Samantha Hanson, LPC, ATR, Clini-Coach®

All posts by Samantha Hanson LPC ATR

man with fireworks
New me 2023, hey… it rhymes

Evening everyone! We are officially into 2023.  Have you created any new year’s resolutions? Or maybe general plans of what you want to do differently this year as opposed to last year? Some people want to try new things in general and set goals of one new thing a month/a week/a day pending their work/life balance schedule.

For me, last year was all about trying to become healthier. In December 2021 I tried on a pair of jeans and realized they didn’t fit! My yoga pants had deceived me into stretching with me and helping me believe I hadn’t gained much weight.   So, I was determined to fit back into my old clothes, I tried different stepping challenges, made it to my chiropractor regularly, and started a new nutrition program. I’m quite pleased with the latest results, and it’s re-sparking my interest to take a class on nutrition or functional medicine!

bowl of vegetable salad
Photo by Cats Coming on Pexels.com

My growth over these last few months alone has felt amazing, and I’m so proud of myself for sticking to this program despite its ups and downs (although it really isn’t that difficult). I have more energy and am down quite a bit of weight with more to go. I’m not going to say what this program is, as I don’t want you to go immediately to doctor google and brush it off because of the meal plan price.  I was just ready when it was offered to me, it was offered by an old friend I grew up with and she had checked in with me for two years before I finally was ready.  Work was in a good place, I’m in charge of my own schedule and able to take time for myself, and it replaced my normal meal budget, so I figured what the heck give it a try.  Needless to say, I’m about 3 months in and so glad I did it. I’m learning to eat better, its easy prepackaged meals so I’m not calculating carbs.  Has a variety of things and encourages cooking.  As I said, I’m learning so many new things and loving where this is going. But I definitely had to be in the right mindset and willing to be told what to do and how to do it and try something new with the hope of it working, try someone else’s way without letting myself get in the way.

My professional and somewhat personal goals for this year are to look into some health programs, maybe take a class or two so I can use the knowledge and science behind our bodies and how nutrition impacts it, with the growth I’ve experienced learning about myself (yes the program requires reading, reflection and journaling) as well as socially (my coach encourages me to share my story on social media in a private community with others in the program as well as my main profile and engage with people more, build friendships which has been hard for me in the past with my anxiety). 

I know everyone has different experience with diets, meal plans, and our bodies are all different as well, so this program gave me no promises.  To me this is a lifestyle change, and now that I have energy, and feel healthy for the first time in most of my life, I’m truly excited to see what else this year brings with my new habits and tastebuds!

asparagus barbecue cuisine delicious
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Comment below what some of your 2023 goals are! If you would like to ask questions about my health journey or talk about your own health journey and where you are at, also feel free to comment or submit the “contact us” form on the main page.

asian girl meditating in room in daytime
Mindfulness book, and journals!

Hello all!

I recently attended an ” Usborne books” party for a friend to help them earn free books for their little one.  I learned during their party that they have ALOT of mental health books geared to youth!!!!!  They have an entire mindfulness collection, and special journals to help kids get into journaling.  They have books related to feelings or social skill building, for super young and early childhood to help kids identify feelings and learn to express them.  For older teens they have plenty of series to help with self-esteem, confidence building, social skills and so much more.

I highly recommend checking out my consultant Ambers’ website:

I’m super excited for these books!

These are going to be amazing to use with my clients, I plan to mix and match pages from the mindfulness books to create worksheets / workbooks for minor clients (or some adults who they may be appropriate for as an add-in that’s more entertaining or creative) and depending on the clients concerns (some might need mood improvement and confidence building others have more worries and sadness). The journals will help kids and teens feel better about journaling, so many say, “but journaling’s boring….” and these are definitely not boring! Best part is these journals are all gender neutral, mature enough while young enough and “cool” for all!! I plan to hand out journals to kids who may not afford them otherwise and refer others to my consultant: Amber Fox.

