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Art Therapists
What Is Art Therapy?
Art therapy is a recognized mental health profession, facilitated by licensed and credentialed Art Therapists who are clinically trained in both counseling and art therapy. Using evidence-based practices, Art Therapists engage children, teens, and families in the art-making process to support emotional resilience, psychological growth, and improved quality of life.
Unlike recreational art or classroom-based activities, art therapy is a psychotherapeutic intervention tailored to each person’s medical journey and emotional needs. It supports people who may be unable—or unwilling—to verbalize their thoughts, offering a non-threatening pathway to self-expression and healing.
Art Therapy in Pediatric Care: A Clinically-Informed Approach to Emotional Healing
Art is often a person’s first language. Long before a person can articulate complex emotions with words, they instinctively express themselves through images, colors, and creative play. In the hospital setting, where stress, fear, and uncertainty can overwhelm even the most verbal person, art therapy offers a clinically supported, developmentally appropriate way to help individuals process and cope with challenging experiences.
Why Art Therapy Matters in the Hospital
Hospitalization can be a distressing and disorienting experience for patients and their families. Facing illness, procedures, and separation from familiar environments often leads to feelings of confusion, fear, loss of control, or isolation. These emotions, when unaddressed, can affect not only a person’s psychological well-being but also their ability to engage in treatment.
Art therapy supports patients and families by providing:
- Emotional regulation and coping with stress, anxiety, or pain
- A safe, structured outlet to process medical trauma
- Developmentally appropriate ways to express complex emotions
- A sense of agency and control in an often unpredictable environment
- Opportunities for mastery, decision-making, and self-esteem building
- A bridge to verbal communication when and if the person is ready
A Person-Centered Approach
Art therapy sessions are tailored to the individual person and may occur at the bedside or in group settings. Each session is led by the person’s interests, developmental level, and emotional needs. While some people may use art to explore their feelings in depth, others may find comfort in the act of creating, focusing, and being heard in a safe, non-judgmental space.
Our Art Therapists are skilled at integrating medical themes into sessions in ways that help reduce fear. For example, they may incorporate medical supplies like gauze, foam swabs, or syringes into artwork to familiarize patients with materials used in their care, transforming sources of fear into creative tools.
Supporting All Ages and Stages
From children to teens to young adults to caregivers, our Art Therapists meet patient families where they are—emotionally and developmentally. Artist-quality materials are provided to ensure that they feel respected in their creativity, and that their work reflects the depth of their inner world. While the process is therapeutic, the resulting artwork can often become a meaningful artifact of a person’s journey.
The Therapeutic Goals of Art Therapy Include:
- Coping with the emotional impact of illness and hospitalization
- Developing communication and emotional expression
- Enhancing confidence, autonomy, and self-worth
- Creating opportunities for social connection
- Reducing stress, anxiety, and pain perception
- Supporting emotional and developmental growth
Art therapy is not just a creative activity - it is a vital psychotherapeutic part of the comprehensive care we provide. It nurtures the whole person, integrating mind and body healing in ways that are both clinically sound and deeply compassionate.
Meet Our Art Therapists
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Willow M. (She/Her)
Willow M. (She/Her)Willow Messier, MAAT, LCPC, ATR-BC, ATCS, CCLS, is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, Registered Board Certified Art Therapist, Art Therapy Certified Supervisor, and Certified Child Life Specialist. Since 2007 she has been with Lurie Children’s providing medical art therapy services at the bedside to patients with acute, chronic and terminal illness in hematology/oncology and to many patients followed by the palliative care team. She developed and facilitates the medical art therapy internship program and supervises medical art therapy interns from The Adler School of Professional Psychology and The School of the Art Institute.
Willow received her Masters Degree in Art Therapy from New York University in 2004 and her Bachelor of Arts Degree in from Hampshire College, in Massachusetts in 1997. She previously developed and grew the art therapy program at Kravis Children’s Hospital at Mount Sinai in New York City on the upper East Side and provided art therapy, child life, as well as developing and hosting closed circuit TV programming for pediatric patients and their families. In addition to being an Art Therapist, Willow loves to make large paintings on canvas as well as growing a garden and tending to her plants and doing many creative projects in the kitchen.
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Brittnee P. (she/they)
Brittnee P. (she/they) Brittnee Page MA, ATR-BC, CCLS is a Registered Board Certified Art Therapist and Certified Child Life Specialist. They provide art therapy services on our acute inpatient units twice a week. Brittnee completed their Master of Arts in Art Therapy and Counseling from Southwestern College in 2018 and their art therapy internship at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Shortly after they completed the Allyn Bromley Fellowship in Medical Art Therapy. In 2019, they developed and grew the art therapy program at Monroe Carrell Jr. Childrens Hospital at Vanderbilt covering all pediatric in-patient units and developed art therapy service for adult oncology patients. Brittnee expresses themselves through acrylic paint, ceramics, dance, ukelele and knitting.
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Isabella R. (she/her)
Isabella R. (she/her)Isabelle Rizo, MACAT, ATR-P, earned her Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology: Art Therapy from Adler University in 2025. She also holds a degree in Visual and Critical Studies with a focus on Interdisciplinary Research from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her practicum was completed on the hematology/oncology unit at Lurie Children’s.
She provides culturally sensitive art therapy and counseling services to patients on the acute care units, the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), and facilitates the NICU caregiver support group. Isabelle supports children and families navigating complex mental health disorders, new diagnoses, trauma, grief, and psychosomatic conditions through developmentally appropriate and creative therapeutic approaches. Isabelle worked as an allied health professional in various roles across Chicago and internationally, including group private practice, arts organizations, museums, and community-based research settings. Her clinical and community-based work reflects a commitment to cultural humility and evidence-based creative interventions in mental health care.
In addition to her clinical practice, Isabelle is a multimedia and performance artist whose work explores mental health narratives and community engagement. Her artistic practice integrates research, storytelling, and interdisciplinary art-making as a means of fostering dialogue and healing.
Work With an Art Therapist
Our Art Therapists are currently able to provide art therapy services, by referral, to our acute Inpatient units, intensive care units, and outpatient hematology/oncology.
Ask any member of your care team for more information on art therapy referrals or contact our Art Therapists at arttherapy@luriechildrens.org.
Art Therapy Internship
Each year, starting in the fall, we offer art therapy internship for one to two students currently enrolled in a local, graduate level art therapy program.