Taryn is a graduate of the Masters program in Expressive Arts Therapy at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, a training program that includes curriculum and practice in marriage and family therapy. Taryn approaches therapy sessions by creating a playful, inclusive and trauma-informed space that promotes joyful, resilient and generative responses to life’s challenges. Taryn has years of experience in human services as a facilitator, teacher, program director and manager. She has developed and run programs that combine creative arts, mindfulness and restorative justice practices in community settings: schools, prisons, juvenile detention centers and hospitals. Formerly a professional modern dancer, she was drawn to the field of creative arts therapies primarily from her own personal transformative experiences with using the arts as a mode of self expression, personal growth and stress reduction. Taryn views the arts in therapy as a means of access and equity and uses the arts as a language to promote diverse ways of knowing and processing.