My Areas of Specialty, by Kristen Moore, MA, ATR-BC, LAPC

Hello! I'm Kristen Moore, a Registered, Board-Certified Art Therapist, and Licensed Associate Professional Counselor. I’ve been working as an art therapist and counselor for two years, and teaching art to children and adults for the past 20 years. My own journey with art began as soon as I could hold a crayon, and over the years, I’ve witnessed firsthand how art can be transformative—both for me and for those I work with. I’m excited to share the healing and growth that art can inspire. Check out my bio page for an overview, or read on to learn more about my specialties. 

Grief, Loss, & Transitions

Grief is a natural but often misunderstood part of life. When not properly addressed, it can impact our relationships, our well-being, and our ability to move forward. Whether it’s the loss of a loved one or a major life change, society often doesn’t provide the space for people to fully process their grief. This is where art therapy can play a powerful role. It provides a way to express feelings that might be too painful or complex to verbalize. Through the creative process, clients can make meaning of their loss, accept it, and find a way to carry forward the connection to what or who they’ve lost.

Since 2020, I’ve worked with grieving children, adolescents, and adults in individual, family, and group therapy settings. I’m also currently studying Art-Assisted Grief Counseling at the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition, founded by one of the leading contemporary researchers on grief.

Building Self-Esteem & Resilience

A healthy self-esteem is essential for navigating life’s ups and downs. The two—self-esteem and resilience—are deeply connected: when we believe we are worthy of effort, we are better equipped to face challenges and bounce back after setbacks. In therapy, I help clients explore and express themselves through art, which naturally boosts confidence and self-worth. For adults, this often involves uncovering and understanding where feelings of inadequacy originated. For children and adolescents, it’s about creating a space where they can succeed and recognize their own achievements. Art materials and processes provide a safe and supportive environment for creative exploration, problem-solving, and learning from mistakes. Through this, clients can build a stronger sense of self-trust and value.

Anxiety & Depression

I have extensive experience working with adults and adolescents who struggle with anxiety and depression. These two conditions often co-occur, with one set of symptoms exacerbating the other. When working with clients, I prioritize fostering emotional expression and exploring the underlying triggers through creative outlets. I help clients address any shame or guilt they may feel about their emotions, using art-making as a means to process and release these feelings. From there, we focus on developing coping strategies and emotional regulation techniques to navigate challenging emotions and situations. Ultimately, art therapy provides clients with an opportunity to accept anxiety and depression as emotional responses that can be managed and alleviated over time.

Expanding Professional Offerings: ERP Therapy for OCD and Anxiety Disorders

Hello, Laura Hetzel here, and I’m excited to share an update regarding the services I offer. I am now trained in Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy for the treatment of OCD and anxiety disorders. ERP is an evidence-based therapeutic treatment that works to manage the symptoms of OCD by helping individuals and their families to disengage from the cycle of obsessions and compulsions and reclaim their lives. Read on to learn more about ERP therapy and how to recognize common OCD symptoms in yourself or your child. 

What is ERP Therapy?

ERP (sometimes called ExRP) is a highly effective, evidence-based treatment specifically designed to help individuals manage symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and anxiety disorders. It is considered the gold standard treatment for OCD, focusing on breaking the cycle of obsessions (intrusive, unwanted thoughts) and compulsions (ritualistic behaviors).

The core principle behind ERP is gradually confronting fears without engaging in compulsions. Over time, this reduces the power of the obsessive thoughts and reduces the need for compulsive rituals.  

Whether for a child struggling to manage fears or an adult trying to regain control of their life, ERP can provide significant relief. By using this structured, gradual exposure technique, individuals can rewire their brains to respond more appropriately to triggers.

Some Common Signs of OCD

Intrusive Thoughts: These are unwanted, distressing thoughts that are hard to shake, like fears of harming someone, fear of being a bad person, or of things being “wrong." These thoughts are repetitive and come back again and again despite efforts to stop them. Some common themes of intrusive thoughts can include excessive fear of dirt or germs or of being responsible for harming someone. 

Compulsive Behaviors or “rituals”: These are repetitive actions you feel you must do, like washing your hands multiple times or checking the locks over and over, in order to ease anxiety. Other examples might be: ensuring things are “just right,” counting in certain patterns, reviewing mental lists, ruminating, or checking for mistakes over and over again. These behaviors are usually time consuming. For instance, you might spend hours a day arranging items, reviewing social interactions in your head, or asking reassuring questions over and over again, even though you’ve already checked multiple times.

