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EMERGING
Unveiling the Magic in Everyday Life
EMERGING
EXPRESSIVE ARTS THERAPY
Online
Don't keep forcing. It's ok to Let Go.
Life is just more fun that way!
You've been so busy trying to figure it all out. Pause, and discover what life has been trying to show you.
You've been trying to control your life.
You don't have to figure it all out
Let life reveal itself to you instead.
How? Your expression
You don't have to think your way through everything
You are here to celebrate life, and to be YOU
You are Beautiful
Just Be more YOU!
Remember what its like to feel connected to life again
When words aren't enough, creativity opens new worlds of possibility
1:1 Expressive Arts Therapy Online
with Karen Queller
You've been pushing. Hard. And you still feel stuck.
What do you do? Push harder...?
Yes that is an option. But what if there is another way? An easier, more enjoyable way... What if you stop trying so hard and you let life guide you?
You feel stuck because you have forgotten how to trust and flow with life, and you're out here trying to make it all happen on your own.
You're trying to think and analyze your way through every problem, you're trying to be perfect before you ever start something, and you've become numb to your body, your joy, and your sense of aliveness.
It might feel fine... or good enough.... or other people have it worse.... my life is nice.
But deep inside you know there is more for you.
YOU MISS YOURSELF
Come back home to yourself
Get lost inside of colors, images, sounds, stories, smells,
the world of sensuality and play. Curiosity and exploration are waiting for you.
LET LIFE FEEL FUN AGAIN
When you have the time and space to focus on you, you start to feel safe again, present again, curious again, connected to your joy again.
Remember what that feels like??
For creative, intuitive people who feel stuck in a project, a life transition, or their own expression—and want to find movement again.
Rediscover your....
ALIVENESS
JOY
CREATIVITY
Inner-Peace
No artistic experience needed. Just a willingness to explore
I See You
You care dear one. You care deeply.
You feel a lot. You think a lot. You want a lot.
When you love, you LOVE. When you try, you TRY. When you 'fail', you feel like you've FAILED..... You are a person with so much depth and richness inside you, but you feel disconnected. You feel like something is just out of reach. You've had glimpses of your power, but somehow it feels like those moments come and go (with more emphasis on the going part), you have beautiful dreams, but they also feel overwhelming and you don't know where to start, or you have started, but now feel stuck
You know there is more inside you that wants to come out.
The Challenges are the Gifts.
Why Now??
Because we need you. NOW. Seriously.
We need YOU. Not Betty and Bob or Laura and Joe.... The world needs YOU!!
You are the only YOU there will EVER be!!! EVER. There never was a never you before and there never will be another you again. .... Let that sink in for a second....
You've probably noticed that our world is changing. Fast. With our current lifestyles people are feeling more disconnected, sedentary, and pressured. The world asks us to constantly produce more, be better, try harder, work faster and do all of that largely on your own!
What the heck?!?!? And we are just supposed to do all that with no problems??
Nope.
The challenges are real. The anxiety is real. The depression is real. The not-enoughness is real.
We were never supposed to be able to do all that on our own.
Over time, the pieces of ourself become fragmented. We try to be the best parents to our children, and the best bad-asses at work, and SPECIFICS....
But our WHOLE gets divided. our attention and energy get scattered. So soon we feel that we are never truly present where we are, and what we are doing is never enough. The world asks so much of us.
Why Expressive Arts Therapy??
It's time to bring those peices HOME
Home to yourself. Home to life.
Remember what if feels like to trust yourself? Remember what it feels like to feel joy because a hummingbird came to your window? Remember what it feels like to even notice that the hummingbird came to your window and to actually pause and admire it?? Or let it make you wonder.... about beauty, and creatures, and nature, and how can those wings even move so fast?!?!
When we let ourselves be touched by life, we know we're alive.... otherwise, we're kind of just on autopilot. Numb. Going through the motions without feeling the zest of life with us. The joy. The mystery. The beautiful surprises.
Ok, that all sounds nice, but how does this 'Expressive Arts Therapy' thing actually work?
FIRST.....
We start with practicing PRESENCE.
