October 5, 2017
Eunice Yu received her MS in Art Therapy/Counseling with a specialization in photography in August, 2017, and embarked shortly thereafter to teach English and volunteer in South Korea through a year-long Fulbright grant. Her passions in photography, teaching, and art therapy all relate to her long-term career goal: to “work as an art therapist and counselor with Asian and Asian-immigrant populations.” She especially valued her AATA membership for the Journal access, which was, “a reliable resource throughout my graduate studies.” Now, Yu recognizes that “living in a different country right after graduate school has presented its challenges in regards to navigating my identity as an art therapist” and finds that the “Art Therapy Today emails have been an excellent means of feeling connected to the AATA community at this time of adjustment.
Ms. Yu began her career as a Photography & Mixed Media Instructor and Residential Life Dorm Parent at Rockland Country Day School, NY (2013-2016) and started her art therapy studies at College of New Rochelle in 2014. She valued the range of experience she obtained in her art therapy internships; she worked with adults with mental illnesses in an outpatient program as well as in a personalized recovery-oriented service program, and with children and adolescents in an inpatient psychiatric program.
Ms. Yu shares her thoughts on how art therapy is effective, “Art can be an avenue and foundation in which a healthy client-therapist relationship is built upon. During my last internship, I had the privilege of working with a team of psychiatrists, psychologist, social workers, nurses, and teachers. I saw how teamwork and effort can lead to successful treatment plans that help children with their mental health and cope in life.” Influenced by her identity as a Korean-American art therapist, Yu is especially interested in multiculturalism within the field and asserts that “art therapy can be effective with clients that come from a culture where people with mental illness, physical handicaps, and intellectual disabilities suffer silently because speaking about one’s struggles is not encouraged or acceptable.”
“Childhood and Adulthood” by Eunice Yu. Digital print. 2017.
Artist statement: “What does being older mean? Where can I feel secure and how, back then and today? Where do I feel safe?”