Despite recognizing that these thoughts and behaviors might be irrational or excessive, someone with OCD usually feels powerless to stop them. OCD can be scary, confusing, and frustrating. 

For Parents: Potential Signs of Pediatric OCD in Your Child

Parents may notice signs of OCD in their children if they become unusually fixated on certain thoughts or fears, such as a fear of germs, fear of harm coming to themselves or loved ones, or needing things to be "just right.” Children might show distress when things are not in a specific order or may engage in repetitive behaviors like washing hands repeatedly, checking if a door is locked, or avoiding certain situations, people, or places. OCD can also show up as resistance to change, an intense need for routine, unexpected big reactions and irritability, or seeking constant reassurance from parents (such as through frequently repeated questions). Families often find themselves living their lives differently than they would like to in order to try and ease their child’s distress. If your child’s behaviors are taking up a lot of time, appear excessive, or are causing significant distress, it’s a good idea to reach out to a professional for guidance and support. Together, we can assess for the presence of OCD and its severity and develop a plan for your child’s treatment.  

OCD looks a little different in everyone, but, with the right treatment, it is manageable. Contact Artful Explorations Therapy today if you think ERP treatment might benefit you or your child. 

My Areas of Specialty, by Jordyn Staar, MA, ATR-BC, LPC

Hi, my name is Jordyn Staar, MA, ATR-BC, LPC. I’m an Art Therapist and Licensed Professional Counselor. My bio provides a general overview of my background, but I also wanted to share more about my experience and talk about some of my specialties here on the blog.  

Child And Adolescent Therapy

As an art therapist and counselor, I have 6 years of experience working with children and adolescents. I’ve worked in an inpatient setting with youth in crisis often displaying more severe behaviors. Working with teens in this setting, I fostered connections and developed trust allowing teens to feel safe to express inner turmoil. When I transitioned to private practice, that experience helped me navigate change and emerging problems within families. In my 6 years of working with children and adolescents, I’ve helped clients work through many challenges, transitions, and diagnoses such as Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, Divorce, Grief/loss, Family Conflict, Peer Conflict, and more. In my work, I use art therapy, verbal processing, and skill building to help their development. I like to create a space for kids and teens where they can develop their emotional vocabulary and build the confidence to support themselves while fostering healthier relationships with their families. 

Self Esteem

A big part of my practice is emboldening my clients to voice their feelings and concerns with friends and family by helping them develop confidence and self-esteem. I start by building a therapeutic relationship with clients so they can feel safe and allow themselves to be vulnerable as they explore their problems. Together, we explore their feelings and develop the words to better express themselves. As they practice their communication skills and work on their emotional intelligence, we set the foundation for emotion regulation. I hope my clients of all ages - children, adolescents, and adults, walk away with a boost in self-esteem that can lead to feeling a sense of control over their emotions and that they can face any problems that emerge. 

Loss

I believe loss encompasses death, divorce, moving, and even the ending of a relationship. I understand the complexity of the grieving process and empathize that it is different for everyone.  Grieving can be difficult because using words may be too hard at the moment. Grief can also emerge at different monumental and transitional points in one’s life, from children to adults. Using art therapy is very helpful; the act of creating a visual piece that the client can then choose to verbally process is often experienced as less threatening and more empowering. Current loss, or loss from the past can be processed and clients can find a sense of closure and understanding of their loss. 

Anxiety

Anxiety can manifest in many ways. I’ve supported clients through social anxiety, general anxiety, and perfectionism. I like to incorporate a client’s self esteem/worth while addressing the clients. I believe self-esteem and self-worth goes hand in hand with this work since one’s anxiety can alter how clients perceive themselves. With clients of all ages - children through adults, I use a collaborative process of identifying the anxiety and how it affects one’s daily life. Together, we come up with achievable goals. Using art therapy and some cognitive behavioral therapy skills, my clients explore their anxiety and ways to challenge their anxious thoughts to create a better quality of life. In work with children and adolescents, I also incorporate parents in the process to help support their child at home and other environments where they might feel anxious.

Family Systems and Family of Origin Processing

I find when working with children and adolescents, understanding their family dynamics tends to play a part in addressing the presenting behaviors. I encourage parents to be part of their child’s therapeutic process. I provide parent sessions to troubleshoot ways to support their child in their home. I help parents get a better understanding of the obstacles they may be facing in communicating with their children and work toward creating a better dialogue. Having family sessions can allow both parents and children to feel seen and heard as they express their concerns on equal terms, which helps everyone develop the necessary skills to be capable and comfortable working through problems outside of therapy sessions. When working with adults, I help reflect childhood dynamics and how those may be translating into their adult family dynamics. Whether that being learning to set boundaries with family of origins or breaking unhealthy patterns with their family household, I hope to bring insight and strategies to support steps toward positive growth.

