Emily M Bradley, LCAT

08/30/2022

Omg this this this!

source:

06/30/2022

Art therapy provides an opportunity to see your life from a new perspective. Maybe you’re feeling trapped and alone because of difficult past experiences. Creating art that expresses that feeling is cathartic. It moves those negative emotions from inside to outside, where we can look at them together. Processing the material with an art therapist can change your view, literally, of what you’ve been through, so you can think of your life in a new way, with more hope, agency, and equanimity. This is some old artwork of my own. If you’re wondering if you need experience or skill with art to do art therapy, you don’t. One can do this with simple lines, shapes, colors, and symbols that you make up as you go along. It’s all about harnessing the power of visuals as tools for thought and memory.

05/26/2022

To all NY State LCATs and those who care about making mental health care more accessible for everyone: I copied the following appeal from Maria Hodermarska, MA, RDT-BCT, CASAC, LCAT
Clinical Associate Professor of Drama Therapy at NYU. Please take a moment to contact Gov. Hochul in support of this bill that would require health insurance companies to cover the services of LCATs and other mental health professionals. It only takes a minute, and this is a crucial moment for our profession!

We urgently need your help. Yesterday, A1171A passed the Senate and Assembly!!

This NYS legislation requires private insurance companies to cover services by LCATs —a huge step forward in achieving parity between art therapists and other mental health professions in the state.

We only have a 30 day window to advocate.

Now, the bill goes to the governor of New York for her signature. The last time this was passed in 2019 (A670A), it was vetoed by Governor Cuomo. We CANNOT ALLOW THE GOVERNOR TO VETO THIS AGAIN. We need to act fast to ensure that Governor Kathy Hochul signs the bill into law in its current form. As you may be aware, the governor recently excluded creative art therapists specifically from a similar bill, S7761, which expanded Medicaid coverage to include licensed mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists.

ACT NOW! Contact Governor Kathy Hochul and urge her to sign A1171A into law in its current form! Now more than ever, all New Yorkers need access to mental health services, including art therapy.

There is a limited time to convince the Governor.

HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO NOW:

Use the template message below, or share your own story about why Governor Hochul must sign A1171A to support mental health care.
Contact her online, via phone, or send her a letter in the mail. OR, CHOOSE TO DO ALL THREE!
Post this call for action on all your social media outlets.
Encourage family, friends, colleagues and clients to reach out to the Governor to ensure insurance coverage.
NYU Programs in Art Therapy and Drama Therapy are compiling video testimonials for a brief PSA to flood on social media. If you would like to record a brief video, please be in touch. If you have clients or colleagues willing to record a video, please be in touch.

Online:

https://www.governor.ny.gov/content/governor-contact-form



By phone:

1-518-474-8390



Through the mail:

The Honorable Kathy Hochul
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224



Sample message for a letter or phone conversation:



Governor Hochul,



I am a Licensed Creative Art Therapist (LCAT) in __[YOUR CITY]_____, NY, and provide essential mental healthcare to many New Yorkers. I am writing to express my support for A1171A in its current form, which requires private insurance companies to cover mental health services, including creative arts therapies. From the increase in mental health issues brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, to the racial trauma so many are experiencing, and the seemingly unending waves of violence in New York and the rest of the nation, now is the time to expand access to affordable mental health care. Creative arts therapists are credentialed mental health clinicians with Master’s level (or higher) degrees trained in a creative art discipline (art, dance, drama, music, poetry) and therapy that serve diverse communities. Creative arts therapies are particularly effective during times of crisis, especially in coping with isolation, changes in circumstance, trauma, and grief—and with people struggling to benefit from talk therapy interventions.



Please sign A1171A in its current form today and allow New Yorkers to have access to mental health services, especially as we face a mental health crisis in our state and across the country!



Sincerely,

[YOUR NAME AND CREDENTIALS]

HOME ADDRESS

EMAIL ADDRESS

PHONE NUMBER

Let's get this done finally. New York State needs more coverage for creative arts therapies.

--
Maria Hodermarska, MA, RDT-BCT, CASAC, LCAT
Clinical Associate Professor of Drama Therapy
Executive Producer, NYU Drama Therapy As Performance Series
Program in Drama Therapy
New York University
Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions
School of Culture, Education and Human Development

If you are requesting information under the Freedom of Information Law, you will need to complete a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) Request.

03/17/2022

Happy creative Arts Therapy week to all my fellow art, dance/movement, music, and drama therapists out there! This my first year celebrating as a private practitioner. I’ve been so focused on my growing practice that I almost forgot to celebrate! I’m so grateful to be doing what I love on my own terms. If you’re an art therapist wondering if you can ditch your agency job and work for yourself—I’m here to say it’s absolutely possible!

03/03/2022

Came across an old directive I did with a group - (this was my own piece) randomly handed out inspirational quotes as a jumping off point to the artwork. This one is all about being in the moment, taking it one day at a time.

02/21/2022

I'm pleased to announce that I'm now in network with Cigna!

02/18/2022

A good tool for checking in with yourself is to do a body scan meditation and then express your emotions and sensations in a drawing.

02/11/2022

I’ve been enjoying some neurographic art! So soothing, so satisfying...

02/03/2022

Here’s some art that I made to get some icky feelings out of my system. I made an oil pastel drawing that represented some things I wanted to let go of. I didn’t get too attached to this drawing, because step two was to rip it up into tiny pieces. I really went to town on that thing! Then I gave myself permission to reconstruct the pieces as a mosaic that made me happy. Look, it has a star in the center! Sometimes we need to get physical with our artwork to purge those nasty stress hormones. It was very cathartic!

01/30/2022

The system would have you believe that your only value is productivity. But you know you weren’t born just to work a job. Reserving space for nurturing our inner life is not a luxury, it’s how we’re going to survive in these difficult times. If you’re running on empty you’re no good to anyone.

01/25/2022

Thanks for sharing this Magnolia Counseling Associates! I can relate 😂