[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”35px”][vc_custom_heading text=”Valeria Koutmina, MPS, ATR-BC, LCAT” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1483897772930{margin-top: 20px !important;}” show_bump=”true”][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]“Often the hands will solve a mystery that the intellect has struggled with in vain.”–Carl Gustav Jung

The above statement is fundamental to my praxis. I was a maker and artist from an early age. From making dumplings to working with clay, painting at an easel to writing poetry, the act of creation has always been grounding, connecting, and meaningful in my life. Art moved me toward trusting my intuition and a sense of visceral validation. I believe that mark-making is meaning-making. The creative tools allow us to leave a mark on the world, affirming “I was here”. By working with creative materials we transform them, and are thereby ourselves transformed.

These early creative encounters led me to curiosity about the different methods available to express our fullest selves. I have since developed a strong repertoire of non-verbal techniques in psychotherapy, for so often, words fail to capture our felt experience. The creative process grants access to the unconscious and safely circumvents defenses, making inner experience felt, seen, and understood.

As a registered and board-certified Creative Arts Therapist with over ten years of experience, I have honed a multimodal and culturally sensitive approach to working with diverse populations living with mental illness, addiction, repatriation, issues of attachment and trauma.The creative psychotherapy modality is a marriage between several of my passions: psychology, philosophy, storytelling, artmaking and embodiment. The aim of my therapeutic practice is to align clients with the most effective tools to help them attain meaningful change. I work with children, adolescents, adults and seniors, combining non-verbal techniques with talk therapy, creative interventions, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, and body-based approaches to guide clients toward greater self-knowledge, behavioral regulation and fulfillment. Sensory integration, metaphor, narrative, humor and play are integral to my approach in collaborating with clients on improving self-awareness, promoting resiliency, augmenting problem-solving skills and empowering working toward well-being.

Background Information:

Valeria holds a Bachelor of Arts with honors in English Literature and Russian and Slavic Studies from McGill University in Montréal. She received her Masters of Professional Studies in Art Therapy from The School of Visual Arts in 2011, where she was the graduate valedictorian. Valeria has recieved additional training at the CG Jung Institute in NY and DancingDialogue under the tutelage of Dr. Suzi Tortora. She is a co-editor and contributing author of The Embodied Art Therapist, to be published in 2026. Valeria has worked in the United States and abroad (Costa Rica; Russia; Lebanon) as an instructor, facilitator and advocate of mental health and creative arts therapy initiatives. Valeria is fluent to conduct treatment in English and Russian.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_single_image image=”2835″ img_size=”full” alignment=”right” style=”vc_box_border” border_color=”chino”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

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