Abigail Bocanegra, LMFT
November 27, 2023
11:00 am – 12:30 pm Pacific Standard Time (Seattle)
via Zoom

BARNARD CENTER FREE LECTURE SERIES

Expressive Arts Psychotherapy, grounded in a decolonized perspective, honors the arts not just as clinical tools but as intrinsic healing practices of many indigenous cultures. This presentation merges cultural wisdom in expression with therapeutic EXA techniques, illuminating the potent synergies that foster holistic healing and nurture parent-child relationships. Through a re-embrace of the arts, clinical EXA principles, and dialogue, participants will grasp the essence of a culturally responsive and intermodal expressive arts approach.

Abigail Bocanegra, LMFT, is a second-generation Mexican-American/Chicana, rooted in her Nahua, Huastec, and Spanish heritage. As the founder of Creative Heart Therapies since 2018, Abigail integrates her roles as a bilingual Expressive Arts Psychotherapist, an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant, and a fervent advocate for culturally-centered arts across diverse communities. She is a co-author of the Integrative Cultural Healing Model, merging Tribal Traditional Knowledge with Western therapeutic approaches for Indigenous families, and the Family Play Group Curriculum for Spokane’s Rising Strong Program. At the Barnard Center within the University of Washington, Abigail holds a Leadership Fellow position, specializing in expressive arts for young children and providing Reflective Practice for bilingual IECMH professionals. In her private practice, Abigail centers her services on the rejuvenation of Latinx and Indigenous health and healing traditions, partnering with families impacted by intergenerational-colonial and racial trauma. Her therapeutic stance is underpinned by the Nahuatl philosophy of In Ixtli In Yolotl, signifying wisdom, consciousness, and a purposeful life journey.

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