The Art Therapy Center
6201 Arsenal Street
St. Louis, Missouri 63139
(314) 644-7171


The Art Therapy Center was established by Carol Lark in 1990 as one of the first full-time art therapy private practices in the St. Louis area. From the beginning, Lark specialized in the treatment of adults and older adolescents. Therapy issues range from relationship issues, depression and loss to severe early trauma and dissociative processes.Clients often choose art therapy as a primary therapy because it offers non-verbal access to difficult experiences that can be expressed first graphically and then discussed. Clients are also referred by their primary therapists when the use of art and other expressive tools such as psychodrama would help deepen or accelerate the work being done in primary therapy. As an adjunct therapist, Lark works with the client and the primary therapist to help build bridges between feelings, cognitions, and body experiences.

As Lark expanded into the community arts arena, she relocated her practice from Brentwood, Missouri, to a larger, historic storefront location in Maplewood.This location is now under historic renovation and she has relocated to St. Louis City in studio and offices shared with Suzanne Doyle, Ph.D., LCSW. She continues to work primarily with adult women and men and the variety of issues, experiences and treatment concerns that they bring. She also offers groups and classes that focus on the creative process in self-expression and in dialogue with others.

  SERVICES:

The heart of the Art Therapy Center is therapy: individual and group art therapy, as well as action methods such as psychodrama and sociometry.  Clients are adult women and men from 18 - 65 and older. Issues range from relationship issues, sexuality, body image issues, mourning and loss, health concerns, and depression to severe early abuses, trauma, PTSD, and dissociative processes. Clients often find art therapy helpful when they feel unable to articulate their concerns in words. Art therapy is an action method, which means that the client uses both kinesthetic and cognitive processes to clarify what is being felt. Art therapy is also an exciting way to explore spirituality and creativity. Artists who are blocked, women in "crone" passage, men and women in major life transitions  can all benefit from the use of art as ritual and as creative process.

Art Therapy, Art-Based, and Action Method Groups:
The Center offers time-limited art therapy groups, art-based workshops, and psychodrama. It also offers half-day and weekend workshops periodically. Therapists, community groups, agencies and businesses can work with Lark to develope groups tailored to their specific needs. Please click on the heading above for a current list of all groups being offered by the Center. For groups that are primarily psychotherapy groups, click on Group Psychotherapy. Feel free to contact Carol Lark to discuss specific group needs.

  Clinical Supervision
Carol Lark has supervised practicum students, graduates, and experienced clinicians for over 12 years. She provides art therapy supervision for ATR candidates, and consultation and clinical case management for allied professionals. From time to time she offers a training group in the use of aesthetic and arts processes for clinical self-supervision. This group, for non-art therapists, has been very well-received and helpful to the participants. For more information on forming such a group or for other supervision needs, contact Carol at (314) 644-7171.

Art-based Classes and Workshops

The Art Therapy Center also sponsors art-based groups that are not intended to be
intensive psychotherapy.The focus is on the art-form itself. In some cases, such as
CorePainting, there is an additional intent to help the participant gain awareness and
understanding of personal imagery and symbols as growth-enhancing. Currently the
Center offers CorePainting and DreamImage. (Click to link)

Art-based Dialogues

Art is a powerful language for social and community encounter. it quickly helps participants get
to a deeper level of feeling and thinking about issues such as race, class, gender. It creates a
common ground for communicating beliefs and experiences. Lark is co-founder of The Visual
Dialogues Project and TREC: Talking Race, Engaging Creatively. She has worked at developing
dialogue skills and opportunities using art and action methods as primary encounter since 1997,
culminating in the successful TREC program. Art Therapy Center can provide consultation, training
and art-based dialogue workshops in a variety of settings.
Continuing Professional Education

The Art Therapy Center provides periodic training seminars and workshops for professionals.
Past workshops have included specialized supervision techniques, and a series of seminars
and workshops on the use of somatic processes in therapy by Ruella Frank, Ph.D., Somatic
Psychotherapist, Gestalt Therapist and trainer. Currently the Center is offering an art and action
method supervision group for clinicians.

TO MAKE REFERRALS:

Carol Lark is happy to talk with prospective clients by phone and to make an initial appointment to discuss their therapy needs. Contact her at (314) 644-7171.
 


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