Why Art Therapy within Eating Disorder Treatment?

Eva Sedjo (she/her/hers) earned an MA in Art Therapy Counseling and came to McCallum Place after previous experience with adolescents and adults within eating disorder treatment, domestic violence counseling, and community mental health. Eva understands her role as a therapist includes utilizing trauma-focused, person-centered and nonjudgmental approaches to empower the participant as they engage in treatment while also partnering with them to challenge maladaptive patterns. Eva aims to facilitate a space for increasing self-awareness, processing how the eating disorder has functioned, what is maintaining the eating disorder, and possibilities around meeting needs through more sustainable strategies. Eva approaches mental health through intersectional and social justice lenses, viewing the individual as a part of the community. Eva also focuses on relational patterns of connection and disconnection and strives to foster unconditional positive regard to meet the participant wherever they are when they come in for treatment.

In additional to talk therapy, Eva offers individual and group Art Therapy to explore, externalize, and create holding spaces for the participant’s internal and external experiences. Art Therapy is an integrative mental health and human services profession that utilizes active art making and the creative process within a therapeutic relationship to reflect on cultural messages, foster self-esteem, cultivate emotional resilience, promote insight and tolerate distress. Eva facilitates Art Therapy sessions within her private office as well as McCallum Place’s Art Room, which provides a range of materials available for participants’ therapeutic use. Using the Expressive Therapies Continuum, Eva recognizes that different art materials can affect the brain in different ways and she is trained in assisting the participant as they engage with various materials. Eva integrates strategies from effective eating disorder treatments such as Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) within the Art Therapy.

Kalen Smith earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Oklahoma and her Master of Arts degree in Art Therapy Counseling from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Missouri and a Nationally Registered Art Therapist. Prior to working at McCallum, Kalen worked in both inpatient settings and community based settings supporting children, adolescents, adults, and families. Kalen utilizes a person-centered approach and art therapy to help facilitate expression, growth, and healing. Kalen utilizes empathetic understanding and unconditional positive regard while incorporating skills from evidenced based practices such as CBT and DBT to help people find balance and purpose on their road to recovery.