We do this through
Breathing Noticing Feeling Sensing
When we give ourselves the time and space to slooooowwww doooowwwwnnn, we can begin to notice things that we've never noticed before. Maybe it's the first time you noticed your bodily sensations all day. Or maybe you notice that you're carrying grief. Or maybe you notice an image of a blue doorway that pops into your imagination...
This is where we practice getting perspective, feel connected to yourself again, and remembering what inner peace feels like. Or, we get more clarity about what is standing in the way of you feeling connected to all those things (like the to-do list that keeps popping up in your mind etc. )
Then, we take mindfulness and we bring it into action.
What?!?!? Crazy. I know.
MINDFULNESS in ACTION. ..... Yup
And take everything I just told you with a grain of salt because
MOST IMPORTANTLY..... WE LISTEN TO WHAT IS WANTING TO EMERGE in the session, and that might look different for each person depending on the day or even the moment.
WE DON'T PUSH.
WE DON'T FORCE.
WE ALLOW.
This is a space for YOU to do YOU!!
I want you to take up space here!! That's what its for. This is a space for you to experiment with what that looks like for you in each moment.
If you hate one of my brilliant invitations that I offer, you can say 'NO!!!'
If all you want to do in the session is lay on the floor, because that's what actually feels good to you, DO IT!
If you have a secret desire to be a performer, or write a novel, or sing out loud not just in the shower, we create space for you to try, to make mistakes, to be imperfect, ugly, weird, to look stupid, and then to just... try again.... or not.
Yes, working with art is FUN! But it's not ONLY that.......
Phronesis - is an ancient Greek word meaning practical wisdom
We set up an expansive environment for you to explore in, so that you can come back with new tools and embodied wisdom to apply back into your life.
WHY ME?
We are co-creators here
and I want you to know, I FULLY TRUST in your inner wisdom and light!
I am not here to tell you how to change, and fix yourself, and be different.
NO!!
I am here, doing what I do because I SEE you.
If you are on this page reading these words it means you are special, and there is so much inside you that really really wants to come out (even if you haven't admitted that out loud yet, secretly you know it's true)
My job here is to help you be MORE YOU.
I also believe my work is to help you feel connected to something greater... wheather that is spirit, nature, your community, your ancestors, or the world of creativity and artists (this is deeply personal and different for each person). We can't do this life alone. The more supported we feel, the more resilience and courage, and love we will keep cultivating in our hearts. You are not alone my friends, eventhough sometimes it can feel like it.
In addition to that, I run a very eclectic ship. I like variety, which is why Expressive Arts Therapy is an absolutely perfect fit for me. I don't like to feel limited. I love having options, wearing any color I want to, spending an hour screaming, the next hour dancing, the next hour, writing a new story, the next hour planning a trip to Morrocco. I'm a wild creature. I love being open to what life wants to send my way. As such, I've been all over the world, met some of the most beautiful people, have had all kinds of crazy experiences (maybe I'll tell you a story sometime over tea...), and have learned about life from villagers in Nepal, yogis in the Himalayas, children in Fiji, and Magicians and storytellers from every corner of the planet. I've searched high and low to meet the best of the best (SERIOUSLY!). I've lived nomadically for years, explored many alternative communities, and learned about life through the eyes of locals.
I've learned that there are so many ways to see and do life, there is no 'right' or 'wrong' way. I've also learned that at the end of the day we all just want to love and feel loved. We want to feel connected. And we want tools and channels to express ourselves, and to play, and to create, and to be in an active and nourishing relationship with life itself.
I've had all of these experiences so that I can embody these teachings and carry this wisdom forward to YOU, and so that you may take these teachings and carry them forward through you, in your own special way. Pretty beautiful huh....
For me LIFE IS....... short and precious and a cabaret!(I told you already - I like having options) And I want to live it deeply. I want to celebrate it masterfully. And I want to help you do the same.
We listen to the whole of you. Body, imagination, emotion, intuition, psyche, mind, and voice.
We don't just talk.
Our work is centered within the HERE and NOW.
You learn through experience.
