Art Therapy > Faculty
Swetha Ranasuriya, MA
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.
She received training in traditional Kandyan dance and was encouraged by her parents to pursue her creativity.
In Canada, Swetha had the opportunity to receive training in Bharata Natyam – a classical Indian dance form that dates back over 2000 years. Swetha completed her BFA and BEd at the University of British Columbia and stepped into a career as a secondary school teacher in 2006. Currently, Swetha is a secondary school educator of 20 years with experience in art education and alternative education. She completed her Master’s studies in conflict analysis and management focusing on the ethno-political conflict in Sri Lanka and its effects on the Sri Lankan diaspora in Greater Vancouver. Her foray into art therapy was driven by a need to connect art to peace and healing, an experience she was able to find at VATI.
As an art therapist and counsellor, Swetha works with clients experiencing of effects of anxiety, neurodivergence, and trauma. She has special interest and passion for working with transpersonal experiences and dissociative disorders.
A point of convergence in Swetha’s current therapeutic practice and her life experiences is her attempt to reclaim Sri Lankan and South Asian Indigenous knowledge – tracing and reconnecting through post-colonial systems to find ways of healing that were lost or buried.
Credentials: BFA, BEd, MA, DVATI
Registries and Associations: RCAT, RCC-ACS, EMDRIA (Certified EMDR Therapist)
