More about your art therapist
My name is Nicole Haywood and I am a clinical art psychotherapist, counselling therapist, ETC practitioner, and visual artist.
I completed my postgraduate diploma in Clinical Art Psychotherapy (CAPD), and Expressive Therapies Continuum Practitioner (ETC-P) training at the Canadian International Institute of Art Therapy, and am currently completing my Master's in Counselling Psychology (MCP) at City University of Seattle. I am currently a professional member of the Canadian Art Therapy Association (CATA) and a counselling therapist with the Association of Counselling Therapy of Alberta (ACTA).
I have experience working as a clinical art therapist within the public healthcare and mental health system supporting children, adolescents, and young adults facing challenges related to life transition, stress, low self-esteem, anxiety, complex pain, neurodiversity, trauma, and other emotional, medical, and developmental concerns.
I strive to offer warmth, authenticity and humour within a client- centered, culturally sensitive, trauma informed, and strengths-based approach to art therapy and counselling. I believe in empowering clients to feel like active participants in their healing journey and I deeply trust in their inherent capacity for growth and change.
My own emotional experiences have been supported by creative self-expression.
Because of this, I deeply understand the transformational potential of art making.
Just like life, art-making can sometimes be beautiful, funny, strange or even a little scary.
In art therapy we combine a therapeutic relationship with the creative process to help us develop our courage to face challenges, and to discover and create new meaning.