We create a space for YOUR authentic expression, not Johnny's or Annie's or Sarah's or Melanie's.
Just yours.
This is more than typical talk therapy
Why is this different??
All parts of you get to be here. Now. Together. Home within you.
You don't need to choose if you bring your 'put together' part, or your 'ugly part', or your dancer, or your painter, or the one that is still scared to call themselves creative.... You can bring all of your parts and we will give each one space to express themselves in the way that feels true for them in that moment.
We work in the sacred realm. The portal between time and space.
within TIMELESSNESS.
When you are so present, and so much inside your creative process where you enter the flow state. It feels a bit magical.
We let magic in as we journey into the unknown together.
Many people leave these sessions thinking 'I didn't even know this existed', or 'this is the thing I really needed but didn't even know it until we started'....
We listen to the WHOLE of you!
Why Now???
At this point, you might have a, felt sense, in your body. (If you aren't sure what you feel right now thats ok too, and if you would like to explore this more, this is also a lot of what we will do together in sessions - Help you feel what you feel, give it a name, and find an expression for it - baby steps.)
You get to feel playful again, you get to take up space just for you, you get to feel pleasure and joy, you get to feel relaxed, you get to remember how to trust yourself and trust life again. You get to feel like you again.
If you want to make a 3 min collage responding to 'What's alive in you right now?'. No wrongs or rights, you can do so here.
If that DOESN'T feel like the most important thing to you.... than this might now be the thing for you, and I thank you for reading this far and feeling it out.
a 'Parting wish'
We are all at different places on our journey. I deeply honor this. If you would like to enter your wish HERE (I will be reading these)
I will send you a blessing to you from the bottom of my heart and say a prayer that your wish may be fulfilled. (this also gives me feedback about who is visiting and what they are looking for which helps me serve people like you).
If you want it to feel like the most important thing to you again, but you're not really sure how you feel right now, you are still in the right place. I'm happy to jump on a phone call with you so you can feel into it more.
The Invocation
And if you're heart is beating a little bit faster, and you are so ready for this journey and you are like 'bring it on!!' , we can still have consultation call, or you can book your first session directly here.
The field responds, the moment we say yes.
So dear one, what are you saying YES to??
But I encourage you to focus on no more than 3 words that you are bringing into your heart, and stepping into .
If you would like a creative fortune cookie/or to find out what your creative perception language is (auditory, kinesthetic, visual....?)(which artist you were in a past life)
and to stay updated with my blog, events, and news
Put your info here.
Love
At the end of the day, all of this comes down to love. When you are 110 years old looking back at your life, you will remember how open your heart was and how deeply you loved here. I want you to feel very fulfilled when that day comes.
In the meantime, try writing yourself a letter from love, or write a love letter to someone you love, or perhaps to a stranger
If you'd like to be inspired and inspire others, share your letter with a community of love-letter- writers, submit HERE
and join author of 'Big Magic', and 'Eat, Pray, Love', Liz Gilbert and her project 'letters from love'.
Or, you might want to write a little note, roll it up, and stick it on a stranger's car window. The world could definitely use some more surprises and LOTS more kindness.
MAYBE YOU'RE HERE BECAUSE...
You don't have to think your way through.
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I’m constantly overwhelmed.
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I overthink everything.
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I don’t know what I want anymore.
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I’m afraid to begin unless I can do it perfectly.
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I’ve lost touch with joy.
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I want to trust myself again.
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Where did my creativity go?
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Why does everything feel so serious?
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What am I doing with my life?!?!
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Who am I and how do I express ALL of myself
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When will I feel like i've arrived?
You may already understand the pattern. Maybe you've also done years of talk therapy. But it didn't get you the results you wanted. Understanding insights and experiencing something new are not the same thing. You've been healing for years, now you want experience.
MOVEMENT MYSTERY CREATION
Whether you're stuck in a creative project or at a crossroads in your life, there is something inside you that wants to move, but doesn't know how.
OR MAYBE YOU FEEL LIKE...
YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL.
The world needs YOUR unique expression. The one that only YOU can bring.
So what happens in a 1:1 session together?
A space to listen.
