Sarah Balascio is an art therapist at Williamsburg Counseling. She has shoulder length brown hair and a disarming smile. We’re sitting in Starbucks at a high-top table huddling over cups of coffee and talking about what an art therapist is exactly, and chuckling about the public perception of what people think she does for a living.
“Coming from the Northeast, art therapy is commonly practiced,” she leads in. “But coming here, a lot of people ask me, ‘What is art therapy?’”
Art therapy is the use of art (it could be writing, music, visual art) as a tool of self-expression to work through emotional difficulty or through life transitions. Balascio’s specialty is with adolescents, particularly those who struggle with self-harming behaviors or eating disorders, a segment she has seen a lot of healing in.
“I may have told you about the guy I met who asked me about it,” she exclaims, wondering if she has or has not before continuing.
“He said to me, ‘Art therapy? Art is supposed to be relaxing and therapeutic?’ And I said, ‘Well to some people it is.’ Then he said, ‘Well a couple of weeks ago we went to one of those paint nights for work and it was supposed to be a group bonding thing and I was so stressed out because I wanted it to look just like the original.’ I told him that’s not art therapy. It’s not about making a masterpiece. A lot of times, stuff gets thrown out. And likewise, people will say that ‘I’m not an artist, this is not for me.’ And I’ll say, ‘Anyone can be an artist. It’s like any skill; the more you do it the more comfortable you get. It’s ok to make stuff you think is ugly. Throw it out and start over. It’s not for artists. It’s abstract,”
And of course, there’s always the misconception that she can interpret art by a concerned parent who approaches her attempting to make sense of imagery, symbols or ideas expressed in the art of their child.
“[That’s] probably the biggest one—people asking me what certain symbols mean or what dreams mean. There are diagnostic tests you can do, but I’m coming from more of a philosophy of talking about what’s happening in the room,” she explains.
In order to fully appreciate the work Balascio does and why she does it, we need to go back to New England where it all started.
Sarah, what was it about teaching that led you to art therapy?
I really loved helping kids express themselves, but the part that I liked best was what the kids would get out of it. So talking with them about what it felt like when they were doing art or what it reminded them of. Often times I would see kids in the art room who had trouble in the classroom, but I had no idea because you wouldn’t see it when they were doing art. That was the connection for me. That’s when I said that there was something more than art teaching for me. There is something therapeutic about it that I have more of an interest in. That’s when I decided to get a graduate degree in art therapy.
So you picked up a graduate degree in art therapy from Pratt Institute. Then what did you do?
I worked in two really large psychiatric hospitals. One was in Vermont called Brattleboro Retreat. It’s one of the oldest psychiatric hospitals in the country. I was on the adolescent unit. What I did was plan the schedule of therapy groups for the day and I facilitated most of those groups. I did art therapy groups and yoga groups, but my main focus was art therapy and creative arts.
We’ve moved a lot for my husband’s academic career. [After Brattleboro] I worked for New York Presbyterian Psychiatric Hospital, one of the U.S. News & World Reports top hospitals. It was a huge hospital with 12 different units and I went to each one and did art therapy with each of the different populations.
What brought you from New York City to Williamsburg?
My husband and I moved to Williamsburg because he started a faculty position at William & Mary. Once we moved here, I was finally able to go into private practice.
Most people are familiar with talk therapy. How does a session with an art therapist differ from traditional counseling, and who should consider consulting with an art therapist?
Art therapy is different than traditional therapy because we will be making art. Picture yourself as a kid and your parents make you go to therapy for a particular reason—if they’re getting a divorce, if there is an illness in the family, or whatever reason—and you need to speak to someone. For a kid, it’s hard to talk to some older person staring you down. So what we will do is talk a little bit, make some art, talk about the artwork, talk about the feelings that are brought up or things that might be similar in your own life. It relaxes people.
Some art therapists do focus on symbolism in artwork—you drew that, it might mean this. I’m more about what’s happening in the room in the moment. There are certain standard symbols, but I don’t always focus on them so hard and fast.
And I don’t just work with children and adolescents, I also work with adults. I’m seeing a client now who wanted to try something different. Traditional therapy wasn’t working. Anyone who generally has trouble communicating directly by just sitting and talking to someone, art therapy generally adds comfort. It also gives more insight when we talk about the artwork.
How long does a session last, and how do you integrate office visits and parental collaboration?
Sessions are about an hour. Every few sessions when I’m working with children and adolescents, I set up a meeting with the parents and ask if they’re seeing any changes and I tell them things I’m noticing in the session and how they merge. Then I tell them what we’re going to be focusing on.
What’s the most important principle to embrace if I want to get the most out of therapy?
Communication. I have people who say to me, “I was seeing another therapist, and I didn’t really know what was going on with my child.” So I’ve made communication a real priority. I encourage parents to email me before sessions to tell me what’s going on. Then I can ask the child to tell me what’s going on at home or at school while we do art.
So what does successful therapy look like from the standpoint of an art therapist?
That’s up to the individual. I had one client who was self-conscious and had low self-esteem. She was terrified to do any art. Now she’s creatively free. It’s gotten her juices flowing in her personal life, her creative life and her confidence is up. That was something that was really recognizable for me.
How else do you help people?
Aside from individual work, I also do group therapy. I have a big art studio and I’m going to be doing more group work. General creative art therapy groups for children and adolescents, and disorder-focused groups.
What about your work gets you up and excited each day?
I love art. I love seeing what people can make. I love being a part of the art. I love being here for people. I love to listen. I love to see that feeling when people tell you something and it becomes a release for them. I find people very interesting—and I love to talk.
