November 22, 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.
Today, we caught up with Rebecca Wilkinson, an art therapist based in Washington, DC, and Tucson, Arizona.
What excites you most about your job right now?
Bringing to the world the magic of art and its power to transform us and give us insight.
What are your hopes for the field of art therapy?
My aspiration has always been to share with others the amazing capacity of art and creativity to heal, to express our experience, and to learn from what we create. I am always grateful to AATA and all of the art therapists who have spearheaded legislative efforts that allow me to make a living doing that.
After spending much of my career focusing on the intersection of Positive Psychology and Art Therapy, I have recently pivoted to exploring Psychedelics and Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness. I am particularly interested in the benefits that they can bring to our understanding of the mind and our ability to help people who have been suffering with PTSD, treatment resistant depression, opioid addiction, and end-of-life distress.
Because this work involves risks and complexities that don’t arise in traditional therapy, I’ve been doing extensive training to learn more about Psychedelic Assisted Therapy. In doing so, I realized how important it is that art therapy be a part of that conversation.
This led me to collaborate with other art therapists who had come to the same conclusion. We formed the Psychedelic Art Therapy Network (PATN), a resource for art therapists doing this work and for people in the Psychedelic world to learn about art therapy. That fits naturally into what has always been my passion–to make art therapy and the creative process more accessible to others.
How has social justice impacted your work as an art therapist?
How can it not?! That is difficult to answer in this brief of a format. I will say that recognizing and addressing “othering” and dehumanization/rehumanization are at the core of what I do. Art therapy and psychedelics are tools for those higher purposes.
“Working with people with severe mental illness has taught me to appreciate the range of human strengths and experiences in the midst of challenges.”
— Rebecca Wilkinson, MA, ATR-BC, LPC, LCPAT
How did you get involved with AATA?
I got involved in 1991 when I wanted to learn more about the field and meet people in this practice. I became a member of AATA right away and have attended most of the conferences since.
I have always felt that supporting the local chapters was critical and have served multiple roles with the Arizona Art Therapy Association and Potomac Art Therapy Association (DC/MD/VA) Boards.
What advice would you give someone interested in pursuing a career in art therapy?
Find the people that inspire you in this work and reach out to them. It is all about relationships and connection. Learn about the evolution of therapy from a cross-cultural perspective and get in touch with what it means for you to work with others, what archetypes and paradigms inform your work and how those apply to who you work with and how you practice.
Transpersonal Mandala
Rebecca Wilkinson
Artist Statement
My artwork is a mixture of expressive and magical realism. I love to exaggerate color, shape, and perspective so that I can simultaneously capture the nature of the creatures (human, flora, and fauna), objects, and places that inspire me and show my appreciation for them by infusing them with a touch of magic.
I was trained as a painter but I also find deep satisfaction in the drawing process. Much of the art-making I have done over the last 30 years has been more process-oriented, fitting with my career as an art therapist. For example, for years each day I made small mandala drawings after suffering a loss in my family. At this point I have thousands of these “art thoughts” as I call them. I also use a range of other media and techniques such as found objects, doll-making, altered books, and creative journaling when I run Creativity Workshops.
It is only recently that I’ve returned to creating works that are meant for a larger audience to see and experience. And although I celebrate putting the more formal “Artist” mantle back on – I have always worn my artist and art therapist hats in tandem and probably always will. This is because I will always be as interested in other people’s creativity and the effect of the creativity process on happiness and wellbeing as I am in my own identity as an artist.
About Rebecca Wilkinson, MA, ATR-BC, LPC, LCPAT
I’ve been an art therapist for over 30 years now, working with people from all walks of life—from adults with developmental delays, patients with severe mental illness, and people struggling with addictions, personality disorders, anxiety, and trauma, to the working well and now clients who are preparing for or integrating psychedelic experiences. At the end of the day, the common denominator for me has been to be a partner and witness with others as we find our own respective and mutual resilience, connection, and peace.
Rebecca Wilkinson is Managing Director of Creative Wellbeing Workshops, which provides resources for individuals and organizations on managing stress, preventing burnout, and increasing wellbeing. She co-authored Positive Art Therapy in Theory and Practice: Integrating Positive Psychology and Art Therapy, and is author and illustrator of the Desert Mandalas Coloring Book.
Rebecca recently co-founded the Psychedelic Art Therapy Network. She serves as adjunct faculty at the GW Art Therapy Program, teaching on the topic of Psychedelic Art Therapy and Positive Art Therapy. Rebecca lives between DC with her twin sister and Tucson with her husband and cats.