Arts for Healing

My Arts For Healing programs are designed to provide a means for healthy emotional expression, while decreasing anxiety and building self esteem. Using a person-centered approach, creativity is nurtured while meeting the unique needs of the individual.

Once safety is established between the participant and myself, emotional expression is encouraged through a question or prompt. Easily accessible, age appropriate creative activities are offered, reinforcing competence and self worth regardless of previous art experience.

In a choice-based open studio environment, participants use professional artist supplies and repurposed materials to bring their ideas to fruition. Each participant is empowered by having the creative reins. The art-making process often mirrors the participants’ inner world, deepening self awareness, and fostering well-being.

Click here to read Sharon’s observations of facilitating a program at Hudson Correctional Facility through The Art Effect.

Click here to watch the video documentation of “Everybody Deserves a Door”, a Hudson River Housing, Inc. art installation that Sharon collaborated on.

View Sharon's Arts for Healing Resume
Loneliness - Stone with acrylic paint Created by an unaccompanied refugee child in a shelter program

Loneliness — Stone with acrylic paint
Created by an unaccompanied refugee child in a shelter program

Populations served:

  • Unaccompanied Migrant Children (UACs)
  • Holocausts Survivors
  • Incarcerated Youth
  • Trafficked Youth
  • Children in Emergency Foster Care
  • Adults with Neurodegenerative Disorders
  • LGBTQIA Teens
  • Homeless Adults and Teens
  • Veterans
  • Adults with Mental Illness
  • Women and Children with Cancer
  • Children with Special Needs
  • Adults with Traumatic Brain Injury
“Sharon’s acutely sensitive assessment of how a particular group may benefit and shine is her special gift. Her vast experience enables her to engage even the most reluctant participant and lead them to new and surprising depths of feeling and healing. For over ten years, I have been honored to witness Sharon’s creativity, intelligence, and passion for what she does, while dazzling and inspiring all who have been fortunate to experience it!”
Lucy Barbera, PhD, LCAT

Wings Of Freedom -Collage with acrylic paint - Created by incarcerated youth at a correctional facility<br /> Sharon Alexander with co-facilitator Adam Reid

Wings of Freedom — Collage with acrylic paint – Created by incarcerated youths at a correctional facility | Sharon Alexander with co-facilitator Adam Reid

“It has been a great privilege for the past nine years to work with Sharon Alexander, who has facilitated expressive arts activities for our extensively traumatized youth. She has done remarkable work in the healing arts with our clinical population. Sharon has a combination of a superb skill set and unique personal qualities that have made her highly successful with our children and adolescents. Sharon is known for her flexibility, which is a key trait. She is calm and not reactive to any challenge or provocation that may arise in the room. This creates a relaxed and safe place in which our children and adolescents can do their most meaningful work. What a gift Sharon has been to me personally, and to our youths.”
David A Crenshaw, PhD., ABPP

Masks - Air Dry clay with acrylic paint<br /> Created by incarcerated youths at a correctional facility
Masks — Air Dry clay with acrylic paint
Created by incarcerated youths at a correctional facility
Memory Charm Bracelets - Beads and charms<br /> Created by unaccompanied refugee children in a shelter program

Memory Charm Bracelets — Beads and charms
Created by unaccompanied refugee children in a shelter program

Contact Sharon to book one-on-one, small group, in-person or virtual sessions.

845.594.2283