Kutenai Art Therapy Institute

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Kutenai Art Therapy Institute

The Kutenai Art Therapy Institute offers a comprehensive and immersive art therapy training program.

The Kutenai Art Therapy Institute (KATI) is an art therapy school offering a fully accredited, two-year, graduate-level diploma program. Our curriculum embodies the interplay between creativity, land-based practice, and collective care, expressed through transformative education and community service. Students can take the program in one of two formats: campus hybrid or online hybrid. We are located in the beautiful mountain town of Nelson, British Columbia, on unceded Indigenous territory.

12/29/2025

❄️ Seasonal Online Open Studio: Winter 🎨⁠
Create with the rhythms of the season.⁠
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Join us online this winter for a drop-in, community open studio exploring themes of rest, reflection, and transformation through art. Come for one session or all eight each gathering offers gentle prompts or space for spontaneous artmaking. No art experience or fancy materials needed.⁠
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🗓️ Tuesdays | Jan 13 – Mar 10, 2026 | 4–6pm PT⁠
📍 Online (Zoom) | 💻 Accessible from anywhere⁠
💲 $10 per session | ❌ No session Feb 17⁠
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✨ Winter Themes: Homing • Visioning • Emerging • Hibernation • Migration • Transformation • Snow & Sun Metaphors⁠
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This student-led art therapy group is part of a practicum placement. All sessions are conducted under the supervision of a registered art therapist in alignment with KATI's ethical and educational guidelines. ⁠
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🖌️ Facilitated by KATI Art Therapy Interns Brita Ralph & Anne McNish⁠
🔗 Register online and join us when it fits your season. https://www.tickettailor.com/events/br/1996888/r/fb
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12/25/2025

✨ Happy Holidays from the Kutenai Art Therapy Institute! ✨

As we close another year of creativity, learning, and connection, we extend heartfelt gratitude to our students, alumni, faculty, partners, and the wider community who walk this path with us.

At KATI, our mission guides everything we do:
We believe the creative process is healing and life-enhancing, and that the expressive arts support both individual and community well-being.
We remain deeply committed to training culturally sensitive and responsive art therapists and to providing art therapy as an accessible community service.

This season, we honour our core values of Acceptance, Respect, and Trust—and we offer them back to our community with warmth and appreciation.

May your holidays bring moments of rest, reflection, and inspiration.
May creativity continue to light your way.
And may the return of the light foster renewal, hope, and connection in the year ahead.

With gratitude and warmest wishes for a meaningful start to 2026,
From all of us at KATI. 💛🎨

12/23/2025

🐉✨ Dragonfly Lanterns Workshop
Create Your Lantern for the Polka Dot Dragon Lantern Festival!

Sunday, Feb 1, 2026 | 10am–12pm or 1–3pm PST
📍 Kutenai Art Therapy Institute, 191 Baker St, Nelson, BC
💡 Choose one session - both workshops are identical.

Get ready for the 2026 Polka Dot Dragon Lantern Festival: Swamp Refuge by making your own glowing dragonfly lantern!

In this hands-on workshop, participants will:
✨ Build a lantern base using willow
✨ Embed LED lights
✨ Paper-mâché with colourful tissue paper
✨ Create a magical, lightweight lantern to carry in the festival parade

All materials and instruction are provided.
🎟️ Workshop Fee: $10 per person
👨‍👩‍👧 Children are welcome but must attend with an adult.

✨ Facilitator: Myra Rasmussen

Community-engaged artist and Artistic Director of the Polka Dot Dragon Arts Society, Myra brings years of festival arts experience from Japan, Brazil, Trinidad, Toronto, Minneapolis, and beyond. She is passionate about the power of celebrations to connect people through art, movement, and shared creativity.

Come build something luminous and help bring the swamp to life!

🔗 Register now. https://www.tickettailor.com/events/kati/1984814/r/fb

12/22/2025

🎨 Art Hive: 18+ Community Open Studio

Mondays, Jan 12 – Apr 20 | 5–7 PM PT
📍 Kutenai Art Therapy Institute, Nelson, BC (V1L 4H1)
💵 Session fee: $10

Looking for a creative space to unwind, connect, and express yourself?
Our Art Hive Open Studio offers adults (18+) a therapeutically attuned, community-centered space to explore art at your own pace.

Whether you're new to art-making or a long-time creator, this drop-in studio invites you to follow your curiosity, make meaning through materials, and enjoy supportive, relational atmosphere.

✨ What to Expect:
• A welcoming, nonjudgmental environment
• Freedom to explore your own creative process
• Opportunities for connection and community
• Guidance from our facilitators when needed

Facilitated by Ashya Lord and Dara van der Meulen, this student-led practicum program is supervised by a registered art therapist and follows KATI’s ethical and educational guidelines.

