Therapist’s New Year Checklist for Social Media

Posted on January 1, 2018January 1, 2019 by Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC

This time of year can motivate us to make changes, embark on new things, and set goals we want to accomplish both personally and professionally. It is also a good time to try and start new practices and routines that will be of benefit to our wellbeing, relationships, work, and daily life in the year ahead. This post inspired by topics in The Art Therapist’s Guide to Social Media, offers some to-do’s that art therapists to-be and art therapists can revisit, learn more about, or begin implementing related to professional social media use and online activity for the year ahead.

An Art Therapist’s New Year Checklist for Social Media:

☐ Take time to check your privacy settings on your social media profiles and sites. Remember to maintain awareness and management throughout the year;

☐ Find out about and review any social media policies or considerations that have been instituted at your university, workplace, and the communities or programs you are part of;

☐ Google your name to be aware of what content is available about you online. These results are also what others are viewing when they google or do an Internet search for you;

☐ Keep your LinkedIn profile updated;

☐ Be aware of your “Three Degrees of Influence”;

☐ Keep client content (art expressions, interactions, conversations- both negative, positive, and even when not using identifying information) off your personal social media networks of friends and family. When sharing online in professional or educational forums, protect identifying information, obtain consent, and consider the intention;

☐ If you are an art therapist in private practice or own an art therapy business, consider creating a social media policy to use with your clients;

☐ Strengthen your resources and understanding of digital social responsibility as a clinician;

☐ Remember to pause before you post online. Mindfully think about your post’s possible impact and influence, not just in relationship to your work as an art therapist, but also as a representative of the profession at-large. We are all ambassadors of art therapy on and offline;

☐ If you are an art therapy blogger, draft a one year editorial calendar to plan possible topics, content, and consistent scheduling;

☐ Practice and model global digital citizenship;

☐ Use social media to discover/learn a new art technique, media, artist, or creative inspiration;

☐ Identify and develop a social media sharing and delivery strategy that empowers your professional self, values, and work;

☐ Take an inventory of your digital assets. How you can leverage or enhance existing resources to promote and bring education to your work, art therapy, the populations you serve, and its benefits? Are there digital assets would you like to develop this year?

☐ Become aware of your digital footprint as you use the Internet and share online.

Taking on the above checklist can empower us as art therapists to take ownership of our digital presence, activity, and choices we make (or don’t make) online. Smart practices to start and integrate!

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2018 Online Book Discussion Group

Posted on December 8, 2017December 29, 2017 by Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC

Coming in 2018: An online Facebook book discussion group for readers of The Art Therapist’s Guide to Social Media! An opportunity for art therapists, art therapy students, and other interested readers to dialogue weekly about each chapter of the book. A great way to spend the cold, winter months at the warm keyboard of your tablet, mobile device, or desktop! So get your copy ready to join the group (any or all!) beginning January through March 2018 every Sunday 5:00-6:30 pm EST. Tell your colleagues, classmates, students, and friends (off and online!). Sign up here through the site’s contact form if you are interested in a group invitation to participate!

Tentative Schedule:

January 7

Chapter 1: Introduction to Social Networking and Social Media

January 14

Chapter 2: The Challenges and Benefits of Social Networking

January 21

Chapter 3: Social Media, Art Therapy, and Professionalism

January 28

Chapter 4: The Value of Digital Community for Art Therapists

February 4

Chapter 5: Strengthening the Art Therapy Profession through Social Media

February 11

Chapter 6: Social Networking and the Global Art Therapy Community

February 18

Chapter 7: Social Media and the Art Therapist’s Creative Practice

February 25

Chapter 8: 6 Degrees of Creativity

March 4

Chapter 9: Future Considerations: Social Media and Art Therapists

Routledge is also having an end of the year sale of all its book titles, which includes a 20% discount of The Art Therapist’s Guide to Social Media if you still need to purchase a copy in time for the discussion group! 🙂

Video Book Preview

Posted on October 9, 2017 by Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC

Now playing…

Video book preview for The Art Therapist’s Guide to Social Media!

Featuring illustrations from the book and key chapter concepts:

Art Therapist on the Grid: Jade Herriman

Posted on July 17, 2017June 13, 2020 by Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC

Art Therapists on the Grid: Art Therapy Meets Social Media Conversations is a weekly interview series this summer featuring a variety of art therapists and how they use the power of the Internet and social media in relationship to sharing their work with others, professional development, nurturing creativity, cultivating community and more.

This week’s interview features Jade Herriman, a transpersonal Art Therapist and accredited Barbara Sher Life Coach based in Sydney, Australia. She works as an art therapist with clients in mental health, women’s health, and parents and children, as well as supporting professional women with many interests to bring their creative dreams to life. She is a keen art maker, participates in multiple mail art projects, and loves the way creativity can be a release, joy, mirror, comfort, inspiration and more. She loves social media for the connections it brings.

In this chat Jade reflects on her digital presence online as an art therapist and artist, including her blogging practices and strategies for engaging on different social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Jade also shares her insights about the benefits of using social media as an art therapist, as well as some of the challenges.

Listen to the chat below!

Connect with Jade online here:

Resources and sites mentioned in our conversation:

Thanks to Jade for this lovely conversation and sharing her experiences! Stay connected for a new chat coming soon….

Previous Interviews:

Art Therapist on the Grid: Petrea Hansen-Adamidis

Posted on June 19, 2017 by Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC

Before the arrival of what we all know now as social media there were art therapists in the 1990s who were already leading the way on the Internet to connect members of the art therapy community with information, resources, and discussion sites, as well as a way to inform the public about art therapy. This week’s chat features Petrea Hansen-Adamidis DTATI, RCAT, RP a Registered Art Therapist and Registered Psychotherapist. In 1996, Petrea created one of the first art therapy sites that was online, ArtTherapyinCanada (archived at adamidis.ca). It is fun to visit Petrea’s old site to remember what art therapy resources and sites often looked like 20+ years ago! It is great to show Petrea’s original site to art therapy students as an example of the early days of online connection for art therapy. How things have changed! In this conversation, Petrea talks about what inspired her to create her first site and how she uses social media now to share her work and creative interests as an art therapist and artist.

Petrea has been working in the field of art therapy for over 22 years and for the past 15, has worked as an Expressive Arts Therapist in an outpatient services program at a large children’s mental health center in Toronto, Ontario. Petrea additionally works as an art therapist clinician, providing trauma assessments and treatment in parent-child expressive arts therapy. She is also an art therapy supervisor and instructor at The Toronto Art Therapy Institute. As part of her private practice, Petrea runs self-exploration art workshops for health, wellbeing, and self-care in Toronto and also offers online expressive arts e-courses.

From Petrea’s current site relaunched as arttherapist.ca:

“When I first began this site over 15 years ago, I was a newly trained Art Therapist, eager to share with the world the wonderful world of art therapy. It was one of the first pages up on the Internet with resources on art therapy including information about associations around the world. art therapy books, conference announcements, plus my own workshops.”

My first online community, The Art Therapy Student Networking Forum that I founded as a graduate student in the late 1990s (hosted then on Delphi Forums) was one of the many resources that Petrea included on her site, which was very cool and something we chat about!

Listen to our interview here:

Learn more about Petrea’s work and connect to her online:

Other resources mentioned in our conversation:

Thank you to Petrea for sharing her inspiring experiences, then and now! Stay connected for a new interview next week as this series continues…

Previous Interviews:

Art Therapist on the Grid: Carolyn Mehlomakulu

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An Art Therapist’s New Year Checklist for Social Media: