IKUKO ACOSTA, Ph.D., A.T.R.-B.C. LCAT
Ikuko Acosta has been involved in the field of Art Therapy for the past thirty-five years as an art therapist, art therapy educator, and finally, as the Director of the Art Therapy Program at NYU until her retirement in 2022. Her clinical expertise is with the adult psychiatric population, functioned as a staff art therapist of a diagnostic team in an admissions unit in a county psychiatric hospital in NJ for 17 years. Her main research interest is to develop an aesthetically based pictorial analysis within a framework of psychodynamic approach as well as incorporating new media for therapeutic use. As an art therapy educator, she has trained several hundred students, many of whom are practicing art therapists and art therapy educators both in the US and internationally. Her most recent research interest focuses on the cross-cultural application of the field of art therapy as well as incorporating the internship abroad experience into the course curriculum. In the past 6 years, many students have participated in such experiences in Tanzania, Peru, South Africa, Brazil, India, and Bolivia. Her interest in the global expansion of the field of art therapy took her to places such as Iceland, Italy, Turkey, Japan, Korea, India, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, and Argentina. In the past, she has served on the membership committee and educational standard committee of the American Art Therapy Association. She also served as an editorial member of the American Art Therapy Journal.
JANETTE AGBETOR, MA, LCAT, ATR-BC
Janette Agbetor holds a Master’s degree in Art Therapy from New York University and a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from Maryland Institute College of Art. She has over 10 years of clinical experience providing individual and group art therapy for children, adolescents, adults, and geriatric populations. Ms. Agbetor is currently the Creative Arts Therapy Supervisor at One Brooklyn Health, Brookdale Hospital Medical Center campus. The majority of her clinical experience has been in acute inpatient psychiatry, where she became adept at developing creative arts programming and establishing and modifying treatment goals with diverse client populations with mental health issues, including psychosis, behavioral and emotional disorders, substance abuse, and trauma. Her fine arts training cultivated a love of material manipulation, which lent to her utilizing the power of art and the art-making process with her patients to express oneself, problem-solve, organize thoughts, develop insight and reflection, and tap into one’s unconscious. She is passionate about the field of art therapy and supervising clinicians, New York State Creative Arts Therapist limited permit holders, and graduate students working towards their masters in Art Therapy.
BETHANY ALTSCHWAGER, DAT, ATR-BC, LCAT, ATCS
Bethany Altschwager is an art therapist and art therapy educator. Her primary areas of interest are trauma, digital media, and fiber arts. She has over ten years of clinical experience in community-based and healthcare settings with people from diverse backgrounds and across the lifespan. She has presented at the American Art Therapy Association national conference, the Expressive Therapies Summit, and the Water and Stone conference. She has also taught graduate art therapy courses at the School of Visual Arts, Mount Mary University, and Caldwell University. She serves on the board of the New York Art Therapy Association.
MARYGRACE BERBERIAN, MA, ATR-BC, LCAT, LCSW - Program Director
Marygrace Berberian, a licensed and registered Art Therapist and licensed clinical social worker, is the Director of the Graduate Art Therapy Program and an Associate Clinical Professor. She has been actively involved in the Graduate Art Therapy Program as a Faculty Member, Internship Coordinator and Program Coordinator for over 25 years.
Marygrace has invested most of her career in establishing community based art therapy programs in New York City. Marygrace is the Director of NYU Art Therapy in the Schools program, overseeing the establishment of school-based art therapy intervention in public schools in New York State. She works with teachers and parents to support young people through creative intervention as her clinical work has focused on children, adolescents, and community wide crisis recovery. Her doctoral research explored the implementation of school based art therapy across the United States.
Marygrace has more recently focused on the rehabilitative benefits of community-based art therapy for adults struggling with degenerative diseases. She currently leads Art Well, facilitating art therapy sessions for the community at NYU. Marygrace has established other accessible, community-based art therapy initiatives globally. Her work broadens the reach of art therapy practices for creative problem solving and resilience. Her published research highlighting the rehabilitative benefits of art therapy for degenerative disease has gained recognition, igniting more dialogue about the health outcomes of art therapy in healthcare. She is on the Editorial Boards of Art Therapy, Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, the Canadian Journal of Art Therapy, and formerly on the Executive Board of the American Art Therapy Association and International Journal of Art Therapy. She has authored several chapters and peer reviewed journal articles as well as a co-edited book, Art Therapy Practices for Resilient Youth: A Strengths-Based Approach to At-Promise Children and Adolescents, published in 2020. She has earned the Rawley Silver Research Award (2020), the President's Service Award (2022) from the American Art Therapy Association and advocates to advance legislation to support greater access to art therapy services.
