About us
We believe every person deserves access to healing through art
The Art Therapy Foundation was built on a simple conviction: that creative expression — in any form — is one of the most powerful tools for emotional healing available to us.
Our story
Born from a need that couldn't be ignored
Art Therapy Foundation was founded after witnessing firsthand how inaccessible mental health support was for so many people — especially children and communities without resources. Traditional therapy, while valuable, wasn't reaching everyone who needed it.
We saw something different happening in art rooms, music studios, and writing circles: people were healing. Not despite the lack of clinical resources, but through the creative process itself. Painting through trauma. Writing through grief. Moving through anger. Singing through depression.
So we built the infrastructure to scale it — funding programs, training therapists, and now delivering live at-home sessions directly to children and adults who need them most.
What we stand for
Our guiding principles
Accessibility first
Healing through art should never be a privilege. We work to remove every barrier — financial, geographic, and cultural — that stands between a person and their healing.
Every art form matters
Painting, writing, music, movement, drama, digital media — no single discipline holds a monopoly on healing. We honor and support them all equally.
Evidence-informed practice
Our programs are grounded in decades of clinical research on art therapy's effectiveness for trauma, anxiety, depression, anger, and more.
Safe, inclusive spaces
Every session and program we support is built on psychological safety, cultural humility, and unconditional positive regard for every participant.
Community over institution
We go where the need is — into homes, schools, shelters, and communities — rather than waiting for people to come to us.
Lifelong healing
From age 5 to 95, emotional healing is never finished. We serve every stage of life with programs designed for where people actually are.
Our impact
Healing in numbers
12,000+
People served
85
Programs funded
240
Therapists trained
40+
Communities reached
6
Art forms offered
All ages
Children to adults
Our team
The people behind the mission
Haley Grant
Executive Director
Haley Grant is a native of California and grew up in the diverse community of the San Francisco Bay Area. Early in her educational journey she knew she wanted to focus on Art Therapy and bring this wonderful approach to people of all ages. Initially starting her own sessions in a retirement home working with seniors, her most recent foray was working with children in Oaxaca, Mexico. Haley is a graduate of Loyola Marymount College and currently resides in the greater Los Angeles area.
James Okafor, ATR
Director of Programs
James brings 15 years of experience in expressive arts therapy, specializing in grief, loss, and trauma. He oversees all Foundation programs and online session facilitation.
Dr. Sofia Reyes
Director of Research
Sofia's research on music therapy and anxiety has been published in leading clinical journals. She ensures all Foundation programs are grounded in the latest evidence.
Amara Diallo, ADTR
Movement Therapy Lead
A certified dance/movement therapist, Amara leads the Foundation's body-based healing programs and trains facilitators in somatic approaches to trauma recovery.
Join us in making healing accessible
Whether you donate, join a session, or spread the word — every action brings art therapy to someone who needs it.