What is Art Therapy?
Art therapy with a trained psychotherapist is an innovative approach for restoring your health & well-being through supportive, compassionate conversations about the challenges we all face in life. Short art exercises are effective evidence-based tools for supporting self-expression, stress release, and understanding. Art therapy is a beacon of hope in difficult times - a way to express and understand the fullness of your life, together.
‘Art’ here is defined broadly to include playing & experimenting with:
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Writing, drawing & painting
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Singing, dancing & music!
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Sewing, sculpting & textiles
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Photography, media & film
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Interdisciplinary & experimental arts
No artistic experience required to benefit from expressive arts.
Ways to Work Together
Guidance for individuals, groups, and organizations
Meet Renée
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) | BSc, DKATI, PCAT
Renée Michaud is a mental health advocate and lover of music, dance, and the arts. Her way of being is welcoming, engaging, genuine, and light-hearted. The spaces she co-designs with people allow them to explore topics of interest, not just through reflection and conversation, but also through art-making. The art need not be beautiful. The goal rather is authentic self-expression. Zero artistic training is required to partake.
Renée is devoted to helping individuals, groups, and organisations make sense of where they've been and plan for who and where they want to be next. Together, through creative play, change magnificently occurs. Clarity comes from confusion. Peace overcomes stress. And confidence moves you steadily beyond uncertainty.
A space to feel seen, supported, and creatively empowered
Art therapy offers a unique way to process what words can’t always express. Whether you’re navigating anxiety, depression, burnout, illness, life transitions, or simply feeling worse than you once did — you don’t have to figure it out alone.
Her approach blends:
Trauma-informed care
Indigenous medicine wheel teachings
Expressive arts
Yoga as therapy
“Art therapy helped me understand my experiences and express my emotions in a way that talk therapy could not quite do.”
Art Psychotherapy Client, Ottawa
“Avec Renée, j’ai compris comment créer de l’art peut guérir le passé. Je peux aussi mieux gérer le stress de tous les jours avec ma pratique artistique maintenant.”
Client, Psychothérapie artistique, Gatineau
“Participating in group therapy unlocked healing I didn’t know was possible outside individual counselling. My favourite part was making real connections with people who had similar stories. I no longer felt so alone.”
Participant, Art Therapy for Healthy Aging
“Our staff training in teamwork & creativity was like nothing we experienced before. We upskilled our team’s meta-skills by playing theatre, painting, and music games. Super insightful processes. Renée is a breath of fresh air in training spaces!”
Manager, Community Organization
Is art therapy right for me?
Art therapy is for people from all walks of life seeking compassionate support for moving through difficult life circumstances. Art-making is an adaptogenic medicine, meaning that materials and activities are chosen by you with the support of your counsellor based on your personal needs, strengths, challenges, and goals.
Art therapy with Renée may be especially helpful if you’ve experienced:
Distress or anxiety
Burnout or emotional exhaustion
Health challenges or diagnoses
Depression
Panic attacks
Grief or loss
Low energy levels
Low confidence or self-worth
A yearning for a more spiritual life
Art becomes a kind doorway — a partner in exploration, reflection, and release
Art Therapy Online Across Canada and in Ottawa-Gatineau Region
On the unceded Territory of the Algonquin People
Contact
Have any questions?
Please don’t hesitate to
call at 613-316-2975
Got something to share?
Ping us at reneemichaud@sagebaytherapy.ca
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Art Therapy & Counselling