Welcome back to our “8 Things We Swear By” series, where we get to know the Alexandria Art Therapy team. This post is inspired by Cup of Jo’s “8 Things We Swear By” blog.

This blog post does not contain affiliate links. 

Provisional Registered Art Therapist and Resident in Counseling Katie Gaynor specializes in working with children and adolescents who have been impacted by grief, loss, trauma, anxiety, and depression. 

Here, Katie shares 8 things she loves…

1. Daily ritual: Morning walks with my dog. We are both early risers and enjoy taking a nice long walk first thing in the morning. It’s the perfect time for me to listen to music, a podcast, or an audiobook.
   

2. Artwork: I recently got to hear Pete Souza speak, and I enjoy looking through the images in his book The West Wing and Beyond.  I grew up in the darkroom learning film photography, and in another life, I think I would have liked to have been a photojournalist. 
   

3. Art supply: In the past few years I’ve learned more about printmaking–it requires me to slow down and pay attention to what I am doing. The actual carving process is very soothing to me, and I can easily find my flow state when I begin a new stamp.
   

4. Inspiring Space: My apartment. I love to decorate and collect–I always say I can never have an inch of blank wall space–I will always find something to hang up. My space is very cozy, and my art supplies surrounding me, it is easy to get inspired. I have even created printmaking stamps depicting various pieces of furniture that I’ve collected over the years. 

5. Song: Maren Morris’s “The Bones.” Though I am pretty sure it is about relationships, I often think of it while looking inward or when I need some reassurance. It is all about having a strong foundation. I remember the lyrics to remind myself that I know who I am and what I stand for: “When the bones are good, the rest don’t matter.” 

6. Scent: I am very sensitive to scents, so things like perfumes, oils, candles are a no-go for me. But I love the smell of anything freshly baked–it warms me up.

7. Book: I recently read The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams. It is a novel told from the perspective of a woman working while the dictionary is being created. I really enjoyed the way it explored what words made the cut when men were primarily running the show. I also enjoy using books in my practice. My go-to is The Color Monster by Anna Llenas, which explores how we can feel more than one emotion at a time.

8. Aha Moment: Something I’ve done with a few of my clients, based on advice from our Clinical Director, Adele, is exploring how bottled-up emotions can become too much. I love the imagery and physical activity of letting a client shake up a can of seltzer. We talk about what it feels like to hold all of those emotions and feelings in with nowhere for them to go. Then we open the can. In our lives, we need to have ways to escape–to let a little air out at a time. 

To see if working with Katie might be a good fit for your child, tell us more about your family:

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