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Aurora Counseling Associates
A hand painting with watercolors beside an open paint palette

What we treat

Art Therapy in Natick, MA

Art therapy at Aurora Counseling Associates is licensed clinical psychotherapy delivered through visual expression. It is led by clinicians with specific training in using art-making as a therapeutic intervention. Art therapy is not an art class; it is therapy that uses making things as the primary way the work happens. We provide art therapy at our Natick, MA office for children, teens, and adults.

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What art therapy is (and is not)

Art therapy is psychotherapy with art-making as a core part of the session. The work might involve drawing, painting, collage, sculpting with clay, sand tray, mask-making, or photography, depending on the client and the work. The making and the conversation about the making are both part of the therapy.

  • It is not an art class

    There is no instruction on technique. You do not need to be good at art. You do not need to want to be good at art.

  • It is not about producing a finished piece

    The process matters more than the product.

  • It is not for one type of person

    Children, teens, and adults can all do meaningful work in art therapy.

Who art therapy is good for

Art therapy is often a particularly strong fit for:

  • Clients for whom verbal processing is not enough, or not yet enough. Sometimes a feeling can be drawn before it can be said. Sometimes the image surfaces something the talking has been avoiding.
  • Children, for whom making things is closer to their native language than talking. Often combined with play therapy.
  • Teens who feel saturated by the demands of school and language, and who find making something with their hands creates space the verbal session does not.
  • Adults working with trauma, especially when the memory is preverbal, fragmented, or hard to put in narrative form. The image holds what the words cannot.
  • Adults working with grief, especially the kinds of grief that resist easy narration: anticipatory grief, complicated grief, disenfranchised loss.
  • Neurodivergent clients (autism, ADHD, learning differences) for whom traditional talk therapy can be exhausting or miss the mark. Art-making gives an additional channel.
  • Clients exploring identity, including gender and sexuality, for whom the visual exploration adds dimension to the work.
  • Clients in life transitions who are working with who they are becoming and what they are leaving behind.

How art therapy works at Aurora

Sessions are 45 to 55 minutes. Some sessions involve a lot of art-making; some involve only a little; some are mostly conversation. The clinician follows what is alive for you on a given day.

Invite an exploration
"Make something that captures what this week has been like."
Suggest a specific intervention
drawing the family, making a self-portrait, working with a specific material that fits the work.
Sit with you while you make, following what emerges, sometimes commenting, sometimes not.
Talk with you about the piece afterward, not to interpret it definitively (the maker knows things about the work the therapist does not), but to deepen understanding together.
Bring techniques from other approaches
CBT, DBT, trauma-informed work, attachment-based work. Art therapy and these other approaches are not mutually exclusive.

Materials are part of the work. A client who has a hard time with one medium might find another medium opens something. Working with clay is different from working with markers; working with photography is different from working with charcoal.

Therapists at Aurora who specialize in art therapy

Other clinicians at the practice incorporate expressive elements into their work without specializing in art therapy specifically.

A client who has a hard time with one medium might find another medium opens something.

Insurance and rates

Self-pay is $200 to $250 per session. Art therapy is billed as standard psychotherapy under existing insurance benefits. In-network with BCBS, Tufts (HMO/PPO/GIC), Tufts Health Direct, Harvard Pilgrim, Point32Health, Optum, UBH, Mass General Brigham Health Plan, and Health Plans Inc. Some clinicians also accept Aetna and UHC; we confirm coverage at intake. HSA, FSA, and out-of-network superbills available. Rates and insurance.

Who you would work with

Clinicians who offer Art Therapy

Read how each person works before you reach out. If you are not sure who to ask for, we will help you choose.

Art therapist

Eren Santana-Bykofsky, MA

These clinicians list this as a specialty. Most of our team works with it in some form, so if you have someone in mind, ask and we will tell you whether the fit makes sense.

Questions

Common questions

Do I need to be good at art?
No. Skill is not the point and not relevant. Art therapy works for clients who have never picked up a paintbrush and for clients who are professional artists. The therapeutic value is in the process, not the product.
What will we do with what I make?
The work stays at the practice in a portfolio with your name on it, accessible to you. We do not display anything publicly or share it without your explicit consent. You can take pieces with you, or leave them in your portfolio, depending on what you want.
Is art therapy real therapy or is it just arts and crafts?
Art therapy is real therapy, performed by clinicians with specific master's-level training in art therapy. The art-making is the medium of the work, not a substitute for the work.
Can children do art therapy?
Yes, often combined with play therapy. Children frequently engage more deeply through art-making than through talking.
Will art therapy work for trauma?
Often, yes. Art therapy is especially useful for trauma that does not fit easily into narrative, for preverbal trauma, and for trauma where talking about the event would overwhelm. The image can hold what direct telling cannot.
Do I need to bring my own materials?
No. We supply everything you need. Some clients bring particular materials they like to work with, which is fine.
Can I do art therapy over telehealth?
For most clients, in-person is the better fit for art therapy. Some art therapy work can happen over telehealth with the client providing their own materials, especially for clients who have an existing relationship with their clinician.
Is art therapy enough on its own, or do I also need talk therapy?
For many clients, art therapy is the primary therapy and serves the whole purpose. For some, it is part of a combined approach. We will figure out what fits.

Where to next

Related areas we work in

Get started

Ready when you are

If you are looking for therapy that gives you another way in beyond talking, reach out or call (508) 650-0991. We will match you with the right art therapist for your work.

Book a free 15-minute consultCall 508-650-0991