Tessa Hayes
I offer traditional talk therapy, as well as art therapy, Sandtray, EMDR integrative approach, somatic parts work, utilizing the therapeutic relationship to work towards providing a brave/safe-enough space in which to hold difficult moments, learn to further attune with internal wisdom, rewire old patterns that no longer serve, and amplify a sense of well-being. I am honored to support and witness your journey. My own ongoing journey of seeking the ways in which I have knowingly/unknowingly engaged in -isms, experienced internalized whiteness/oppression, engaged praxis in critical/oppositional/transformational consciousness raising, accessing intuitive ways of knowing, and playing with embodiment have led me back to connection with my body-in-process and created a pathway for collaborative journeying towards knowing/unknowing/healing (if that is what is wanted/needed) with others.
As a cis-gender, bisexual, neurodiverse-complex trauma survivor, white-bodied art therapist committed to (Shawna Murray-Browne’s) liberation-focused healing framework, I bring a depth and breadth of experience working with individuals and communities across the lifespan with a range of unique strengths and needs which has provided opportunity to carefully consider power dynamics inherent in the therapeutic relationship, priority to naming and connecting individual and collective trauma with systemic oppression. I am invested in ongoing exploration of land and body sovereignty, freedom and liberation for all beings from imperial, whyte supremacist, heteronormative, capitalist, patriarchal, able-ist systems of harm, knowing this work must center BIPOC and LGBTQIA2+ bodies. As an artist, I enjoy exploring the connections among memory and symbolism, mind-body sensation and perception, and art-making as a tool for emotional resourcing, self-expression, and healing. As an Art Therapist, alongside private practice art therapy, I am passionate about Community-based Public Practice Art Therapy and interested in exploration of the ways in which Art Hives (arthives.org) liberation-inspired model works to engage public placemaking and community care.