🧡 Register for one session, many sessions, or simply drop in when you can.
We can’t wait to create with you. https://www.tickettailor.com/events/acr/1993747/r/fb

12/21/2025

💡🐉 Creating Custom LED Lanterns⁠
Workshop for the Polka Dot Dragon Lantern Festival⁠
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Sunday, Jan 25, 2026 | 10 AM–12 PM PST⁠
📍 Kutenai Art Therapy Institute, 191 Baker St, Nelson, BC⁠
🎟️ $25 per person | Ages 10+⁠
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Get festival-ready with this hands-on workshop where technology meets lantern art! Learn how to build your own glowing, customizable lantern powered by colour-changing programmable LEDs, perfect for the 2026 Polka Dot Dragon Lantern Festival.⁠
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✨ What You’ll Learn:⁠
• A 60-minute tutorial with Reid Patterson on using and configuring addressable WiFi LED strips⁠
• How to craft a willow-and–tissue paper lantern with Myra Rasmussen⁠
• Ways to blend tech, creativity, and light to create a one-of-a-kind festival piece⁠
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All materials, including LEDs and electronics, are provided.⁠
📱 Participants must bring a WiFi-capable device (smartphone, tablet, or laptop) to program their lights.⁠
No electronics or programming experience required!⁠
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👥 Facilitators⁠
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Reid Patterson – Creative technologist; passionate about merging art, coding, LEDs, and engineering.⁠
Myra Rasmussen – Community-engaged artist and Artistic Director of the Polka Dot Dragon Arts Society, with international festival arts experience.⁠
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🔥 Ready to light up the festival?⁠
Register now. https://www.tickettailor.com/events/kati/1993800/r/fb
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12/20/2025

🎨 Exploring Art Media in a Therapeutic Arts Studio [406]⁠
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Tuesdays, Feb 3 – Apr 7, 2026 | 9 AM–12 PM PST⁠
📍 Online via Zoom⁠
✨ Counts toward the 30-hour admission requirement for KATI’s online hybrid diploma program⁠
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If you’re curious about art therapy or want to deepen your relationship with creative materials, this experiential workshop offers a hands-on exploration of art media through a therapeutic lens.⁠
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Participants will work directly with paint, collage, clay, fabric, and natural or found materials, while developing self-expression, self-reflexivity, and foundational relational skills essential in therapeutic art spaces.⁠
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Through art-making, writing, and group discussions, you’ll begin to understand how different materials support emotional expression, insight, and embodied awareness.⁠
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🌿 What’s Included:⁠
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• Guided exploration of diverse art materials⁠
• Discussion of therapeutic qualities of media⁠
• Readings, reflections & experiential learning⁠
• Supportive community learning environment⁠
• Instructor-provided articles & materials list⁠
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💵 Fees:⁠
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Early Registration (before Jan 10): $495⁠
General Registration (until Feb 2): $535⁠
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🎨 Instructor: Evie Dunville, BA, BFA, RCAT⁠
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An art therapist based in K’jipuktuk (Halifax), Evie brings a nature-inspired, accessible, and intentional approach to creative wellness, meeting each participant with respect, curiosity, and care.⁠
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✨ Ready to explore?⁠
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/kati/1983722/r/fb
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12/18/2025

🌿 Parenting with the Whole Self
An Art Therapy Group for Parents

Tuesdays, Jan 13 – Mar 3 | 9–11 AM PST
📍 Online via Zoom
✨ Free for residents of the West Kootenays
📬 Email the facilitator to introduce yourself and receive an access code.

Parenting asks us to show up with our whole selves—yet our histories, stressors, and old survival strategies can make that difficult. This free 8-week art therapy group offers a supportive space to explore how your past and present intersect in your parenting, and how compassion, creativity, and awareness can open new pathways.

Through art-making, reflection, and discussion, we’ll weave in principles from NARM (NeuroAffective Relational Model) to gently explore early adaptive patterns, strengthen connection, and support meaningful change in relationships.

As Laurence Heller reminds us:
“Connection is our deepest longing and greatest fear.”
Together, we’ll work toward deepening that connection, with ourselves and our children.

