Hi There!

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I’m Sydney, an East Coast-based Art Therapist, ADHD/LD Mentor, & Creative Coach. I am honored to be able to combine my lifelong fascination with the creative process, interest in the unusual, and love for the creative space into my deep work with clients. I also understand and provide unique support for the paradox of being highly creative as well as neurodivergent, especially in the areas of ADHD and learning disorders.

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I am an art school graduate, minored in both psychology and art history in an effort to wade through how the mind receives and perceives art. I always had a connection to expressing myself through the creative process adding that my curiosity lead me to earn a graduate degree in Professional Studies in Art Therapy at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. 

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As someone with a learning disability, my mind has always been highly abstract and intuitive with the world. I did not feel ‘smart’ due to my slow processing, needing support in reading comprehension, and being checked on consistently for my time management. Instead, I always saw myself as someone who has potential. Hearing this throughout my childhood and adolescent years, I felt not prepared, causing uncertainty and fear. Understanding that my style of learning is different, I trusted my visual and spatial patterning giftedness into my adulthood by exploring my authenticity and visualizing my own future.  

 

As a registered Art Therapist & currently getting certified as a Clinical ADHD Provider, I have experience building human connections working with a wide population in addiction, outpatient centers, and people living with HIV/AIDS. From being an in-home behavioral therapist, to mentoring those with disabilities, to trying to understand the youngest minds among us by trying preschool teaching, no matter where I went, I considered what I learned as both a gift and a reward. 

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Both my art therapy work and neurodivergent mentoring utilize experiential creative interventions to tap into the wellspring of nonverbal communication as a way to further explore each individual’s authentic self as well as to inform meaningful goal setting. The creative processes woven into my clinical work also serve as a vehicle for moving through creative block in addition to challenging negative cognitions around one’s creative and/or neurodivergent self.

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Through my unique style, I have been invited to interview on major podcasts, designed workshops for organizations, and mentored clients globally, outlining assessments for areas of executive functioning support and using experiential approaches to devise goals and strengthen executive functioning skills. I will often incorporate mindfulness and creative interventions to challenge unhelpful cognitions and narratives surrounding neurodivergence, as well as build trust in self and clarity on defining authentic next steps.

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The next time someone says you are weird, quirky, awkward, or quiet and daydreams too much, I welcome you to the My Creative Relief community! I am excited to connect and integrate these funky words into your own unique path :)