MIA DE BETHUNE, MA, ATR-BC, LCAT, ISP/SEP
Mia de Bethune is an artist and art therapy educator who worked many years in the field of foster care and residential treatment with children and adolescents. She is a graduate of the Child/Adolescent Analytic Program at the Westchester Center for the Study of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy and maintains a private practice in Westchester County. She sees a broad spectrum of clients across the lifespan and was affiliated with Hospice and Palliative Care of Westchester for many years. Her current focus is on bringing somatic methods together with art therapy practice. She is certified in Somatic Experiencing and Integral Somatic Psychology and serves as a training assistant for both. She is also trained in Inner Relationship Focusing and has twenty-plus years as a Reiki energy healer at the master level in several lineages. She supervises numerous recent graduates in somatic methods and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Lesley University with a research interest in somatic art therapy. She is a member of the Upstream Gallery in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, where she often shows her own paintings, which combine weaving and collage elements. She spends time commuting between NY and RI, where she and her husband have an old farmhouse and a big garden.
FRANCES FAWUNDU, MA, ATR-BC, LCAT
Frances Fawundu is a licensed Creative Arts Therapist who works with adults in inpatient psychiatry and chemical dependency. She serves as the Director of the Creative Arts Therapy Department at New York City Health and Hospitals Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center. Frances has also served as past President of the New York Art Therapy Association, and she was a recipient of the Pam Clark Distinguished Service Award. She has a private Art Therapy supervision practice in Brooklyn, New York.
ADRIENNE FIGUEIREDO, MA, LCAT
Adrienne Figueiredo is a licensed art therapist/psychotherapist who specializes in supporting women, the LGBTQIA+ community, the BIPOC community, and those experiencing anxiety and depression. She has been practicing for almost 15 years, after receiving her master's in art therapy from New York University and her BA in Studio Art from Albion College. Ms. Figueiredo spent nearly a decade working with adults on inpatient psychiatric units, and co-developed the group therapy program from its inception for the adult unit at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center. Ms. Figueiredo now has her own practice working with adults; her practice is primarily focused on anxiety, trauma, women's issues, and the LGBTQIA+ community. She utilizes a strengths-based, feminist and culturally aware approach in her work, and combines DBT and CBT modalities with more traditional art therapy interventions. Ms. Figuieredo has also presented on her art therapy work in both academic and community settings.
CHRISTINA GROSSO, MA, LCAT, ATR-BC
Dr. Grosso has worked as a clinician, supervisor, trainer, and leader specializing in the treatment of complex trauma in children and adolescents with mental illness and intellectual & developmental disorders. Christina has extensive experience in the practice, implementation, and training of Trauma Informed Care and evidence-based practices. Christina served at the Jewish Board for over 20 years, where she led the agency’s trauma training and organizational development initiatives focusing on Veteran and family reintegration, milieu services, and affirming care for all. She developed and implemented agency best practice guidelines protecting LGBTQ clients and staff, as well as created an LGBT Climate Survey measuring employees’ attitudes about working with LGBT clients. Christina’s work has focused on implementation science and system change. She has consulted with child psychiatric centers and residential treatment facilities nationwide to disseminate Trauma Informed Care. She has authored papers in the field of trauma, self-care, and TF-CBT. Christina is a certified supervisor in Trauma Focused CBT (TF-CBT) and a certified trainer in Psychological First Aid. She serves on the NCTSN Terrorism & Disaster, Peer Support, and Trauma, Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities workgroups.
Christina is the founder of Mind+Body=ONE, Integrative Mental Health & Optimal Performance, LLC. The mission of Mind+Body=ONE is to de-stigmatize mental health through a holistic, person-centered approach to wellness that integrates psychotherapy, psychophysiology, and creativity. Mind+Body=ONE offers individual therapy, biofeedback, and optimal performance training for athletes and executives. Consultation and training services for corporate wellness focus on the principles of mindful and authentic leadership.
Christina is a faculty member at New York University in the Steinhardt School Graduate Art Therapy Department. She is a practicing artist, and her work focuses on abstract expressionism and process-based response art. Christina holds a doctorate in Mind-Body Medicine with a focus on integrative mental health, psychophysiology, and mindful leadership in healthcare. Her dissertation focused on the correlation of creativity and resilience in mental healthcare providers working during the COVID-19 federal emergency period.
ROHITA KILACHAND, MA, ATR-BC, LCAT
Rohita Kilachand is a board-certified art therapist and educator. She has been actively involved in New York University’s (NYU) Graduate Art Therapy Program as a faculty member, associate research scientist and internship coordinator. She is the clinical supervisor for community outreach programs and clinical lead for study abroad programs Her areas of focus involve art therapy initiatives with at-risk children and youth, refugees, homeless populations, and individuals living with neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis. Another area of her work focuses on cross-cultural art therapy in international settings. She serves as a consultant at the World Bank Group for developing mental health and education-based interventions for displaced populations.
