Featured Member: Jocelyn Patterson

March 18, 2025

The American Art Therapy Association represents a diversity of professionals, students, and organizations across the nation. We recognize and celebrate the work of our members at all levels through our Featured Member series.

What excites you most about your job right now?

 

The potential to invite others into the efficacy of Art Therapy. I have been working in partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs for the last 2.5 years, and prior to this was working in a forensic setting. The motivation to engage in Art Therapy has been different in each role, but often ends with increased insight and excitement about how much art can tell you and how much you can feel as a result of creating art in the therapeutic space.

Has working with a particular client group shaped your professional focus or specialty? What have you learned from working with these clients?

Working within a forensic setting as my first role in mental health helped me to work within limitations of location and population. I now work hard to use art in therapy, as a supplement to the therapeutic process. I’ve learned that art can be used as a language to lessen the pressure and intensity within a therapeutic space.

“Don’t limit yourself to any visions or examples of art therapists you’ve seen. There needs to be many different types of therapists in order to ensure there’s a fit for the many different types of clients out there.”

— Jocelyn Patterson, MPS LMHC-QS ATR-BC

Untitled
2024

Gouache and ink

 

Artist’s Statement:

The floral image is one I created recently in an art class to explore use of colored pencil on black paper. The process was so relaxing and it felt great to get lost in the process of making art again; sometimes we lose our own process as we guide others through theirs.

How have race, diversity, and/or social justice impacted your work as an art therapist?

In my past role, the use of art helped others to hear the stories of offenders; a population that is often so quickly shut down due to their crimes and struggles with appropriate behavior. In my current role, we work everyday to lessen the stigma of mental health challenges so that those struggling can accept their status and enjoy their lives.

What are your hopes for the future of the art therapy profession?

My hope is that state recognition of art therapy as a specialized and regulated practice will grow, and that mental health professionals will grow their understanding of art therapy and the complexities it involves.

 What advice would you give someone interested in pursuing a career in art therapy?

 

Don’t limit yourself to any visions or examples of art therapists you’ve seen. There needs to be many different types of therapists in order to ensure there’s a fit for the many different types of clients out there.

Untitled
2024

Colored pencil

About Jocelyn Patterson, MPS LMHC-QS ATR-BC

Learn more about Jocelyn and her work on her Instagram at @paintyourprogress. 

I began using art as a means of relaxation and therapeutic expression in my youth; processing my diabetes diagnosis with images of internal organs and sculptures of vials with syringes. I studied experimental psychology and counseling at the University of South Carolina with a growing interest in pivoting to Art Therapy. I then was accepted into the Art Therapy and Creativity Development program through Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, where I learned about the practice and the type of Art Therapist I hoped to be. Moving to Sarasota, FL, I was lucky to find an initial position as a Registered Mental Health Counseling Intern at the Florida Civil Commitment Center. I loved the challenge this position offered and it taught me so much about fostering therapeutic relationships while upholding important boundaries. I became licensed in mental health counseling during my time in this role, as well as gaining my credential as a Board Certified Art Therapist. I earned my supplementary credential as a qualified supervisor for mental health counseling before transitioning to Sarasota Memorial Hospital. I began in a dual role offering art therapy groups to the inpatient populations, as well as within the partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs (PHP & IOP). I now work fully in the hospital’s outpatient program, having served adults, adolescents and aging populations in our beautiful new Cornell Behavioral Health Pavilion. I continue to explore what’s next and am currently exploring becoming an approved provider for CEUs!

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