Meet The Therapist: Allison Rabin, LMHC, ATR-BC

Allison is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Registered Art Therapist who earned an MA in Art Therapy from George Washington University in 2007. For more than a decade, Allison has worked with clients of all ages, individually and in Arts-Based Therapy Groups, to address challenging emotional, cognitive, and social issues through Art Therapy. Her specializations include: Trauma and PTSD, Anxiety and Depression, and Social or Communication difficulties. Allison is also trained in DBT.

In her clinical work, Allison helps clients identify their objectives for therapy and collaboratively designs art projects to address these objectives through metaphor. Through an intuitive process, clients come to surface unexpressed thoughts and feelings effecting their mental health. Clients develop an inner voice and set of tools that help them to make healthy decisions and overcome obstacles, feeling less stuck and more adept at achieving life goals.

Allison is an accomplished visual artist and enjoys sharing her passion for drawing, painting, sewing, and mixed media.

Question: How did you get into this field?

As an undergrad at Kenyon College I was studying my two passions: Studio Art and Psychology. My psychology adviser, Michael Levine, asked me if I had thought about pursuing Art Therapy. He had learned about it from one of his students who happened to be the daughter of well-known Art Therapist, Judith Rubin. I started reading her books and fell in love with art therapy.

Question: How do you incorporate the arts into your counseling practice?

I think in images so I feel I get a deeper understanding when discussing the art-making and images of others. We often explore metaphors the client brings up for their hope, strength and experience. Creativity is needed to make changes and finding new ways to think about and problem-solve around issues.

Question: What ways do you enjoy an 'artful life'?

I truly love making art. I was trained in painting but have recently gotten into fiber art, especially embroidery. In the past few years I have also made a lot of posters and some have even been shown in gallery exhibits!

Question: What ways do you enjoy an 'artful life'?’

“I enjoy an artful life by appreciating and immersing myself into as many fine arts as I can. I like to think of this as living spherically. I love to travel, meet new people and experience the foods, arts, music and landscape of different places. To create images I enjoy painting, sculpture, beadwork, fabric arts, photography, collage and drawing from life (to name a few). Visiting museums, galleries, watching films and meeting other artists is part of how I learn and develop my practice. I care deeply about the connection of my physical health to my mental health, and value the art being active.

I love to hike, bike, stand-up paddle board, surf, kayak, run, swim, rock climb, ice climb, snowboard, do yoga and try other new sports to enjoy the outdoors, feel my heart beating and fill my lungs with fresh air.

I have been lucky to recently try the art of fly fishing and find it to be such an enjoyable practice to create and tie flies, wade out into the river and catch and release such beautiful fish. I find spiritual inspiration in nature and love to use natural items in my artwork or just simply appreciate their beauty. I have my own vegetable and flower gardens I tend to, and also love visiting farms and gardens of others. Culinary arts and dining is one of my favorite pleasures. I love to cook, bake and explore foods (especially of different cultures) as well as watch, appreciate and taste the dishes that others have prepared. Above all, I love sharing these experiences with family, friends and other people. Sharing the joy of an artful life is the best part of living one. “