Art Therapy
Faculty
Our program is built on a strong foundation of clinical training, creative exploration, and social engagement.
Our faculty members come from diverse backgrounds including visual arts, psychology, education, social work, and community work. Each holds training in art therapy and many have made important contributions through research, publications, and professional leadership.
We are committed to inclusive and equitable approaches to care. Our faculty present at conferences, offer workshops, and collaborate with communities worldwide to advance socially engaged art initiatives. By blending clinical practice, creative process, and reflective inquiry, they guide students in finding and refining their own voices in art therapy. Through this supportive learning environment, our graduates are prepared to bring positive change through art-based healing and social transformation.
Tatjana Jansen
Executive Director
I came to art therapy with an interest in the creative process, but my original entry point was through my love of language, narrative …
poetry, research, expressive arts, loss
Laura Worrall
Director of Art Therapy Diploma Programs
To me, art therapy is about creating a space in which people can use art to ignite their imagination, and exercise their creativity in order …
resilience, rhythm, imagination
Cora McLachlan
Instructor
Cora is an Alberta-based art therapist, psychologist and multi-modal creative. Her arts and music practices are playful and ever-evolving …
research interests: play, Autism, ADHD, installation art, social practice
Gretchen Ladd
Instructor
Gretchen is a visual artist, gardener, therapist and curious soul. She came to art therapy to dive deeper into the arts and weave together her love of community, hand work and evoking the creative intelligence …
Irene Renzenbrink
Instructor
Studying art therapy at VATI after a social work career spanning four decades was a joyous discovery. I had worked in Australian hospitals, hospice and palliative care settings and even in a …
grief, social work, trauma, creative imagination
Melissa A.G. Mountain
Instructor
Melissa Mountain is a Registered Psychologist (Alberta), art therapist, instructor, consultant, and peer clinical supervisor with a focus on mental health.
addiction, trauma, somatic work
Micheala Slipp
Instructor
Micheala is an educator, consultant, art therapist, and researcher working in areas where creativity, health, culture, technology …
technology, law, clinical supervision, consultation, trauma, creative arts therapies
Nicole Parekh
Instructor
Nicole is an art therapist, artist and counsellor who graduated from VATI in 2011 and completed a Masters of Arts …
arts-based research, ethics, history, open studio, painting, needle felting, graphic novels, eco-art
Patricia MacAulay
Instructor
I started my working life as a secondary school teacher before moving into social justice work and then discovering art making. That led me to Vancouver for study and work opportunities.
Peggy Clarkson
Instructor
Peggy Clarkson is a mixed media artist, registered clinical counsellor, approved clinical supervisor, and registered art therapist.
holistic, trauma-informed, decolonial, community
Raina Leyne
Instructor
Raina is a Registered Clinical Counsellor and Registered Art Therapist in Vancouver. She is of Cree, French, and Métis heritage. Growing up in a small town in Northern Alberta, Raina developed a passion for music, dance, and art.
Susanna Ruebsaat
Instructor
Registered art therapist and clinical counselor, clinical supervisor and instructor, doctoral mentor at City University and author of Mourning the Dream/Amor Fati. An illustrated Mythopoetic Inquiry (2018).
individuation, mythopoetic, Jungian
Swetha Ranasuriya
Instructor
Swetha is an art therapist, clinical counsellor, and educator based in Delta, British Columbia, Her experiences in art and dance began early in her country of birth: Sri Lanka.
research, post-colonial, South Asian, Sri Lankan, Indigenous, identity, trauma, anxiety
Tristan Monague
Instructor
Tristan Monague is a member of Beausoleil First Nation, located in southern Ontario and his ancestry includes Potawatomi, Métis, Celtic and French.
bone carving, generational trauma, culture, identity
Vahini Govender
Instructor
Vahini is an artist and writer who loves indulging in creative flow in all dimensions of their life. She is slowed down, intentional and unfurling.
artist, writer, creative, diasporic, POC, academic, psychedelic therapist
Xu Wang
Instructor
Xu is a non-binary, queer, 1.5-generation Chinese-Canadian immigrant settler who works as a clinical counsellor and art therapist.
artistic growth, decentring, ‘inqueeries’