Run out of Clinton, ON, offering Art Psychotherapy, and Therapeutic Arts services virtually across Canada, and traditional Psychotherapy virtually across Ontario.

Althea Therapeutic Services - Finding Healing Through Art

At Althea, my mission is simple: to help you find healing through art. I believe in the amazing power of creativity to nurture and transform.

With a variety of art therapy and therapeutic arts services, I create a warm and welcoming space where you can explore yourself, express your emotions, and discover the healing tools creativity offers.

My goal is to empower you to tap into your artistic side as a way to reflect, grow, and heal.

Book a session today and see how art can be a meaningful path to self-expression and well-being.

  • A young woman with long, wavy hair sitting outside against a brick wall, smiling at the camera.

    Kelsey Mathison

    Professional Art Psychotherapist, Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)

    I’m Kelsey, an art psychotherapist, counsellor, and artist in Ontario, and I run Althea Therapeutic Services. I combine my love for art and psychology with a feminist viewpoint, shaped by my own experiences. I chose art therapy to help people express feelings that are hard to say in words. I provide a safe, welcoming space where you can explore and share through art. Each session is focused on your needs, making sure it feels helpful and personal. If you want to try a new way to understand yourself, heal, or communicate, I’m here to support you. Whether alone or in a group, my goal is to help you feel seen, heard, and empowered through creativity.

FAQs

  • As defined by the American Art Therapy Association (AATA),

    “Art Therapy is an integrative mental health and human services profession that enriches the lives of individuals, families, and communities through active artmaking, creative process, applied psychological theory, and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship.

    Art Therapy, facilitated by a professional art therapist, effectively supports personal and relational treatment goals as well as community concerns. Art Therapy is used to improve cognitive and sensory-motor functions, foster self-esteem and self-awareness, cultivate emotional resilience, promote insight, enhance social skills, reduce and resolve conflicts and distress, and advance societal and ecological change.”

  • Kelsey structures art therapy sessions based on your needs. She typically works from a client-based approach, inspired and motivated by feminist therapy.

    A typical session may include art therapy directives, free artmaking, reflections, and visualizations. While traditional art materials will often be explored, nontraditional materials such as household found objects and natural resources may also be used.

  • Feminist Art Psychotherapy is an integrative approach that began in the late 1960s as women helping women, focusing on gender challenges and stressors faced due to bias, stereotyping, oppression, and discrimination. The theory has since evolved to include the recognition of interlocking oppression across additional minorities such as class, disability, race, ethnicity, and sexuality. While Feminist Art Psychotherapy is an integrative approach, taking pieces of other theories, there are a few key concepts that set apart this novel approach from its predecessors.

    Firstly, though it is unclear as to whether it is used in today’s approach in feminist therapy, it is known that self-disclosure was a significant part of the early days of Feminist Psychotherapy. A second distinctive aspect of Feminist Art Psychotherapy is the approach of reframing clients’ issues in the context of societal views, involving the concept that ‘the personal is political’. The third approach that is essential to touch on is methods of empowerment used in Feminist Art Psychotherapy. Techniques that feminist therapists use to give space for empowerment in a therapeutic setting include, but are not limited to, empathy, advocacy, and bibliotherapy.

  • The name "Althea" was originally inspired by the plant commonly known as the Rose of Sharon (also known as Hibiscus Syriacus, Rose Mallow, or Shrub Althea).

    The national flower of South Korea first symbolized eternity and abundance. When the shrub was later grown in the gardens of Europe, it became a symbol of beauty and love, hope and rejuvenation. It is all of these that influenced the name of this practice, Althea, as the therapeutic arts are beautiful, promote hope and rejuvenation, require love and attentiveness, and have impacts that can last an eternity.

  • While I do not offer direct billing at this time, I am able to provide receipts for clients located in Ontario to submit to their insurance companies. It is recommended to verify with your insurance provider if psychotherapy services are covered in your plan.