June 8, 2017
Tami Joe DeLisle, MSAT, LPC-IT founded UnMasked Expressive Therapies in June of 2016 to provide art therapy to the Dodge County, WI area. The studio offers groups for domestic violence survivors, veterans, people with intellectual and physical disabilities, people with early onset memory loss, and for people who are seeking to improve and maintain emotional wellness. Individual sessions are provided for both children and adults across a variety of populations. Tami values staying connected with the profession. This fall, she will be traveling to Albuquerque to attend the National Conference and take her Art Therapy Credentials Board Examination. She says, “As a community-based art therapist outside of any institution, it is essential that I stay connected to the field through supervision, the journal, teaching, and the Art Therapy Symposium at Mount Mary University.”
Tami earned her Master’s in Art Therapy from Mount Mary University in 2015 and started her career working with children on the autism spectrum and children facing other mental health challenges. She has also been teaching Therapeutic Skills at Marian University’s undergraduate program for the past year. Tami is most excited about the growth of her practice, which, she reports, will expand in July as additional therapists are hired to meet community demand.
Tami believes that, “art therapy reaches beyond soothing and breaks free to reaching full potential and loosening the bonds of emotional distress.” She views her clients’ stories as valuable, worthy of honor, and empowering. She describes her job: “to listen to [her clients’] art expression and help them see how powerful their creative voices are.”
“Work in Progress” by Tami DeLisle.
Artist statement: “This work in progress represents where I am and who I who I am more accurately than any finished piece…. I am a work in progress…. so is my practice! Very much in a building, creating, moving place.”