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Molly Tomony

MA,ATR-BC,LPC

Undergraduate Art Therapy Program Coordinator

Art Therapy | Adapted Art Media & Methods

608.663.6711

mtomony@edgewood.edu

It has always fascinated me that art can hold contradictory worlds in one integrated piece. For as long as I can remember, art has given voice to experiences in which I had yet to develop an understanding or words. My art has made fuzzy, confusing experiences more focused and clear. Before any formal art training, I "knew" that the process of making art exercised my skills in creative problem solving, and instilled the joy of being spontaneous.

Art Therapy is a field which brings together art and psychology. It is based on the premise that we all have the inherent ability to be creative. The process of making art can allow one to express things that words cannot and lead us to personal growth and transformation.

I obtained my undergraduate and graduate degrees in Art Therapy. As a Registered, Board Certified Art Therapist and Licensed Professional Counselor, I have worked in hospitals, hospices, schools and mental health clinics primarily with those who are coping with grief, loss, disabilities and trauma. I have written and implemented many grants that allowed me to provide art therapy grief groups for students who were coping with the loss of a family member due to incarceration, deportation or death. I am also trained in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Therapy and worked for 8 years at a non-profit agency that provided support to families who were coping with trauma due to physical and sexual abuse. Witnessing clients who have been silenced, not only be heard but gain new insight, has fueled my strong belief in the therapeutic capabilities of the arts.

I began to share these beliefs and findings as a clinical supervisor with graduate students and as an adjunct lecturer at University of Wisconsin, Madison and Edgewood College. For the past ten years, I have provided workshops and spoken nationally on topics of grief and trauma, as well as end of life care. Currently, I am the interim program coordinator of the Undergraduate Art Therapy Program at Edgewood and teach the Grief Certificate Program at University of Wisconsin.