Artful Explorations in the Community

Here’s what we’ve offered since opening in August 2023…

Our team has supported clients across the life span - preschoolers, elementary, middle, and high school students, parents, siblings, and individual adults have all come through our doors in the past year. We’ve been honored to support each child, teen, family, and individual so far, and we’re glad to continue this work in the year ahead! We’ve also had some wonderful opportunities to connect outside of our office in the public library, a community center, a podcast, an online continuing education course, and many schools throughout Philadelphia.

Last summer, Kristen taught a 2CE Course through Spring Advisory, titled Child Art Therapy in a Private Practice Setting. She covered developmentally appropriate approaches in art therapy clinical care with children, ethical considerations, techniques for building rapport, and interactive artmaking processes. A self-paced video version of the course is available for those who did not attend live.

In the fall, Kristen offered a pop-in bookmaking workshop in collaboration with the Field Teen Center at the Parkway Central branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia. Teens who attended learned how to sew a pamphlet stitch book, and were offered a variety of materials to personalize their book into a visual journal, sketchbook, and more.

Over the winter, Kristen was a guest on the Beyond Artist’s Block podcast. Click through to find her episode, titled How Art Therapy Can Benefit Everyone.

In the spring, Kristen and Jordyn led an Intro to Art Therapy workshop for young adults at the Ethiopian Community Association of Greater Philadelphia, where they shared about what art therapy is, the path to becoming an art therapist, and provided opportunities for attendees to engage in artmaking and discussion.

Kristen also presented about Art Therapy for elementary school classrooms in the spring as part of Career Week.

If you or someone you know would like to collaborate with us for presentations, workshops, or some other kind of community engagement effort this coming year, please reach out! artfulexplorationstherapy@gmail.com

My Areas of Specialty, by Laura Hetzel, MPS, ATR-BC, LAPC

Hi, I’m Laura, an art therapist here at Artful Explorations. I have been in the field since 2017, and have focused much of my work on supporting young people and their families. You can read a little about me in my bio, as well as below where I speak to some of my specialties.  

Child And Adolescent Therapy

My foundations in art therapy began working with children and teens. I have experience supporting kids with diagnoses like ADHD, Autism, Anxiety, Social Anxiety, Depression, PTSD, BPD, ODD, and through general life ups and downs. Caregiver involvement can be instrumental in getting a picture of the whole child, and creating lasting change by identifying opportunities for new skills to be practiced both in the therapy space and at home. I enjoy supporting children to build their internal resources as well as their skills at self advocacy, so they are able to reach out for support from adults when needed.

Trauma and Complex PTSD

In trauma-focused treatment, I support children, teens, and young adults to reduce symptoms, increase their quality of life, build self-confidence, and experience hope. Trauma can be debilitating. Sometimes this is due to one isolated traumatic event, and sometimes it is due to more chronic experiences such as instability, abuse, neglect, or an invalidating environment. This can include experiences of oppression such as racism or ableism. Clients who have endured repeated trauma often feel anxious, disconnected, despairing, and self-critical. In children, trauma often manifests in challenging behavior, big emotions, social problems, and trouble focusing. I pull on multiple modalities to best support clients through the complexities of trauma treatment. I work psychodynamically, meaning I support clients to make connections between their past and present experiences in order to identify and resolve barriers that keep them stuck. The use of cognitive techniques in conjunction supports relaxation, coping, and confidence. I have experience helping children as young as 4 through adults in trauma focused treatment. 

Family Therapy

For the last 6+ years, I have supported families to strengthen their connections to each other, reduce tension, and enhance the quality of their relationships. Dealing with challenging behaviors, adjusting to change, separations, and simply feeling overwhelmed are common reasons families seek my support. I enjoy collaborating with caregivers to troubleshoot problems, then to identify and implement solutions that make sense for their unique family. Art therapy provides a special space for families to practice their communication skills and being with each other as they navigate creating something new together. 

Perfectionism and Anxiety

I help teens and young adults break free of feeling like they just cannot get anything right. I support clients to get out of their heads and unstuck from patterns of rumination, worry, and shame. I support clients to move out of self-limiting beliefs and negative thought patterns to allow for more flexibility, creativity, and joy to enter their lives. 

