About the Counselor, Artist and Author
Melinda J. Emery ATR-BC, LMFT, CATC IV is the Director and owner of Family Therapist Art Resources, Inc. She is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist for the state of California and Indiana, a nationally Registered and Board Certified Art Therapist. Melinda has 25 years of experience working with children and families as a licensed mental health counselor. She has a broad focus on the value of creative art expression, in her field of mental health and in the Arts and Humanities. Creative expression can facilitate the process of mindfulness, awareness, and communication about our history, our present, and to imagine the future.
She is a clinical member of numerous mental health organizations. Melinda also served three years on the College of Health and Human Services Advisory Board for Indiana State University.
Melinda has organized several art exhibits for communities and special populations using art to communicate and heal. She was President for three years for the Orange County Chapter in southern California of the American Paralysis Association. Melinda created the art exhibit, “Visions of a Cure” for individuals suffering from spinal cord injuries. She also collaborated with the Reeve-Irvine Research Center for spinal cord injuries. The exhibit was promoted and endorsed by Christopher Reeve. She has also developed art programs for children in communities and schools to focus on their development and growth. In collaboration with ISU to promote mental health, she developed a community project in Indiana’s Wabash Valley and highlighted the children’s art at the Terre Haute Children’s Museum in 2016.
She is published in the American Art therapy Journal for presenting a case study in therapeutic art therapy interventions for children with autism. Melinda has published a book, “Art For Recovery In Relationships,” A Creative and Self Reflective Activity Book. She has presented at numerous national conferences and in 2015 and 2018 presented at the CA Association for Alcohol and Drug Educators in Los Angeles. If you are suffering from addictions, it is not only about finding sobriety but about self-discovery.
BIO
Melinda attended Indiana State University and majored in art and education. She earned her teaching credential and taught at the junior high and high school level. Melinda received her Master’s in Clinical Art Therapy from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn New York. She later attended Loyola Marymount University and was certified by the State of California for addictions counseling. Melinda has worked in numerous behavioral health agencies, hospitals, and residential settings before moving to her private practice in 2004, Family Therapist Art Resources, Inc.