Tanya Negrey & Associates Art & Expressive Therapies

01/12/2026

Simply and beautifully put!

Five rules of many for 2026:

12/22/2025

Sending love ❤️‍🩹

12/08/2025

If you’re grieving the loss of a loved one this holiday season, you are not alone. This is a difficult time for many, including ourselves.

Try to find joy where you can, reach out to friends and family, but also allow yourself to feel whatever emotions you have. Most especially, take care of yourself. Your physical, emotional, and mental health are important.

You matter 💚

- J

11/14/2025

09/21/2025

09/18/2025

Art Therapy Diplomas VS Masters Degrees in Canada- Is There a Difference?

There is a lot of confusion in Canada when it comes to how art therapy programs are perceived. Private diploma programs use terms like “graduate-level education,” which can sound impressive—as if they are equal to a university master’s degree. But these diplomas are not comparable to a master’s in terms of academic rigour, professional standing, or legal recognition.

Academic Authority
A Master’s Degree (MA) is awarded by a provincially recognised university, following strict accreditation and government oversight. Admissions requirements include an undergraduate degree, and the coursework is held to high graduate standards.
On the other hand, a diploma comes from a private institution that is not authorised to confer degrees. Admissions may be less demanding and often do not require a bachelor degree. Diplomas are not reviewed or regulated by provincial or federal advanced education ministries.

Curriculum & Infrastructure
MA programs cover advanced topics like psychology, psychotherapy, research methods, ethics, and require substantial supervised clinical practicum hours. Students are trained to meet the standards needed for professional practice.
Diploma programs may offer some valuable art-based techniques, but they fall short in graduate-level research, academic oversight, and the essential infrastructure—like faculty research, ethics boards, and library resources—that is expected from a legitimate graduate program.

Professional Recognition
A MA is universally recognized by employers, governments, insurers, and universities. It allows progression to doctoral study and meets requirements for many regulated mental health professions.
With a diploma, recognition is limited. While some professional associations may accept diploma holders, this does not create equivalency with a graduate degree. Employers, insurers, and academic institutions do not treat diplomas as master’s-level credentials.

The Fallacy of “Graduate-Level” Marketing
The phrase “graduate-level education” has a very specific meaning: it refers to courses taken after a bachelor’s degree, which count toward a recognized graduate credential. When private diploma programs use this term, it is for marketing reasons—a true graduate education is not possible. A diploma cannot be swapped for a master’s, and it does not carry the same rights, recognition, or status.

An MA in Art Therapy from an accredited university is a legitimate, recognized graduate degree. A non-accredited diploma simply is not the same thing—using “graduate-level” language to imply otherwise is misleading and does not match up with the facts, either academically or professionally.

06/15/2025

Image by Disabled by Society

06/03/2025

05/29/2025

🌿 Proudly Saskatoon-based — and nominated!

Saskatoon is our home base and we arent about “winning”, but rather to raise our visibility in our home community. It reflects how we are refocusing our work locally, offering innovative, evidence-informed care rooted in deep training and experience.

We are honoured to be nominated under Therapy and Counselling in Community Votes Saskatoon!

If you value high-quality, individualised mental health care that ranges from traditional talk-based psychotherapy to sessions that incorporate expressive arts-based work, please consider lending your support. It would mean so much. 💚🧡💜

👉 Vote here:

Official 2025 Community Voting Awards Platform for Saskatoon, SK. Where the community votes for their favourites every year.

05/24/2025

Taking this to heart 🙏💗

05/22/2025

This is why we have to pay attention to our somatics, especially in relation to mental health.

Be sure to follow the author of this quote Michell C. Clark