SEUNG YEON LEE, Ed.D., ATR-BC, LCAT
Seung Yeon Lee is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Graduate Art Therapy Program at New York University. She holds an Ed.D. from Teachers College, Columbia University, an M.A. in Art Therapy from New York University, and a B.S. in Child and Family Studies from Yonsei University, South Korea. Her research focuses on exploring the role of flow theory in art therapy, especially the therapeutic value of flow in art therapy with young immigrants as they cope with their everyday acculturation challenges. Her work with global art therapy communities in South Korea, Nicaragua, and Israel created opportunities for cross-cultural art therapy services and further development of intercultural competencies curriculum for graduate art therapy students. Her research is regularly published in journals such as American Art Therapy Association, Arts in Psychotherapy, Canadian Art Therapy Association, and Art Education. Prior to joining NYU, Seung Yeon was an Associate Professor at the Clinical Art Therapy and Counseling Program at Long Island University (LIU) where she served as the Program Director and the Chair of the Department of Art. Prior to her tenure at LIU, she worked as a Board-Certified Creative Arts Therapist at the Adult & Adolescent Acute Care Psychiatric Unit at NYU Langone Medical Center. She has also been actively involved in the art therapy community, serving as a council member of the Accreditation Council of Art Therapy Education (ACATE) of the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP).
LAURA MEYERS, MA, ATR-BC, LCAT
Laura Meyers is a licensed creative arts therapist and artist. Starting in 2013, Laura worked as a Primary Therapist and Art Therapist at the JM Goldsmith Center for Adolescent Treatment, where trauma-focused therapy was practiced through individual, family, and group therapy. Laura also spent several years working with adults struggling with substance misuse, both through the development of an Art Therapy pilot program with Samaritan Village's Veterans program and at St. Vincent's Hospital. In May 2024, Laura's manuscript, "Walk A Mile in My Shoes: Stories of Recovery in Art Therapy" was published in the International Art Therapy Journal. Currently, Laura is working as the Clinical Team Lead to develop a new residential program, "The Pines at Shrub Oak International School," a specialized therapeutic program designed to address the unique needs of adolescents on the autism spectrum, who also require intensive psychiatric support. Laura's personal artwork, which includes street art and pop surrealism, has been shown and published since 2008.
RENÉE OBSTFELD, ATR-BC, LCAT, NCpsyA
Renée Obstfeld is an art therapist and psychoanalyst. Currently in private practice, Renée has adapted art therapy to address a wide range of clinical needs. Renée has facilitated art therapy groups for survivors of suicide and female veterans; she has worked in clinical settings serving people with psychiatric and substance use disorders, living with AIDS, and experiencing homelessness. As a consultant with the Art Therapy Project, Renée provided art therapy services at Bellevue Hospital’s World Trade Center Environmental Health Clinic for people suffering from PTSD post-9/11, and Bellevue’s Program for Survivors of Torture.
Renée is currently in private practice and integrates EMDR and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy into her work. She primarily serves people struggling with substance misuse, eating disorders, problematic relational patterns, and co-occurring issues. Her clinical focus is on helping individuals navigate and reconcile self-states that misalign or dissociate in the wake of developmental trauma.
KIM TRAINA-NOLAN, MA, ATR-BC, LCAT
Kim Traina-Nolan is a Licensed and Board-Certified Art Therapist and Licensed Professional Counselor and founder of a private expressive arts group practice, The Art in Therapy, NJ. She specializes in working with adolescents and young adults who have experienced trauma and hold co-occurring diagnoses. She has over 10 years of experience working within the community-based and the hospital healthcare system. She provides clinical supervision to Art Therapists working towards state licensure. Kim is an artist who enjoys multimedia abstract expressionism. She is currently an advanced candidate of Modern Psychoanalysis at ACAP in Livingston, NJ.
STEPHANIE WISE, MA, ATR-BC, LCAT
Stephanie Wise is Associate Professor of Practice and Director of Art Therapy at Marywood University in Scranton, PA. She is a registered and Board-Certified art therapist and Licensed Creative Arts Therapist in New York. Stephanie received her BFA from The Cooper Union and her master’s degree from the Graduate Art Therapy Program at New York University, where she also earned her certificate from the International Trauma Studies Program / International University for Mental Health and Human Rights, NYU & Copenhagen University. She has worked, published, and presented nationally, as well as in the Middle East, Far East, and Europe, on topics about trauma such as 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the Tsunami, substance abuse, child abuse, and Veterans suffering from PTSD. With Emily Nash, she co-authored the book Healing Trauma in Group Setting: The Art of Co-Leader Attunement, published by Routledge in 2019. Stephanie specializes in the psychological impact of trauma and the enhancement of resilience.