Toni-Cara Stellitano is an artist and holistic psychologist who took antidepressants for twenty years. After coming off of medication in 2016, her immune system functioning declined and she was diagnosed with Neurological Lyme Disease which compromised the use of her right side. She began creating stories and art with her left (non-dominant) hand and realized the value and relief of creative non-linear self expression, and its therapeutic implications for healing emotional trauma.
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Her writings on Holistic Healthcare and Self Acceptance have been published in Creations Magazine, and her poetry has been published with Bards Annual Poetry Anthology two years in a row. She was featured in Social Work With Groups (2012), a scholarly journal reporting on group therapy research, reviewing the value of sound therapy for individual and group therapy sessions.
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Her art has been featured in “Spontaneous Gestures,” an art show hosted by WomenArt.com featuring the art of several Art and Creative Arts Therapists, in New York’s Hudson Valley. She studied Creative and Expressive Arts Theory and Practice under Lucy Barbera of the Creative Arts Studio in upstate New York.
She holds a certificate in Trauma Informed Creative Arts Therapy from SUNY ALBANY, has been trained in CBT, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) , Reiki, Dance and Movement Therapy with Children, Jungian Dream Analysis, and Therapeutic Dream Work (Koumodou Centre).
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Her undergraduate degree is from Siena College, Masters and Additional Certifications from SUNY Stony Brook/Albany. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of New York, and practices both in person and virtually with children, teens, and their families.
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Her art can be found on Fine Arts America, and samples of her work and its deeper meaning can be found here. Her client work and art therapy practices are posted in real time to her facebook page. For a description of art therapy techniques, posted with client work, check the "Art Therapy" portion of this page.
