Meet The Therapist: Laura Beaudoin, LMHC, ATR-BC

Meet The Therapist: Laura Beaudoin, LMHC, ATR-BC

Laura is a licensed mental health counselor in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, a national certified counselor, a board certified art therapist, as well as a certified school counselor and art teacher. Laura has nine years experience applying the arts as a therapeutic modality and offer meaningful creative experiences that foster strengths, empowerment, expression beyond words, and healing.

Laura has extensive experience working in schools with special education students with diverse needs in K-12th grade. She has also worked in community based in-home therapy, residential treatment settings for adolescents, hospitalized setting for adults in recovery, and community grief centers. Laura has written grants to bring art therapy for families in need of early intervention services and adults with traumatic brain injuries. In addition, Laura spent time volunteering as an art therapist at a home and school for people with intellectual and physical disabilities in Sri Lanka.

Question: How did you get into this field?
Answer: I have always found the arts to support my own personal growth and have experienced the therapeutic applications and benefits the arts can provide. After completing my bachelors degree in Fine Arts and post graduate work in Art Education, I started teaching art at a residential therapeutic school for adolescents. My work there inspired me to complete my Masters degree in Art Therapy and Mental Health Counseling from Lesley University. This then led me to wonderful opportunities to work with many diverse populations, in even international settings. I believe I am in this field because I love people, and find connections with others honoring and life-affirming.

Question: How do you incorporate the arts into your counseling practice?
Answer: I use art to identify and explore emotions and thought processes with others. Art is used to visually re-frame any problematic thought processes and transform them into purposeful learning. Making things visual can deepen our understanding of our thinking patterns and how they relate to our emotional responses. The creation process can often be used as a metaphor for similar life situations. The connection of art to mindfulness practices is also a major theme in the work that I do. The visual and tangible quality of creating something is very useful when transferring new coping skills to daily life.

Question: What ways do you enjoy an 'artful life'?
Answer: I enjoy an artful life by appreciating and immersing myself into as many fine arts as I can. I like to think of this as living spherically. I love to travel, meet new people and experience the foods, arts, music and landscape of different places. To create images I enjoy painting, sculpture, beadwork, fabric arts, photography, collage and drawing from life (to name a few). Visiting museums, galleries, watching films and meeting other artists is part of how I learn and develop my practice. I care deeply about the connection of my physical health to my mental health, and value the art being active. I love to hike, bike, stand-up paddle board, surf, kayak, run, swim, rock climb, ice climb, snowboard, do yoga and try other new sports to enjoy the outdoors, feel my heart beating and fill my lungs with fresh air. I have been lucky to recently try the art of fly fishing and find it to be such an enjoyable practice to create and tie flies, wade out into the river and catch and release such beautiful fish. I find spiritual inspiration in nature and love to use natural items in my artwork or just simply appreciate their beauty. I have my own vegetable and flower gardens I tend to, and also love visiting farms and gardens of others. Culinary arts and dining is one of my favorite pleasures. I love to cook, bake and explore foods (especially of different cultures) as well as watch, appreciate and taste the dishes that others have prepared. Above all, I love sharing these experiences with family, friends and other people. Sharing the joy of an artful life is the best part of living one. 

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