Meet Celina Jacques | Artist, Psychotherapist, Art Therapist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Celina Jacques and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Celina, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?

Yes, my business is solely focused on helping the community by holding space for decolonizing menta health through creativity and ritual. I’m excited to share about a new project that began as a response to quarantine. I am sharing live art therapy workshops, guided meditations, and writing about mental health information and tips. This project is an answer to what I am feeling is a call to do more for the community. All I have to give is my heart- through my work and my time. This model makes it sustainable for me and accessible to many more people than I can possibly see one on one. I want to help my community! Especially those who can’t afford full fee private therapy.

I don’t work with insurance companies because I want to work with people not for corporations. Mental healthcare is not accessible to many People of Color due to cost or overloaded systems. This project will provide access to information, and self-help for personal growth AND will also help create a community fund for people who aren’t able to afford therapy. I really think this can be an example of community care. Everyone involved will all get support in a way that is meaningful and helps create community healing.

What should our readers know about your business?
I began my business because it was the only way I could sustainably live my passion and also take care of myself. My business and my personal healing are intertwined. As I deepened my own inner healing and growth, I learned how to show up professionally as my authentic self. What I have found is that the more I show up as all of me, the more I realize that there are people out there looking for someone like me. Someone like them, that can help by being both witness and guide through the shadow work we have to do. As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Art Therapist who is also learning about ancestral healing practices of Curanderismo, I can share both the neuroscience and cultural knowledge at the intersection of creativity, mental health, and indigenous wisdom.

I have been working in the mental health field for 20 years now. I began working in residential and in-patient psychiatric facilities, specializing in working with adults and children overcoming severe mental illness, trauma, anxiety and depression. I continued in the non-profit sector for many years where I was fortunate to be part of some really amazing teams, but while the work itself was very fulfilling, the demands of the job were stressful and exhausting. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the stress was wearing my own mental and physical health.

This realization was a catalyst in my life. I decided I would no longer do anything that didn’t bring me joy. It became my mission to take care of myself and help others at all costs, putting healing, wellness, and joy before any other expectations.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My favorite spots tend to be in nature. I spend a lot of time hiking and the best place in the summer after some good rain is Hermit Falls, where you can jump right into a natural pool of crisp mountain spring water. I grew up in the desert, so for me, the ocean is an amazing luxury to have nearby and I like to just hang out at the beach, although the pandemic mostly kept us away this year.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My personal and professional growth has been a luminous process of finding mentors, healers, teachers, and ultimately, myself. This has included creating art, reconnecting with my spirituality, studying meditation, neuroscience, psychology, and learning about the ancient healing practice of Curanderismo. I am immensely grateful for the mentorship and support of my teachers, Curandera Grace Sesma, therapist and healer, Karen Kucán, and professor, Richard Carr. Each of these people have provided countless hours in training and support, and years of mentorship that helped me thrive. Another important part of my story is the community I found in a holistic wellness center called Golden Folk Wellness.  This space has is so dedicated to healing and wellness that you feel it as soon as you walk in the door.  Working at Golden Folk created a natural support system of healers not just for me personally, but for everyone who receives any services there as well.

Website: celinajacques.com

Instagram: celinajacques_artandtherapy

Linkedin: Celina Jacques

Facebook: Celina Jacques Art and Therapy

Other: Patreon.com/celinajacques