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

I’m trained in Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy for the treatment of OCD and anxiety disorders. ERP is an evidence-based therapeutic treatment that works to manage the symptoms of OCD by helping individuals and their families to disengage from the cycle of obsessions and compulsions and reclaim their lives.

Queer and Trans Clients

As a queer person, I enjoy supporting queer and trans clients and families. I have experience supporting clients through coming out, gender transitions, parenting trans and queer children, self-acceptance, and identity exploration. 

Sensory Impairments, Developmental Disabilities, Autism

I have supported youth with multiple sensory impairments, developmental disabilities, and physical disabilities, as well as autistic clients in group, individual, and family settings for many years. I have worked with youth with a wide range of communication styles and nonspeaking clients. I am skilled at adapting art making to suit different needs. Art therapy can serve as a space for identity exploration, self-expression, and emotional processing beyond spoken language. Clients often work with me to build confidence and process internalized ableism and low self esteem as a result of judgement from others and barriers within society. In addition, I have limited working proficiency in American Sign Language, which can be useful for individuals who utilize some signing. 

My Areas of Specialty, by Kristen Rashid, MA, ATR-BC, LPC

Hi there, this is Kristen Rashid, MA, ATR-BC, LPC: Art Therapist, Licensed Professional Counselor, and founder of Artful Explorations Therapy. My bio and the art therapy page are great places to learn about me and my work, but today I also want to share a little further about some specific areas of practice that over the years have become my specialties.

Child and Adolescent Therapy

I have 15 years of experience working with children and adolescents in art therapy and counseling. Over that time I have supported kids and teens through many experiences, challenges, and diagnoses including Generalized Anxiety, Social Anxiety, ADHD, Autism, Adjustments, Divorce, Grief/loss, Emotion Dysregulation, Immigration & Acculturation, Adoption, Family Conflict, Peer Relationship concerns, Trauma, and more. Many times families come to me for support to work through and move beyond the cycle of power struggles they find themselves getting pulled into with their child or teen. Other times a divorce, loss, or other adjustment prompts a client to reach out to me. Still other times, a family may reach out due to their child or teen experiencing difficulty with communication or social connection, or having big feelings they don't know how to manage. I’m here to offer an outlet for expression, facilitate healthy change, and offer steady support when things feel stormy.

Anxiety

Many clients come to me with anxiety that preoccupies them, prevents them from full participation at school/work/social settings, impacts their overall emotional regulation, or drives them to engage in perfectionistic or obsessive-compulsive behaviors. I've helped many kids, teens, and adults to process, move through, and manage their anxiety in order to more fully function in, enjoy, and experience their social relationships, better navigate various settings and situations, and learn how to self-regulate.

Adjustments and Life Transitions

Whether it’s adjusting to a separation or divorce, a new sibling being born, the onset of a chronic illness, a career change, a loss, a move, or another life transition, having the space to process these changes within a supportive therapeutic relationship can feel grounding. I work with clients through both the initial adjustment period of a life transition and the time following, helping them to sort through the emotions that are arising as well as the logistics of facing new challenges in their daily life brought on by their new circumstances.

ADHD

ADHD can bring with it challenges in sustaining focus and attention, managing impulsivity, making and keeping friends, staying organized and engaged enough to be successful at school or work, and regulating emotions. I have found that art therapy is especially helpful to be able to target and practice some of these skills as well as process some of the underlying emotional and relational content that someone with ADHD may find relevant to their experience. I welcome neurodiversity and creative approaches, and lean into each client’s strengths to provide support for them to reach their goals and grow.

Family Systems

When working with kids and teens, I always view the client in the context of their family system. I consider the roles and dynamics in family interactions and the home setting, and aim to involve parents/guardians in treatment. Parent/guardian consultations and sessions, sibling sessions, and whole family sessions are offered as relevant to support the children and adolescents on my caseload in communication, conflict resolution, family dynamics, and family support.

Cultural Competence

I’m an Asian-American therapist of color. I value cultural humility and also have lived experience that I bring with me to my interactions with clients. Beyond that, I’ve engaged in continuing education courses and further training that supports a framework of culturally sensitive therapy to develop a therapeutic approach that centers inclusivity, accessibility, antiracism, and cultural humility. I invite you to bring your whole self into our sessions.

I’m seeing clients in-person at our office in Society Hill, Philadelphia, PA. I also offer telehealth as needed or requested. You can find general info about our therapy team and location on our about page.

Contact us to find out more or to schedule a free initial consultation.