Meet Theresa Benson a 2016 graduate of our Certificate Training Program. We are excited to feature her as our monthly Alumni Spotlight! We think you will be inspired by her work as a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Registered Expressive Arts Therapist (and more!) |
Theresa serves as a holistic health educator, expressive arts facilitator, and counseling psychologist, incorporating expressive arts, mindfulness, and nature-based practices into clinical work and trainings to facilitate holistic health and well-being. As an intermodal expressive arts educator, Theresa offers a holistic, experiential learning approach with a focus on the development and integration of the mind, body, spirit, and soul of individuals. As a clinician, she practices a common factors approach influenced by person-centered therapy, intermodal expressive arts, mindfulness-based therapies, wild mind eco-therapy, Internal family systems, spirituality, post-traumatic
growth, and social justice issues. For nine years, Theresa served as the Educator and Program Coordinator of the award-winning Counseling Center Paraprofessional Program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Counseling Center, where she incorporated expressive arts into her curriculum and teaching approach. Before leaving the university to enter private practice
full time, she served as the Associate Director of Training at the Counseling Center. Theresa holds an MA in Holistic Health Education from JFK University, a doctorate in Counseling Psychology from The University of Akron, and certificates in Intermodal Expressive Arts from Expressive Arts Florida Institute. In addition to being a licensed psychologist in the State of Illinois
since 2012 and New Mexico since 2023, Theresa is a Registered Expressive Arts Consultant Educator (REACE), a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist (REAT) and an interfaith interspiritual minister. In her free time, she likes to travel by plane, train, or automobile to domestic and international destinations to gain new experiences and perspectives on how others live.
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Theresa, what drew you to the field of Expressive Arts, or motivated you to get Expressive Arts training? |
A theme throughout my life is the exploration of theories and practices that provide a vehicle for self-healing and wholeness. My traumatic childhood left me feeling broken. Therapy had its place, but I knew in my bones that there must be more ways, so I enrolled in a masters degree program in holistic
health education. During this program, I took a couple of classes in movement. The interplay between moving my body and engaging in visual arts deepened my self-exploration and uncovered unconscious material, which I doubt would have been unveiled in any other way. This process opened me up in profound ways and led me to take some additional practicums in movement with Jamie McHugh, a graduate of Tamalpa Institute. Through these experiences, I developed a deeper understanding of how movement,
visuals arts, and creative writing could lead to profound healing beyond what mainstream medicine and psychotherapy offer. I wanted to explore this path for my own healing and to learn ways to support others on their own path of healing. |
As you began to immerse yourself in this work, were there any unexpected gifts or surprises? |
So many gifts. So many surprises. I never imagined how many different ways exist for self-expression, nor did I have any inkling of how layering different expressive modalities could take a person deeper into the psyche. I had experienced this during my masters degree, but the process was made so much more transparent during my training at Expressive Arts Florida Institute. During my masters degree, I often found myself trying to immerse in the
experience while taking notes on how to facilitate the process. But at Expressive Arts Florida Institute, we were provided all the materials on how to facilitate a process, so we could be fully immersed in the experience. What a gift! I was able to be fully immersed instead of trying to wear two hats at the same time. This allowed me to delve deeply into my psyche and reap the benefits of that exploration. |
Representations of the Four
Elements and She Who Dances Between the Worlds Metal Arts September 2023
How are you currently implementing expressive arts in your personal and/or professional life?
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On a personal level, I have been engaged in an
exploration of my mythopoetic identity through deep imagery, dream work, and wild wanders. As I engage in deep imagination and foster a deeper relationship with the wild world, I have become enchanted with the dance between fire and water. I explored this more deeply through a welding for women class at Ghost Ranch, which consisted of creating metal art. I used fire from a welding torch to manipulate the metal, and water to cool and fix the metal in place, an alchemical dance of
transformation. I have also been using mask making and collage to further explore my mythos. Though both of these modalities have been a part of my personal practice for quite some time, I decided to go deeper with each of them. With the mask-making, I apprenticed with a professional mask-maker, who makes masks for theater and opera. Under her guidance, I learned new techniques for
mask-making that involved a multi-layered process including casts, clay, and rubber molds. This led me to develop a phoenix mask as I explored the significance of birth, death, and rebirth in my personal mythos. Additionally, I have used collage because it enables me to create interesting visual art pieces without the self-doubt and self-consciousness that arises when I attempt to draw or paint. SoulCollage (R) facilitator training helped me develop new collage techniques and discover effective
ways to facilitate others in the process. Additionally, I have taken collage classes in Santa Fe to delve deeper in the creative process. Professionally, I have incorporated expressive arts in clinical practice through individual sessions and group work as well as in my work as a trainer and supervisor. However, the past four years have been a period of purposefully unraveling my
professional identity. I continue to incorporate expressive arts in my clinical practice, and I am exploring how I want to manifest this work outside the confines of higher education. |
Water Holding the Blue Pearl of Decay Collage February 2024 What are your goals in this work, or how do you envision your involvement with EXA unfolding in the future? |
When I was still teaching at the University of
Illinois Urbana-Champaign, I had a dream that I was teaching outside in the nude. The dream both startled and intrigued me. How vulnerable! And yet, in the dream, I taught with joy and self-assuredness, not a twinge of self-consciousness. What would it mean to "teach naked"? First, it would mean bringing a certain vulnerability forward as I teach. I also wonder if this dream was pointing toward a future where I teach beyond the confines of institutions of higher education. Within
educational institutions, structures and rubrics, meant to improve the educational experience can hinder. What becomes possible when learning moves outside of the classroom incorporating nature? Along with this dream, I have been through a four year period of unraveling and following the threads of my mythos. These threads include creative expression, deep imagination, mindful
attention, and loving awareness. As I hold these threads, I feel called to dance between the worlds of passionate fires and flowing waters attending to birth-death-rebirth seeding the heart of the earth. I don't pretend to know all of what this vision means. I do know that when I speak with the plants in the desert and ask them about their unique way of seeding the heart of the earth, I well up with tears knowing that the more than human world is clear about what they are here to do, and many
humans have no clue about their unique way of seeding the heart of the earth. I envision that my involvement with expressive arts in the future will include workshops and programs on the wild, enchanted lands of Coyote, New Mexico that focus on helping people engage in nature-based expressive arts processes that bring about self-healing and wholing, and help people discover their
unique way of seeding the heart of the earth. Frankly, at a time of climate crisis, nothing seems more important than people knowing what is their unique contribution to seeding the heart of the earth..
