Bre Pleasant

I am an art therapy student at Lewis & Clark College. I am a white, gender-fluid, queer person, living with neurodiversity, and an autoimmune disorder. Im passionate about creating because, creating is a way of connecting our internal experiences with the world around us and seeing ourselves as a part the world. When art is part of a therapy session, it is another way to connect to the world, to see how events and those around you influence your emotions, thoughts, and patterns and how you impact them. I aim to work with a trauma-informed, intersectional and non-judgemental framework to best allow for healing and growth. 

I am currently entering my third year of my master’s program at L&C as an art therapy student. The most common misconception I hear about engaging with art is about artistic ability or “doing it right.” Art Therapy is about expressing yourself in the moment in a safe and non-judgmental space to convey your emotions and ideas, to release tension, and to gain insight into your inner world through color, image, and the physical act of creating. My role as an art therapist, when you are making art: 1) to support and free up your own process, and 2) to help you describe and find meaning in your creation and to relate it to your larger therapy process. I believe we are capable of creating our own answers. In tandem with existential-humanistic therapy I reach through the difficult and towards the beauty of life.