October 11, 2018
Melinda Hallenbeck-Kostecky, MS, ATR-BC works at Michigan Medicine Rogel Cancer Center on the Patient and Family Support Services PsychOncology team. She feels privileged to work in this profession and explains, “Through personal experiences and witnessing others, I understand firsthand how art has an undeniable power to express emotions that cannot be confined solely to words.” She adds, “I wholeheartedly believe in the healing benefits of the creative process and the therapeutic relationship.”
Ms. Hallenbeck-Kostecky earned her MS in Art Therapy with a Concentration in Counseling from Mount Mary University in 2013. Internships throughout her studies were focused on medical art therapy with cancer patients, behavioral health populations, and community support with homelessness individuals and families. After working two years as a substance abuse counselor, she earned her credentials in 2015.
For Hallenbeck-Kostecky, the AATA has been a consistent source of community and information:
At the age of 16, when I knew I wanted to become an art therapist, I contacted AATA to mail me all the information they had. I was elated to find the envelope of brochures in the mail. Since then, AATA’s mission statement and code of ethics has been the guiding light on my path from undergraduate school to my current practice.
In the future, she hopes to see art therapy recognized nation-wide as a distinct profession with licensure in every state.
“Always Near” by Melinda Hallenbeck-Kostecky. Oil Paint. December 2009. Visit her website for more of her work.