Keep an eye out for a fundraising party near Christmas to help me get more journals for clients in need, or more mindful books for my office library as I borrow books to parents, and they don’t always find their way back to my shelf.  I have attached an image of the books and journals, as you can see from the outside alone, they look pretty awesome!  They are all filled with many cool directives to help with identifying feelings, expressing feelings appropriately and offer different directives that will help youth learn to be mindfully aware, and incorporate meditation in their lives to help battle anxiety or depressive symptoms.

 

Here is Amber’s website again to create your own wish list or set up a party to earn free books.  https://h11901.myubam.com/shop. ( I do not gain any free books, discounts or credit from your use of this link, it is purely for your own benefit. I will host a party later on where your contribution will help earn books for the office / client journals)

Group Therapy – closed at this time, read for more info…

Happy Sunday all! Not sure if this poll below me will work all, but here we go!  Due to no requests to join group I am reworking my options.  Currently it is a monthly support group option for teens and adults.    I am changing this to a 6-week series!  The poll will have different “themes” listed and each week would be focused on the theme in a different way.

In the event the poll does not work, here are the themes, I will pick one to start with and as I gain more interest and attendees I will add more options.  I have this poll as I am always interested in hearing what my followers think (if you comment it does not sign you up) and it can help me determine what material to type / post about in the future!

If you are interested in signing up to attend a group once I get dates, please feel free to message me below, or through the business Facebook page!

Theme 1: Mindfulness using combined Art Therapy and Talk therapy approach

Theme 2: Social Support to assist with worries or fears.

Theme 3: Bullying in the school environment, improving self-confidence and challenging the negativity

Theme 4: Professional Workers Support, Art Therapy to assist with burnout

Other, please comment below to share your thoughts

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Thank you for your response. ✨

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I appreciate your patience; I believe the website issues have been fixed! Since officially switching everything to WordPress it appears some editing is needed but at least we are back online. Please let me know if anything seems “off”. Have a great day! Blogs will resume shortly.

pain brushes inside clear plastic cups
Mindfulness, Art Therapy Virtual Conference!

I needed this today! Started out stressful but eventually smoothed out. Yes, art therapy can be done virtual! I attended this conference with other art therapists around the world, (not just professionals, a few followers as well). We had mindfulness, art making, breakout rooms with assigned buddies to individually process and then group process at the end. The conductor was kind enough to stay after for a small group of us to finish processing as we hit the end time before everyone was able to speak. (We had about 55 attendees).

a person drawing on brown paper
Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

Led by Dr. Isis, who also hosts weekly drop-in sessions if you would like to experience this yourself. She is the author of “mindful doodle book” which I love and suggest to everyone! Has approximately 75 doodle directives for self-care. Her website is www.miamiarttherapy.com, her book can be found on Pesi amazon or her website.

It was amazing to hear from her and go through our guided directive. It was four parts- those who know me know I love “part one and part two and sometimes part three” in our sessions (please don’t comment here for your confidentiality if you are reading this). I will show you my work and a few from the conference to show and yes this can be done virtual!  For confidentiality of the attendees, I have blacked out faces and names. My image and Dr. Isis’ are the only ones viewable, top left!  check facebook for more close up views of the process and let me know in the comments if you’d be interested in joining a mindful art therapy directive group.

How ive grown!

Picture for effect all, this is so amazing. I’ve reached worldwide viewers this month!!!!! Up to almost 700 views in my website’s stats. I have blog followers, likes, it blows my mind. My FB business page has nearly doubled since I went on my own a year in a half ago, my insta is growing, I’m learning TikTok, twitter, it’s just all so cool. I’ve worked so hard to get here so the fact it’s going well does make me worry about when the other shoe will drop.

Let me give some background, and I apologize in advance but I’m going to just go with a giant run on paragraph- you’ve been warned- was a sick child, medicine did not work for me due to receiving so much when young. Then high school had double bunion removal, extra teeth pulled, thought I was getting jaw surgery due to the angle and length it was growing, braces late in life to prepare. Sick every time someone coughed, in and out of chiropractor, college came with emergency laparoscopic procedure for endometriosis, college ended with cancer diagnoses and treatment. Masters/higher ed was stressful but no significant events besides starting anxiety medication and thyroid meds. Then I had a few years of finding work, the joys that come with working with others, then found a good job and my apartment burned down, spent summer in a hotel before finding current home. Then had flooding in the new home but was fixable. Then had my normal “I feel like death” mystery illness throughout those four years (several doctors with no results besides I need to go to the gym but that’s a whole other blog). Then the pandemic came, and I went out on my own.

