Consulting
Speaking publicly has become an unexpected extension of my work with individuals and communities. Storytelling in this context fosters profound conversations about lived experience, morality, values, ethics, and decision-making, helping us navigate challenges and grow personally and professionally. I have been providing mental health services in the Portland community since 1999 and teaching since 2011.
Topics of consultation might include but are not limited to:
  • Private practice: Marketing, messaging and branding, navigating mental health systems, online presence, maintaining an art practice and an artist identity, preparation for publication and presentation proposals
  • Gender expression: Contributing to the decolonization of gender norms in the work place and beyond
  • Disability Justice
  • Clinical support: Continuing education and advising on therapeutic options for clients including interventions and case management strategies
  • Team support in non-profit agencies: team strategy, management, communication, workplace sustainability
  • Careers in art therapy
  • Art therapy graduate student supervision​
Contact me for more details or to discuss how I can support you and/or your team.
Experience in art making is NOT necessary for participants in any of the offerings below.
Workshops

Team Development, self-care,
and Support

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BA has worked in community mental health since 1999, working on teams with psychiatrists, medical practitioners, school based professionals, case workers, probation officers to name a few. In addition to providing mental health services, BA has also provided support for teams of individuals in the support field around vicarious trauma in work, communication, community building, and the importance of self-care. 

Creative Mindfulness

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​Mindfulness/meditations and art making in response. In this workshop participants explore their creative problem solving potential while taking creative risks. Using guided meditation, BA will guide participants through one or more exercises and then lead reflection discussion. Afterwards participants will use art materials to explore their process in a quiet art making flow state. Afterwards, BA leads a final interactive discussion reflecting on the art process. Through the entire process participants will access new perspectives to self-perception, self-care and day to day stress. Take-aways include mindfulness resources.

What is art therapy?

[Image: art depicting books with polished marble book ends.][Image: art piece depicting books with polished marble book ends.]
In this interactive talk, BA provides a thorough overview of the field of art therapy outlining and discussing a brief history of art therapy, clinical theories, properties of art materials, as well as discuss the importance of having a master's in art therapy when using it in mental health treatment.
They will also cover the education process, certifications credentials available, ethical use and job hunting.

Art Journaling

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​Utilizing some of the concepts of the eight dimensions of wellness in Beth Ann’s book and an art journal, participants will explore a variety of methods they might use in their art journaling practice. In this workshop they will begin with a guided prompt and leave with access to free on-going support after the workshop through Beth Ann’s Wellness Newsletter that incorporates a journal prompt in each edition. Blank journals available for purchase.
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Acknowledgements: It is with deep respect and gratitude that I acknowledge that I reside and work on the traditional homelands of the Cowlitz and Clackamas tribes. I acknowledge and honor with reverence those who have stewarded this land, through colonization, systemic racism, structural racism, and genocidal policies. Additionally, I hold in the highest esteem those who have been historically enslaved upon this land, as well as those who may have been excluded to this land due to race, national origin, citizenship, and ethnicity. I offer some of my art therapy services at no charge to those who's homelands I occupy. If this applies to you or someone you know and you'd like to find out more please contact me.

Beth Ann Short LLC