Meet The Therapist: Allison Rabin, LMHC, ATR-BC

Meet The Therapist: Allison Rabin, LMHC, ATR-BC

Allison is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Registered Art Therapist who earned an MA in Art Therapy from George Washington University in 2007. For more than a decade, Allison has worked with clients of all ages, individually and in Arts-Based Therapy Groups, to address challenging emotional, cognitive, and social issues through Art Therapy. Her specializations include: Trauma and PTSD, Anxiety and Depression, and Social or Communication difficulties. Allison is also trained in DBT. 

In her clinical work, Allison helps clients identify their objectives for therapy and collaboratively designs art projects to address these objectives through metaphor. Through an intuitive process, clients come to surface unexpressed thoughts and feelings effecting their mental health. Clients develop an inner voice and set of tools that help them to make healthy decisions and overcome obstacles, feeling less stuck and more adept at achieving life goals.

Allison is an accomplished visual artist and enjoys sharing her passion for drawing, painting, sewing, and mixed media.

Question: How did you get into this field?

Answer: As an undergrad at Kenyon College I was studying my two passions: Studio Art and Psychology. My psychology adviser, Michael Levine, asked me if I had thought about pursuing Art Therapy. He had learned about it from one of his students who happened to be the daughter of well-known Art Therapist, Judith Rubin. I started reading her books and fell in love with art therapy.

Question: How do you incorporate the arts into your counseling practice?

Answer: I think in images so I feel I get a deeper understanding when discussing the art-making and images of others. We often explore metaphors the client brings up for their hope, strength and experience. Creativity is needed to make changes and finding new ways to think about and problem-solve around issues.

Question: What ways do you enjoy an 'artful life'?

Answer: I truly love making art. I was trained in painting but have recently gotten into fiber art, especially embroidery. In the past few years I have also made a lot of posters and some have even been shown in gallery exhibits!