Thus, brings us back to current day. I have been fitting in therapy appointments (yes. The therapist has a therapist). And I have gotten my meds under control, finding out I have attention deficit has been an eye opener (another blog another day). I have an awesome support system helping me, friends, family, a biller/credentialer who’s amazing at what she does, understanding clients and constant stream of incoming with different directories. So, I know I will be ok. Sometimes that voice gets loud, so I find ways to take care of myself. The one take away today for you, self-care. Get sleep, eat right for you, socialize enough with those you care about, have your Netflix binges, take up a hobby, join one of my support groups, find a therapist, meditate, just take care of you and meet your needs. So important. For me, today I’m excited to have viewers around the world, and I’m super excited to continue sharing with you!!!

Group updates!

I have updated my Facebook events here, as well as my online directories on Psychology today and Therapy den! At this time there is no waitlist for these groups, and the support groups do have a minimum requirement to run.  For the virtual attendees I can send an art kit to you that we would be using in person so you may create with us from home.

These events include:

Community Open studio

Relaxed environment to come create – first and third Friday of the month $7 to cover supplies, under 12 requires an adult to stay. How does it work? I turn on relaxing music and bring my supplies down to the conference room, you can create alone or engage with others. Please contact me for more info or check here

(for those who previously showed interest in this Facebook event- I accidentally deleted the whole series when trying to cancel one date due to weather, so I apologize, you won’t need to redo any form, but you should go back in and click going or interested to receive notifications)

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Adolescent Inclusivity Support Group

$50 to attend, private pay / no insurance – 6-10 spots-preregistration required here; Virtual attendance is accepted. Please contact me for more info or check here

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Pandemic Stress Support for Adults.

50$ to attend, private pay / no insurance – 6-10 spots-preregistration required here; Virtual attendance is accepted Please contact me for more info or check here

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#Therapythursday #anxiety #counselingnearme #depression #stress #bpd #mooddisorders #womenissues #menshealth #teenhealth #craftnight #openstudio #create #arttherapy #arttherapyrocks #supportgroup #stupidcancer

silhouette of person raising its hand
Mindfulness, Meditation

“Case of the mondays….”  I am feeling this today! I was looking at a new app over the weekend I found in one of my therapy forums, called “insight timer”.  As some of you might see already on my business page, I did a “Facebook live” recently with two guided mindfulness scripts.  “Leaves on a stream, and eye of the hurricane”.  I am not sure how to connect that live with this blog, but you can access it here.   In these scripts I read out loud and you, as the reader can close your eyes and imagine being in the “story”, for example, sitting by the stream, seeing thoughts float by as leaves, or the chaos of all the thoughts and feelings rushing around you, while you are safe in the middle of the eye of the storm. 

close up photography of leaves with droplets
Photo by sohail nachiti on Pexels.com

With Insight timer, it has probably about a million meditations, nature sounds, white noise, drumming sessions, and much, much more for free to experience on your own time.  I highly recommend looking into it, especially as it’s a free app.  Mindfulness and meditation can be as short as 30 seconds, or as long as you need it – some half hour. I recommend starting small, fitting it in while you are eating or preparing for bed, or waking in the morning.  For some it can be uncomfortable due to the busyness of our lives and suddenly sitting and listening, not “doing something”.  That sitting—–> is self-care, and it’s important to remember that. ” Take time to smell the flowers” or listen to a meditation, or nature sounds. Comment here what is helpful for you!

Groups- virtual or not?

Poll time! This month I have anxiety depression support groups starting for both teens and adults. Currently I have no one signed up (could be multiple reasons, winter, covid, life). Due to the uncertainty of the world around us, would you prefer the group to be virtual? Pre-registration is required, and I can mail out small supply kits or list of supplies (that you may already have) so we can still do the art portion (if wanted/not required). Let me know in the comments!

