Andrée Salom, MA, ATR
Art Therapist
Bogotá DC
The process is tailored to each individual, based on particular needs and non-verbal attunement.
We start by connecting with each other in a common field of attention to the present moment.
According to the most present needs, we may engage in open-ended conversations or structured tasks.
We may explore, through:
1. Dialogues
2. Simple artistic activities (that require NO artistic ability)
3. Contemplation
4. Somatic awareness practices.
There is an ebb and flow between us.
I follow your preferences and choices, and give prevalence to the meaning that you give to your experiences.
I may suggest alternatives, without imposing.
I may also offer self-care suggestions, related to the journey.
With attention and perhaps some invitation, the experiences during sessions may turn into insights, felt senses, or concrete steps, that may be incorporated into daily life.
Witnessing the natural unfolding of human potential is my honor. I find lightheartedness as central to the integration process, and I am naturally available for it. Trusting the process, makes me an ally of collective creativity, and of the healing aspects of images (visual, somatic, heard, made, revealed, hallucinated, dreamed). My interest in art and consciousness stem from my interest in human potential. In joy.
Play, somatic awareness, mindfulness, and creativity have inspired my academic texts. My children's books include Flow, Flow, Flow, & When the Anger Ogre Visits (both by Wisdom Publications), published in English and Vietnamese. Others are published in Spanish (Panamericana editorial).
Experience makes me an ally of our innate creative nature.
I have guided, and implemented well-being processes, through image creation, for the past 25 years: in hospitals, universities, and museums. As a pioneer in the field of art therapy in Colombia, I co-founded the Colombian Art Therapy Association, and created the Expressive Therapy Program at Universidad de los Andes. Besides facilitating the integration of expanded states of awareness, I run workshops for the care of caretakers, and creative processes for individuals going through changes, life transitions, and emotionally significant moments.
I was born and live in Colombia, though my ancestors come from the coasts of the Mediterranean. I enjoy traveling and, thus, working on themes of change, acculturation, and adaptation. I periodically live in community settings (Esalen Institute, Mount Madonna Center, Shivananda Yoga Center, etc.).
I facilitate integration after expanded states of consciousness. Here, I do not conduct therapy sessions, nor do I offer the expanded experiences. Within the emotionally supportive sessions, the expanded experiences are explored:
1. The original intention is reviewed.
2. What happened is traced. It is remembered.
3. The next steps and the horizon are considered.