May 9, 2019
Michelle Anne Hololob MS, ATR-BC, LCAT, ATCS, is the Chief of Creative Arts Therapy at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, in Jamaica, Queens NY. For the last 12 years, she has been employed with Jamaica Hospital, providing art therapy to adults in the Inpatient Psych Units and the Psychiatric ER. “It has been a privilege to work in Queens all these years, as it is the most ethnically diverse county in the US,” she says. “Seeing how art therapy connects people, bridging gaps and creating commonality is continually reaffirming my belief in the healing power of art.” As a first generation American, Hololob values supervising interns from diverse backgrounds and hopes to see the growth in diversity within the art therapy community.
Hololob graduated from Hofstra University in 2003 and started her career at Family Service League, an outpatient day treatment program in Huntington, NY. She soon “fell in love with the population and the challenges of the work.” In addition to her hospital job, Hololob has been an adjunct instructor at Hofstra University’s Creative Arts Therapy Counseling program since 2012. From 2009 through 2015, Hololob volunteered as Student Liaison on the board of the New York Art Therapy Association (NYATA) and “relished in the role providing support and guidance to students starting out in their art therapy education.”
“Needing a Home” by Michelle Anne Hololob. Mixed media.
Artist’s statement: “This is a response piece to the continued frustrations dealing with my patients suffering with the broken shelter system. More and more people are coming in dealing with homelessness, and, as a therapist, it is hard not to feel powerless at times. I painted with acrylics, dispelling some frustration and finding it unfinished, found the collage piece that seemed to contain all that energy.”