What do I do, exactly? teach art? Therapy? Do art the whole time, how can you do art with video? We can’t do art therapy over video. I only want the therapy; I don’t want to pay for the art. Are you a counselor or a therapist?

These are common questions I get on a weekly if not daily basis when people call about scheduling a consult or intake session. I figured now is a good time to describe what I do. Art Therapy – what is it? First – Therapy or counseling?

In the state of Wisconsin my license is LPC – Licensed Professional Counselor. In Illinois they have “LPC or LCPC – licensed clinical professional counselor”. In Minnesota LPC or LPCC Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor. In Massachusetts where I went to school they have “LMHC – Licensed Mental Health Counselor”. To become licensed, regardless of the state I had to pass the NCE – National Counselors Exam (4 hours long) and the Wisconsin (my state of choice) ethics/state stature exam. I also had to have 3000 hours of experience with a LPC -IT (training license) and supervision to match it sign off validating that experience.

Art Therapy? Why do you have an R in ATR? ATR stands for Art Therapist Registered. (instead of Rat – registered art therapists. We’re not rats! – little humor for ya). To become an Art Therapist, I had to attend my masters (my program in Springfield college was a dual masters – two programs – art therapy and mental health counseling). I also needed – if I remember right – 1500 hours (which I was able to piggyback off the counseling hours) and supervision with an art therapist – luckily, I found an amazing one in Milwaukee who had an open studio that I could volunteer in. This means I was very busy those few years right after grad school.

For me, I was trained that art therapy and counseling are combined. They complement each other so well! The pandemic threw me for a loop because yes Art Therapy is different when there is a computer between me, and the client and my supplies are sitting across town in my office. I am still learning, along with many other creative therapists out there and even the regular counselors/therapists. Trying to do therapy with internet or phone when everyone else in the world is using the internet and phones at the same time – was an interesting year! Thankfully things evened out, and I’m partially back in the office with my supplies.

Which brings me back to the art therapy and counseling. When I submit a therapy session to insurance for billing, I bill under Therapist. Art therapy is still a newer field and is not covered by insurance yet. When I am with someone though, we talk and if a person is good at multi-tasking we create while we talk. Sometimes its drawing, coloring, painting, knitting, smashing clay, using plaster, or making a collage. Other times, its talking most of the time, reviewing journaling homework or art done between sessions. I’m trained with the foundation of both the history and theories of art therapy and the history and theories of counseling. The classes had a combination of how to use the artistic medium with talk therapy. We had extensive time doing different projects, researching supplies and how they could be used, or health hazards and how not to use them, using therapy issues as metaphors and matching supplies/directives to the therapy concerns, and so much more. (I really could talk about it all day if you let me). I had statistics and research like a normal counseling program, abnormal psychology, human development, and I’m sure there were others. But where we could we included the art.

When I meet with people 3/4 of them say they saw the art therapy in my bio and want to know more – so I find out what supplies they have and if needed I batch up some various supplies and do a porch drop off – otherwise we discuss some different ways the art could be used and either do that during session or its homework and review it the following session. If people don’t want to do art – I won’t make them. I have totally become more comfortable doing talk therapy without the art, which was a good experience for me to have. I do occasionally walk people through how to use different art mediums as many have not had experience being creative since childhood. So, in a sense I’m a teacher, but not. So – Art is available if you ever want to use it, if not we can talk or if you prefer, we can play chess/other various games/cards/ jigsaw puzzles and use problem solving strategies as metaphors to relate to our anxiety or depressive symptoms.

I’m also loving being my own boss and excited to offer groups in my new space. Craft night (community open studio) is a small fee of $7, you can come and go when you want – you don’t need to pre-register but for social distancing it would be good to know ahead of time if many or few would be coming. Starting February I will offer an Anxiety and Depression Therapy Support Group for teens and for adults – these will require pre-registration minimum 5-10 max people in each, cash pay $50 each.

Craft night – 1st and 3rd friday

Teen group – 2nd Thursday ; Adult Group – 4th Thursday.

I hope this helps explain a little more about what I do! Feel free to ask any other questions, even if its these same questions and you’d like a little more detail 🙂