A space to let go.
A space to emerge.
Imagine if an art class & a therapy session and a spiritual ritual had a baby.... that's what our sessions feel like.
The Journey.../ Ritual
Arrive
Intentions
Explore
Reflect
Integrate
We begin with mindfulness and grounding, so you can settle into the present
We talk about what is alive in your life right now - what feels challenging, tender, confusing, or ready to move.
We enter the creative unknown through movement, color, sound, writing, imagination, objects, improv, ritual, or something we discover together.
We notice what surprised you, what wanted expression, what you released, and what your process revealed.
We bring the discovery back into your life—with more space, choice, trust, and permission to be fully alive.
Our sessions together are not only sessions. Each meeting is a sacred journey that allows you to arrive, jHave an experience /journey into the unknown, come back a little more changed, and re-enter your life integrating new sensations, insights, and perspectives, felt sense in your body and knowing.
It's like a tiny Hero's Journey.
The EMERGING
Although we do have a container for the session, I can't tell you exactly what will happen. This is exactly the process we are exploring together, as co-creators. The guiding principle in my sessions, is that we both become present and curious about what is wanting to emerge, rather than what we think should emerge.
We can guide your journey, and I will also ask you to bring your intentions and desires, but The process has an intelligence of its own. And that is what we are here to research and discover together.
When both you and I can let go of expectations of what should happen, we can allow something more intelligent to come through. That is what we call the CREATIVE PROCESS. The creative process asks us to surrender beyond our egos, and trust in the invisible and unknown.
This is something humans don't like to do. We like knowing things. We like knowing where we are going. What we are doing. What hte speed limits are. Where we can park.....
The expressive arts process, asks us to both LET GO & SHAPE. This is the dance we are practicing in the sessions together.
Why is this important??
The creative process mimics our life proess. The more we practice letting go in our art, the more we can let go in our life.
The same patterns that keep us stuck in art are often the same patterns that keep us stuck in our lives.
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Become unstuck
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feel more alive
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trust yourself again
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feel adventure in uncertainty instead of dread
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express yourself freely
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listen to your inner knowing
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follow what wants to emerge
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return to your truest essence
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feel guided
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allow life to surprise you again
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feel more expressive
What Becomes Possible?
We Allow. Don't Force
More room to breathe. More freedom to feel. More courage to express.
Let go of pressure, perfectionism, old roles, and feelings you have been carrying alone. Reconnect with your body, intuition, imagination, pleasure, and inner sense of direction. Meet difficult experiences with curiosity, compassion, ritual, beauty, and play. Feel more authentic, expressive, trusting, connected, joyful and alive in your own life.
From stuck, disconnected, and overthinking to alive, embodied, trusting, expressive, and deeply connected to yourself.
Create from connection—not pressure.
Move through perfectionism, fear of beginning, comparison, and creative paralysis.
Find clarity when you have too many ideas—or no idea what comes next.
Reconnect with your intuition, spiritual life, body, imagination, pleasure, and play.
Build trust in your own process so your projects—and your life—can begin moving again.
I'm Karen
I create a space where the sacred and the ordinary can meet—where you can loosen your grip, listen beneath the noise, and let your own creative process guide us toward what is asking to emerge.
Imagine...
What if we gave you the space to scream and cry and get messy and angry and silly and creative and quiet and space for absolutely whatever else needed to come through?? YOU HAD SPACE FOR YOU
What if you could let go of all the doubt and fear you've been carrying so that you could make space for your essence to reemerge from within?? YOU COULD FINALLY LET GO?
What if you remembered how to experience wonder and joy in uncertainty instead of pure dread? GAVE YOURSELF PERMISSION TO FEEL WONDER & JOY AGAIN?
What if you could release expectations around making 'good art', and just made art...? THERE WERE NO EXPECTATIONS AND YOU COULD JUST BE
What would that you look like? How would that you feel? How would that you spend your time?
the Possibilities
Join me in the Unknown. Come just as you are.
Let's see what wants to EMERGE
You don't need to have it all figured out.
