2Kat Studios
Many people have found that art making can be soothing and stress reducing, a way to transcend troubling circumstances or life’s problems. Imagery can help to solve problems, release powerful or distressing emotions, recover from traumatic experiences or alleviate pain or other physical symptoms.
Carl Jung, known for his interest in visual symbols in dreams and art, noted the importance of images in therapy. He observed that by allowing a mood or problem to become personified or by representing it as an image through dreams or art, we can begin to understand it more clearly and deeply and to experience the emotions that are contained within it.
Researchers have discovered recently that traumatic experiences become encoded in the mind in the form of images, almost like a camera taking a photograph. Therefore, visual art may offer a unique way to express traumatic images, bringing them to consciousness in a less threatening way than words.
My role as an art therapist is to help people explore and express themselves authentically through art. Through this process, people may find relief from overwhelming emotions or crises. They may discover insights about themselves, achieve an increased sense of well being, enrich their daily lives through creative expression or experience personal transformation.
It is a powerful way of knowing yourself, and a powerful form of healing.
Kat Kirby
I grew up in New Jersey, in a family that valued art and music, and learned from an early age that creativity and self-expression are keys to a fulfilling life.
After graduating from Millburn High School, I went on get my undergraduate degree in Art Education and Ceramics from Kean University, and my Master’s Degree in Art Therapy from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. I have lived in New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Boston, England, Rhode Island, Philadelphia, San Diego and have settled in Prescott, Arizona. In November of 2012, my partner Bill and I got married, and we love living and working in our spacious surroundings.
For many years I had a pottery production studio, where I made slab built, stamped pieces. Although I no longer have this pottery business, I continue to work in clay and mosaics, and lead workshops in tile making and mosaics, as well as collage, SoulCollage®, Mosaics 101, Shrines, Spirit Wands, Collage Gone Wild and more.
I am a Board Certified, Registered Art Therapist (ATR-BC). I have worked in residential recovery programs and sober living homes, with children facing challenges, and in private practice, using the arts to help people find their visual, creative voices. I teach and mentor students in the Masters of Arts in Counseling Psychology program at Prescott College, and offer creative workshops through Yavapai College’s Community Education program. As a SoulCollage® Facilitator, I lead monthly workshops in this wonderful collage technique, which adds to my belief that art has amazing healing powers. As a SoulCollage® Facilitator Trainer, I assist others in taking this amazing process out into their communities. And now, as Dean of the SoulCollage® Institute, I help bring expanded teachings online by finding excellent instructors in a variety of related fields…
Visit 2Kat Studio HERE.