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.

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.