In everyday life, we often repeat what we already know. The same thoughts. The same roles. The same ways of protecting ourselves.The Creative process opens a small doorway beyond the familiar. Through an image, a movement, a sound, a story, or a moment of play, you may meet a feeling, truth, resource, or possibility you could not have planned. The creative process reminds us how to trust and let life flow through us.
YOU ARE CREATIVE!
You DO belong here.
We are not making 'good' or 'pretty' art. It is perfectly fine for you to make 'bad' or 'ugly' art here.
Also, we are all creative. Whether you think of yourself as an artist or not.
One thing I love about art is that it has space to hold everyone and everything. nothing and nobody is too much, not enough, too this or too that for art. Art welcomes it all.
ART MODALITIES
SPIRIT
YOUR INNER BEING WANTS MORE SPACE
In a world full of DOING, it's hard to slow down and BE.
But newness can't come through if there is no space for it.
Are you....
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Carrying too much
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Tired of trying to control everything?
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Feeling disconnected from your joy, body, or creativity?
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Holding yourself back?
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In a transition, and don’t know what comes next.
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Longing to feel free?
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Wanting to be fully yourself?
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Feeling stuck in life?
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Creatively blocked in a project?
It's time to Let Go.
Therapy
+
Art
We use the creative process both to understand these patterns AND to Move the stuck energy in real time!
You feel stuck.
Patterns, Insight, Reflection
Experience, Presence, Movement, Creation
Whether you are feeling creatively blocked, don't know what to do with your life, or want to relieve stress,
Giving space to your voice, your body, your imagination, your breath, your hands, your emotions, to express themselves, creates movement! The arts help us do this.
✦
You don’t need to know where this will lead.
Follow what feels alive.
Begin with a free conversation. Bring what you are carrying, what you are longing for, or simply the feeling that something wants to change.
Book your free discovery call↗
75-minute private sessions · Online worldwide
It's ok to slow down
Why is this work so special???
The Creative Process.
The creative process reminds us how to trust and let go of control and expectations. It connects us to the creative source and helps us allow life to flow through us.
Creativity becomes a doorway back to yourself, not something to perform or do correctly
Disappear into the creative process again. Lose time. surprise yourself. feel life moving through you again. Make something you didn't know you had inside. Remember what it feels like to be fully alive.
You don't need another course. You don't need another breakthrough. You don't need to force yourself to be more disciplined. You need somewhere your whole self is invited. the part that knows. the part that's terrified. the part that's wildly creative. the part that has forgotten how to play.
You miss yourself. not the healed version. the optimized version.not the productive version. the version of you that is just present. who feels wonder. who trusts your instincts. who isn't performing creativity, just living it.
Talking can help you understand why you are stuck. Creative process lets you meet the stuckness directly: give it color, movement, shape, sound, language, and space
You have sensitivity, depth, and desire. But something isn’t moving.
I’m doing all the “right” things, but I don’t feel alive.I’m in-between identities and don’t know what comes next.I have a project I can’t begin—or finish.Perfectionism has taken the joy out of creating.I keep comparing myself and losing my own voice.I miss feeling inspired, expressive, and connected to myself.
Sign up to receive a FREE 20 min Discovery Phone Call!
1-1 Sessions
I'm here to support you with anything and everything. Through Expressive Arts Therapy we navigate life's complexities and rediscover your inner strength and creativity.
In this 1hr 15 min online session we focus on your unique creative process. This means you don't need any artistic skills to benefit—just a willingness to explore!
Express Yourself
In our session we use painting, sound, improvisation, writing, theater, photography, film, ritual, movement, nature, and any other creative modality you can think of! Combining yoga practices, breathwork, somatic awareness, embodiment tools, mindfulness, and art as therapy unites the body, mind and soul into a holistic and creative way of life that feels truly ALIVE! Re-connect with yourself, your relationships, and the world around you, remembering your naturally radiant way of BEING!
What is Expressive Arts Therapy?
Benefits
Why Choose Expressive Arts Therapy?
Expressive Arts gives us many tools that help us access many different layers of ourselves as opposed to traditional talk therapy, where our main outlet is verbal. The use of different modalities allows for a richly holistic and textured approach to healing and discovery.
