Wikipedia:Cathy Malchiodi

Cathy Malchiodi (born 1953) is an American Art Therapist, Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, Registered Expressive Arts Therapist, and research psychologist, best known for her work on trauma-informed treatment in Art Therapy.

Dr. Malchiodi is known for advancing trauma-related theories in Art Therapy, Expressive Art Therapy (which is a distinct and separate field from Art Therapy), and in trauma therapy involving the treatment of children. An interview on CNN described her as a “giant” in the field of art therapy.

Early life and education
Dr. Malchiodi’s work in the arts began as a student at the Museum School of Fine Arts in Boston MA where she studied multicultural arts, painting and conceptual/performance arts, where she achieved her BFA in 1975. Between 1975 and 1980 she studied art therapy at the College of Notre Dame De Namur and was awarded an MA. In 1988 she attended the University of Utah, where she was awarded her post-graduate degree in Counseling and Health Education in 1992. She attended Northcentral University and was awarded her PhD in Psychology in 2009. During this time she became a professional credentialed member of several different mental health associations with different designations of licensure. These accreditations include Licensed Professional Art Therapist (LPAT), her Board Certified-Registered Art Therapist (ATR-BC), Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) and her license as a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist (REAT).

Academic work and career
In an interview, Dr. Malchiodi states that she found her calling as an art therapist after finding work at a shelter for children escaping domestic violence, where she saw the importance of art in the role of healing and recovery.

Between 1994 and 2011, Dr. Malchiodi was a Faculty member for the National Institute for Trauma & Loss in Children. In this role she developed art-based trauma intervention programs for children and families of military personnel and veterans. While there she also served as editor for the journal Trauma & Loss: Research & Interventions. In 2010 she founded the Trauma-Informed Practices & Expressive Arts Therapy Institute to educate and promote the application of expressive arts therapy and art therapy towards the treatment of trauma in children and adults. The institute offers live and online courses, certificate programs and distance learning opportunities in the United States and Internationally. She also co-founded Art Therapy Without Borders, a nonprofit corporation organized to support international art therapy initiatives and the work of art therapists.

In 2009, she was elected president of the Counseling Association for Humanistic Education and Development. In that same year she was named president of the Association for Humanistic Counseling, which is a part of the American Counseling Association (ACA).

In addition, she has served in roles as adjunct and visiting faculty at Lesley University, Prescott College, Southern Illinois University, University of Louisville, and Southwestern College.

Dr. Malchiodi has served on Boards of Directors for numerous organizations including the American Counseling Association (ACA); Association for Humanistic Counseling (AHC; President 2009-2010); Delegate, 20/20 Future of Counseling National Task Force; and American Art Therapy Association (AATA). She is a consultant on trauma intervention by numerous organizations and businesses including the Department of Defense.

Throughout her career she published over 130 articles for Psychology Today and other publications in art therapy and trauma.

Research and achievements
Dr. Malchiodi has written and/or edited 19 books on art therapy and expressive arts including Handbook of Art Therapy (2nd Ed), Creative Interventions with Traumatized Children (2nd Ed.), Art Therapy Sourcebook, and the forthcoming Trauma-Informed Expressive Arts Therapy.

Works related to Art Therapy
Dr. Malchiodi has been a major contributor to the development of Art Therapy and the treatment of trauma in the therapeutic environment. In an interview with NPR, she states that art therapy allows individuals to communicate feelings and thoughts that they otherwise might now be able to articulate. In 2002, Dr. Malchiodi created the of Handbook of Art Therapy, which was published with Guilford Press. This book provided a comprehensive guide that could be used across a wide number of art therapy traditions and approaches. A second edition followed in 2012. This book was preceded by the The Art Therapy Sourcebook, published in 2006.

Works related to Expressive Arts Therapy
Malchiodi’s contributions to Expressive Art Therapy include introducing the idea of trauma-informed expressive arts therapy and showing how art therapy and expressive art therapy affect trauma and help lead to recovery. Her work with expressive arts lead to the publication of The Soul’s Palette: Drawing on art’s transformative powers for health and well-being in 2002, which showed how expressive arts therapy can contribute to healing and wellness. In 2005 she published Expressive Therapies which provided a robust look at expressive arts therapy as a clinical modality.

Work related to Children and Trauma
Dr. Malchiodi’s work with children involved expanding treatments of trauma with children and changing prevalent notions of how to treat children experiencing trauma. According to an interview, Dr. Malchiodi stated that when she entered the field of art therapy the prevailing notion was that children needed to gain insight in order to heal from trauma, and instead Dr. Malchiodi focused on self regulation.

Dr. Malchiodi has conducted research about child development and how children cope with both acute and complex trauma. Her work focuses on how the arts offer a new experiences into the therapy process that support healing.

Her work with children helps identify, assess, and train practitioners to address the symptoms related to these disorders. This work began in 1990 when she published Breaking the silence: Art therapy with children from violent homes. This was followed by Understanding children’s drawings in 1998 and Medical art therapy with children in 1999, which helped practitioners to understand how trauma can be expressed through children’s drawings and how to use drawings during treatment. Creative interventions with traumatized children in 2008. In 2012, Dr. Malchiodi published Trauma-informed Practices with Children and Adolescents in 2012 with W. Steele. In 2017 Dr. Malchiodi edited What to do when children "clam-up in psychotherapy: Interventions to facilitate communication" with David Crenshaw.

She also serves as a Series Editor for Guilford’s Creative Arts and Play Therapy publications and on the Editorial Boards of the Arts in Psychotherapy.

Additional Works
Since 2008 she has written the popular "Arts and Health" column for Psychology Today.

Awards
Malchiodi is a member of the American Art Therapy Association. In 2002, she was awarded with the Distinguished Service Award, Clinician Award, and Honorary Life Member Award, which is described as the “highest honor” available in the association. She is the first person to have received all three awards that the group offers. She is the recipient of the Kennedy Center and Very Special Arts (VSA) for her art therapy work in the US, Hong Kong, and Beijing. She has received the Presidential Award from the Association for Humanistic Counseling. In 2011, she was awarded the William Steele Award for contributions in the field of trauma from the National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children.