Meet our Therapists
The counselors at Philadelphia Art Therapy Associates are master’s level creative arts therapists, social workers, and licensed professional counselors. We have uncommon training in visual and nonverbal communication, structure, adult development, and psychotherapy. Our niche profession gives us a rare visual-spatial perspective about the unique ways our clients think and feel and live. Therefore, we developed special language and techniques to help you surge forward in your therapy process.
Our unparalleled clinical skills are matched by our customer service, compassion, and love of helping! You can reach our therapists at our main number, (610) 649-1080. Please find their phone extensions and email addresses below.
Aimee Pugh, MA, ATR-BC, LPC
Aimee Pugh, MA, ATR-BC, LPC
she/her
Board Certified Art Psychotherapist, Licensed Professional Counselor
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Aimee is a board-certified art therapist and licensed professional counselor from Philadelphia. She attained her master’s degree in art therapy from Drexel University, having completed a thesis study exploring the use of an art therapy approach to treat chronic pain.
Aimee has experience working with children, adolescents, and adults in foster care and community-based settings. She treated a variety of mental health challenges including histories of complex trauma and systemic stressors such as racism and community violence. In these settings, and through work experiences with individuals experiencing grief and loss, Aimee developed a passionate interest in understanding how individuals heal after trauma. As a result, Aimee has dedicated herself to the practice of using art and other expressive modalities in a warm therapeutic relationship to facilitate healing and post-traumatic growth. She also draws on her own years of experience as a yoga practitioner to help individuals to identify sources of wisdom in movement-based activities such as walking, hiking, yoga, sports, and being outdoors. Aimee completed a mindfulness-based stress reduction program and has continued to incorporate aspects of this evidence-based program into individual sessions. She also incorporates cognitive behavioral strategies, as well as aspects of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to support clients to develop individualized coping strategies.
At the Child & Family Art Therapy Center, Aimee has also successfully worked with young adults who experience anxiety and depression related to academics, learning differences, employment challenges, and family pressures. Aimee will work with you to identify art mediums and verbal therapy techniques that are the best possible fit for you and your style of communication. Aimee believes that art processes offer unlimited potential for increasing self-understanding.
In her free time, Aimee enjoys yoga, spending time with friends and family outdoors, sketching and reading authors from every corner of the globe.
Emma Anderson, B.A.
Emma Anderson, B.A.
she/her
Art Therapy Intern
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Emma Anderson is an art therapy intern in the BetterWorld Accessible Therapy program. She possesses a Bachelor of Arts from Temple University and is presently a graduate student in the Masters of Art Therapy and Counseling program at Drexel University.
Emma has clinical experience in behavioral health, rehabilitation, specialized private schooling, and Camp Pegasus. Previously, she interned for Magee Rehabilitation Center, where she used art therapy interventions as one piece of the total rehabilitation program for patients who had experienced stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury, or other forms of physical limitation. There, she trained in a person-centered approach, focusing on how to empower patients through art. Emma brings a person-centered philosophy to her practice, as well as a relational-cultural approach. She seeks to work along with families and believes that powerful healing and growth is achieved through art and play in the context of a safe and trusting therapeutic relationship. Emma is passionate about using art and visual communication to help identify obstacles and empower youth to reach their full potential.
In her free time, Emma enjoys crocheting, needle felting, embroidery, kayaking, Pilates, and spending time with her friends and family.
Mia Stavarski, BA
Mia Stavarski, BA
she/they
Art Therapy Intern
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Mia Stavarski is an art therapy intern with the BetterWorld Accessible Therapy program at the Child and Family Art Therapy Center. She is thrilled to be at the Haverford location on Sundays and Mondays and Jewish Family and Children’s Services (JFCS) on Tuesdays.
Mia is in her final year at Drexel University's Masters of Arts in Art Therapy and Counseling program. Before joining Drexel’s program, she completed her undergraduate degree majoring in Art Therapy with a minor in Psychology at Temple University. Her clinical education began providing psychoeducational resources for continuing education students during an internship at Temple University’s Resource Resiliency Center at Tuttleman Counseling Services. Mia completed two clinical practicum experiences at Drexel’s Art Therapy graduate program. Fist, she interned at Temple University Hospital Episcopal Campus in Kensington where she contributed to group art therapy services with an in-patient adult mental health population. Mia’s second practicum was at Embark Behavioral Health in Berwyn where she worked with teenagers in a partial hospitalization program specializing trauma-focused practice. There, she observed and assisted with groups such as talk therapy, art therapy, and skill-based groups like Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TF-CBT), and SMART Recovery.
Mia is thrilled to learn about and practice the BetterWorld program and its integrated approach merging art therapy and the family system. In the future, Mia hopes to continue to work with children, adolescents, and families while integrating a trauma-focused approach utilizing a wide range of psychotherapy approaches in a client-centered practice. In her free time, Mia likes to watch television, cook, spend time with friends, and of course, make art.
Elizabeth “Eliza” Wyckoff
Elizabeth “Eliza” Wyckoff
she/her
Art Therapy Intern
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Elizabeth “Eliza” Wyckoff is an art therapy intern in the BetterWorld Accessible Therapy program. She is a graduate student in the Drexel University Art Therapy and Clinical Counseling program. Eliza currently possesses a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Whitman College in Washington State.
During the first year of her Master’s program, Eliza gained clinical experience working with adult dually diagnosed clients with mental health and/or drug and alcohol issues at The Wedge Recovery Center and 11th Street Family Health Services. At the Wedge, Eliza assisted in the client directed open art studio, actively participating and engaging with the members, building rapport, and providing positive reinforcement for creating healing art. At 11th Street Family Health Services, Eliza gained experience with a middle school student population. There, she assisted in planning and facilitating psychoeducational art projects and discussions designed to develop character and emotional coping skills for middle school students at the Young Scholars program at St. Malachy’s. Eliza passionately believes in a person-centered and systems approach to therapy, creating a supportive and comfortable space for clients and their families. Her own life experiences ground her belief in the power of art and play in the therapeutic setting. Eliza believes that effective therapy is an individualized process of exploration in the context of a trusting therapeutic relationship that engages various aspects of one’s identity through creative and playful approaches.
Outside of work, Eliza enjoys exploring Philadelphia and finding cute coffee shops. When she’s not out exploring, Eliza likes to read, explore different art mediums, bake, and cuddle with her blind mini dachshund, Buttercup.