🎨 No art experience needed
🧡 Art materials: use what you have at home
👥 Facilitator: Cheryl Price is an Art Therapy Clinician, Instructor, Clinical Counsellor & Trauma Therapist

✨ Free registration for West Kootenay residents
https://www.kutenaiarttherapy.com/parenting-group-online

12/17/2025

🎨 Curious About Becoming an Art Therapist?⁠
Explore KATI’s Intro Series Workshops!⁠
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Whether you're drawn to art therapy for personal growth, professional development, or to explore the KATI Diploma Program, our Intro Series is the perfect place to start. These experiential workshops build foundational therapeutic skills and offer a glimpse into KATI’s creative, relational approach.⁠
✨ All Intro Series workshops count toward the 30-hour admission requirement for the online hybrid diploma program.⁠
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🌿 Featured Workshops⁠
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🎨 Exploring Art Media in a Therapeutic Arts Studio [406]⁠
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Tuesdays, Feb 3–Apr 7 | 9am–12pm PST | Online⁠
Experiment with paint, clay, collage, fabric, and natural materials while deepening emotional expression and self-reflection.⁠
Instructor: Evie Dunville, RCAT⁠
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🗣️ Communications Theory, Creativity & Counselling Skills [402]⁠
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Thursdays, Apr 16–Jun 18 | 4–7pm PDT | Online⁠
Strengthen active listening, holding space, relational awareness, and the power of metaphor in therapy.⁠
Instructor: Kate Leppard, RCAT⁠
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🌱 Creating with Sustainable Materials in Art Therapy [407]⁠
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May 19–Jun 11 | 1–4:30pm PDT | Online⁠
Explore eco-friendly, found, and nature-based materials in an ecological art therapy framework.⁠
Instructor: Laura Andrew, RCAT⁠
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💚 Why Join an Intro Series Workshop?⁠
✔ Supportive entry point into art therapy⁠
✔ Build skills for counselling, coaching, education & health fields⁠
✔ Explore your fit for the KATI diploma program⁠
✔ Join a creative, relational learning community⁠
✔ No art experience needed⁠
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🖌️ Registration now open. Join us online from anywhere.⁠
www.kutenaiarttherapy.com/calendar
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12/15/2025

🌿 Embracing the Change: The Art of Menopause⁠
An In-Person Art Therapy Group for Women Navigating Transition⁠
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📅 Tuesdays, Jan 20 – Mar 10, 2026⁠
🕖 7–9 PM PST⁠
📍 Kutenai Art Therapy Institute (V1L 4H1)⁠
✨ To register, please email mdonald@kutenaiarttherapy.com to introduce yourself and receive an access code.⁠
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Menopause is a powerful and transformative life stage. This 8-week art therapy group invites self-identifying women who are approaching or transitioning through menopause to explore their experiences through creativity, mindfulness, and connection.⁠
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Held in a warm, relational space, this group offers opportunities to work with a variety of art materials, reflect on personal shifts, and build supportive community.⁠
No art experience needed.⁠
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🎨 What’s Included:⁠
• 8 weeks of guided in-person art therapy⁠
• A supportive, person-centred environment⁠
• Mindful creative exploration⁠
• Art materials and tea provided⁠
• Wheelchair accessible building⁠
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💚 Recommended donation: $3/session ($24 total)⁠
This student-led art therapy group is part of a practicum placement. All sessions are conducted under the supervision of a registered art therapist in alignment with KATI's ethical and educational guidelines.⁠
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✨ Facilitated by:⁠
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Jenn Marcyniuk & Michelle Donald⁠
(2nd-year KATI students)⁠
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📬 Email facilitator to receive an access code and register.⁠
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/md4/1984907/r/fb
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12/12/2025

Back by popular demand!⁠
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🎨 Level 1 | Art of Art Therapy Supervision⁠
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Wednesdays, Jan. 14 – Feb. 11, 2026 | 9 AM–12 PM PST⁠
📍 Online via Zoom⁠
🔔 Register by Jan. 9⁠
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Develop your voice and confidence as an art therapy supervisor in this immersive, arts-based training with Monica Carpendale, founder and professor emeritus of the Kutenai Art Therapy Institute.⁠
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Level 1 offers a relational, ecological approach to supervision, integrating the seven-eyed model, cultural humility, and arts-based strategies such as response art, post-session art, metaphor, phenomenology, and reflective writing.⁠
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✨ In This Workshop You Will:⁠
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• Develop your theoretical foundation as an art therapy supervisor⁠
• Strengthen cultural humility & cultural safety in supervision⁠
• Explore relational, ecological frameworks including the seven-eyed model⁠
• Experience arts-based supervision strategies⁠
• Apply strength-based & positive art therapy approaches⁠
• Reflect on compassion fatigue, burnout & resilience⁠
• Explore metaphor, transference, countertransference & projective identification through art⁠
• Increase self-awareness of strengths & growth edges⁠
• Learn best practices for online art therapy & supervision⁠
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💵 Workshop Fee⁠
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$495 CAD per level⁠
🌈 One 50%-off BIPOC registrant seat reserved (first come, first served)⁠
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📚 Required Texts⁠
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Available through KATI or Amazon:⁠
• A Traveller’s Guide to Art Therapy Supervision - M. Carpendale (2011)⁠
• A Magpie’s Nest: Arts-Based Supervision - M. Carpendale (2023)⁠
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🎨 What You’ll Need⁠
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Basic art materials (paper, drawing tools, paints, collage supplies), reliable internet, and a private workspace.⁠
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🎙️ Facilitator: Monica Carpendale⁠
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BFA, DVATI, BCATR, RCAT - Founder of KATI, author, filmmaker, and internationally respected educator. Monica brings over 35 years of experience in art therapy, supervision, and phenomenological practice.⁠
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📅 Register now - https://www.tickettailor.com/events/aats/1934199/r/fb Calendar link in bio!⁠
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12/10/2025