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Move from inaction to action
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Reduce stress & anxiety so you can feel calm & peaceful
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Create clarity out of confusion
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Transform fear into excitement
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Use anger to find acceptance
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Let go of control and embrace trust
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Release unhelpful patterns and allow change
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Turn separation into connection and intimacy
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Feel abundant instead of overwhelmed
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Embrace your chaos in order to find purpose & direction
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Discern between depletion and nourishment
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Release doubt and practice self-esteem
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Permit yourself to feel joy!
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Reduce comparisons and enjoy your unique self!
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Identify inner strengths and resources
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Find what gives your life meaning
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Release shame and develop understanding and compassion
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Live with integrity and alignment with YOUR values
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Vision development
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Uncover new possibilities from narrow perspectives
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Live with wonder!
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Feel the connection to something greater than the self
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Creative problem-solving in sticky situations
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Practice presence
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Release perfectionism and enjoy the process
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Give yourself permission to fail and have fun experimenting
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Let go of inhibitions and free your expression
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Develop intuition & courage to follow your gut instincts
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Embrace your inner artist and try new things
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Connect to your body and cultivate somatic awareness
... just to name a few
CLIENT REVIEWS
"I had a very beautiful and unique experience with Karen. We worked on a difficult topic and I had new and interesting insights about myself and what really bothers me in the situation I was in. The way of approaching the fears and insecurities with expressive art therapy was a very powerful and positive experience. With Karen's help it felt playful and easy. She made me feel very comfortable with whatever I was doing. I felt like a kid again. The feeling when you‘re just enjoying your ideas while playing not thinking about how others would think about you. I would definitely recommend this experience."
Eliza, Italy
KAREN QUELLER
Expressive Arts Therapy M.A
Dance Movement Therapy, Yoga RYT
With a B.A in psychology from UCSD, many years of various dance training, yoga certification, a strong spiritual practice, experiences both teaching and studying art, and working in the art department within the film industry - my life led me to Expressive Arts. It was the most natural next step. I feel privileged to have received my Master's degree from the pioneers of this field at the European Graduate School.
I am so excited to share EMERGING Expressive Arts work with all of you, as I know it's power to help us live with passion, ALIVENESS, meaning, connection, nourishment, freedom and openness for change and growth! Expressive Arts is a path of remembering our essence and our innate wisdom.
Mind .:. Body .:. Soul
ART IS MEDICINE
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Embrace Change
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Self Discovery
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Let Go
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Develop Trust
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Creative Problem Solving
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Transform Fear
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Find Inspiration
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Enhance Clarity
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Stress Management
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Life Transitions
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Vision Development
SURRENDER
Expressive Arts Therapy is a playground for stepping into the unknown so you can practice LETTING GO more easily in life. Through the arts we transform uncertainty into adventure, stress into trust, and challenges into your gifts. This work is nourished through experimentation and by saying YES to getting out of your comfort zone (or at least an "ok, I'm willing to try it once"). It is deep, beautiful, soul-stirring work that can surprise us, challenge us, and bring joy to the process of change (which is such a relief because change can be scary!)
For Who?
This work can be used with anyone, in any situation. If you are reading this right now, there is probably a reason why. Either your curiosity, desire, or a difficulty brought you here and you want to do something about that. Engaging in the arts helps us take action towards the things we truly care about. If you are unsure about this process feel free to CONTACT ME! Say hello, let me know what you are questioning and we can feel it out together.
Online
I work with clients from all over the world!
Meet me from the comfort of your own home!
Many people ask me - HOW DOES THIS WORK ONLINE? Beautifully! Although getting together in person is a lot of fun, doing expressive arts together online is just as effective. The constraints of working online can often force us to get even more creative and develop greater flexibility in order to adapt to what is available in our surroundings. The other great thing about doing this online is that you are working in YOUR environment which allows this work to integrate more effectively into your daily life. In our sessions, we transform your familiar space into a sacred space. You will be surprised at how much beauty and magic is present in corners you usually walk by everyday ;).
Where Do We Work?