How has EXA enriched or expanded your career path (if applicable)? |
When I think
about my career, expressive arts brought both a lightness and depth to my experience. I can be a bit heady, contemplative, and brooding. Expressive arts took me out of my head and into my body which brought a playfulness and delight to my work while at the same time creating depth in what I was able to offer others in the way of integrative health and wellness. Expressive arts provided a career path that took me beyond the clinical office and the classrooms of higher education into the wonder of
the wild world. |
What is your current personal practice and how does it enrich your life? |
As mentioned
earlier, I have been engaging in mask-making and SoulCollage(R) as part of my personal expressive arts practice. SoulCollage(R) is like my personal oracle. I have made over 150 cards with various personal and archetypal images that guide me on my path. As I reflect on how the collage process enriches my life, I think of the surprising images that arise at just the right time. I also think about the joy of collage making in community. In one class, each of us would work independently, quietly,
and then share at the end of class. Often, I would find myself giggling with delight at some of the images that presented themselves to me, which brought lightness and joy to me and my classmates. Element of Fire Metal Arts September 2023 |
What do you wish you could tell the world about Expressive Arts? Create from an intuitive spark and a deep longing to seek what is true for you. Ignore all the voices that say you are not creative or artistic. Allow yourself to be drawn to
an artistic medium and begin. As you explore the possibilities within that medium, remain open to the next impulse that will take your exploration deeper. Recognize that each step of expressive arts exploration is the next step on the journey of your unfolding life. Stay open to the awe and delight of it all. What are you currently offering, and what are the ways that people can work with you? In a time of unraveling and poly crises, we are at the forefront of addressing some of the greatest needs of our time. Many of us have been working relentlessly to make a difference in the lives of those in our community because we believe in a future where humans can live more in balance with earth and the more than human world. But we get tired of carrying this weight. We want and need someone who understands both the
passion and pain of pursuing this higher vision. We long for a place where we are able to replenish and resource in order to have the energy and ability to continue our work. I seek to hold space and support people from a person-centered approach incorporating mindful presence, creative expression, deep imagination, and loving awareness so that people can experience resilience and
self-healing as they continue the vital work necessary for making a difference within broken cultural systems. Currently, I am offering individual mentorship and therapy to address these concerns. Mentorship sessions would include check-in, centering or deep imagination journey, then an invitation to explore relevant content and themes through expressive arts, which could include a
form of visual arts, dance and/or creative writing. Mentorship sessions end with some invitations to deepen the experience outside of session either through another expressive arts practice or through setting up a wander on wild land between mentoring sessions. In the future, I will be offering workshops, trainings, and intensives incorporating deep imagery journeys, dream work,
expressive arts, and wild wanders as a way of fostering resilience, self-healing, wholeness, and sense of purpose. I encourage you to visit my website www.manzanitamozaics.com to sign up for my mailing list to receive information of upcoming offerings.
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Anything else you would like to say?
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Thank you, Kathleen, Tamara, (and Victoria) for having the vision and passion to create Expressive Arts Florida Institute. Your program was the expressive arts training program that I needed to grow personally and professionally as an expressive arts educator and clinician. My life has been forever changed because of all that you offer. |
Professional links - Learn more about Theresa
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Watch for our Alumni Spotlight on the 15th of each month. We feature graduates of our Certificate Training Program - Expressive Arts Facilitators, Therapists, and Educators. We hope this series will inspire you, help spread the work of our alumni, and demonstrate the scope of
practice of the expressive arts field. To see past Alumni Spotlight features & our Alumni Directory visit the link below. www.expressiveartsflorida.com/art-professional-links For more information about our Certificate Training Program, Professional Development, and Workshops - both online and in-person,
visit us at www.expressiveartsflorida.com Tamara Teeter Knapp MA, Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern, REACE® Kathleen Horne MA, LMHC(S), REACE®, REAT® |
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