When emotions run high, how do we stay grounded instead of making the moment worse? ⁠
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🎨 Walking Between: DBT & Art Therapy Series – Distress Tolerance⁠
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📅 Jan. 13 – Feb. 3, 2026 | 5:30–7:30 PM PST | Online⁠
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Part Three of our DBT & Art Therapy Series explores Distress Tolerance, skills that help us move through crisis with clarity, compassion, and alignment to our values.⁠
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In this four-week experiential workshop, you’ll learn DBT Distress Tolerance strategies through art-based exploration, reflective questions, and grounding practices. Art-making creates a deeper, embodied understanding of the skills, leaving you with insights and creative artifacts that continue to unfold long after the workshop ends.⁠
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💡 What You’ll Explore⁠
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• How to tolerate intense emotions without escalating them⁠
• Creative and practical coping strategies for crisis moments⁠
• Ways to stay connected to your values and priorities under stress⁠
• Art-based experientials to deepen learning “from the inside out”⁠
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💵 Fee & Registration⁠
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• $495 CAD⁠
• One 50%-off BIPOC seat reserved for applicants to the KATI diploma program⁠
• Part Three can be taken on its own - no prerequisites required⁠
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📚 What to Bring⁠
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A journal and art supplies of your choice⁠
(A suggested materials list will be emailed one week before the workshop. Upcycled and low-cost supplies encouraged.)⁠
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✨ Facilitator: Nikki Featherstone (BAACS, DKATI, RCAT)⁠ ⁠
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Registered Art Psychotherapist, Art Therapy Supervisor, and Reiki II practitioner with extensive training in DBT, grief & loss, eco-therapy, animist and depth psychology, and spiritually integrated approaches to healing.⁠
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🌿 Learn to stay steady in the storm.⁠
📅 Register now: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/kati/1827890/r/fb Register by Jan. 7th, 2026.⁠
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12/09/2025

🎨 December at KATI: Closing the Year with Creativity & Welcoming What’s Ahead⁠
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At KATI, we’re finishing the year with meaningful spaces to gather, make art, and reconnect with ourselves and our community.⁠
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This month’s offerings include community art spaces, online groups, and reflective creative invitations - each designed to support grounding, expression, and connection during this busy season.⁠
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We also share weekly updates to our calendar, so you can stay current with sessions, workshops, and offerings as they’re added. And don’t forget to check out our monthly newsletter, where we highlight upcoming events, creative prompts, and opportunities within the KATI community.⁠
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As we look toward 2026, new workshops, groups, and learning opportunities are already on the way. Stay tuned, exciting announcements are coming soon.⁠
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✨ All are welcome. No experience needed, only curiosity and heart.⁠
https://www.kutenaiarttherapy.com/calendar
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Address

191 Baker Street 2nd Floor
Nelson, BC
V1L4H1

Website

https://www.kutenaiarttherapy.com/

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Our Story

The Kutenai Art Therapy Institute (KATI) is dedicated to the belief that the creative process is healing and life enhancing. The Institute offers art therapy services to children, youth and adults, an accredited post-baccalaureate art therapy diploma program and professional development opportunities in expressive arts therapies and ecological identity. The KATI program integrates art therapy theory, practice and research. The Institute is situated in the small heritage town of Nelson, BC, and emphasizes an awareness of the therapeutic needs of rural communities, with a focus on training culturally sensitive and responsive art therapists. The program is offered in 2 different formats: a campus program with planned clinical placements; and a distance program with immersive onsite course work and individually established clinical placements in home communities. The Kutenai Art Therapy Institute is a community-based creative program. We are always doing new things: making art, writing books, making movies, putting on workshops, conferences and symposiums. Check out our workshops and events section. Over the last few years we have hosted national and international art and expressive arts therapists. Monica Carpendale, the founder and academic dean, is a published author, film producer, and international presenter.