Finding intellectual balance can be hard in art therapy

You struggle with the balance between internal logic and external logic when it comes to entering into the worlds of the clients you serve. You know that you have to remain objective as a therapist, yet you can’t help having your subjective thoughts activated by encounters with clients.

And you see that some clients lean heavily toward objective reality and need help developing an inner life, while other clients spend too much time paying attention to the meaning they’ve made of people and circumstances.

The latter group needs support in terms of finding an anchor in outer reality. How do you attend to both kinds of people all while balancing the gifts of your objectivity with the gifts of your subjectivity?

Achieving intellectual balance within yourself can support empathic attunement

The Cognitive/Symbolic level of the Expressive Therapies Continuum is a tribute to the balance you’re seeking. One half of it is governed by intellectual objectivity while the other half is governed by intellectual subjectivity.

It serves as the culmination of physical and emotional data that arise through the process of emergent functioning to create higher order thinking and the ability to comprehend and connect concepts.

And when a therapist learns how Cognitive and Symbolic operations evolve within themself and impact the way they experience in-the-moment phenomena, they can translate this knowing into their work with clients, demonstrating heightened empathic attunement to Cognitive and Symbolic processes within the people they serve, regardless of a client’s age.

I can support you in cultivating embodied familiarity with the balance between Cognitive and Symbolic experiencing

I’m Megan, and I help art therapy practitioners and other expressive therapists learn to decipher the framework of the Expressive Therapies Continuum. I was trained and mentored by the ETC’s co-creators—meaning I received plenty of constructive and corrective guidance as I cultivated functional familiarity and fluency in the framework and its application with real, live clients and their real, live issues.

I’ve found over the years that therapists make many assumptions about the Cognitive/Symbolic level of the ETC. These assumptions are very limiting and not at all in concert with the ideas and intentions of the framework’s co-creators.

If you overlook the Cognitive component because of an overuse of the term “cognitive” in psychotherapeutic lingo and if you believe the Symbolic component is about representing things with a sign, like something from a map key, then this embodied workshop will help you overcome your assumptions.

You’ll find by going into your own body to activate Cognitive and Symbolic processes that there’s a lot more going on than overused terminology and simplistic signs! There’s a world of data waiting to be encountered; engaging with it will help you detect and respect Cognitive and Symbolic processes as they arise in the clients you work with.

Are you ready to level up your understanding of the Cognitive/Symbolic level of the Expressive Therapies Continuum as it manifests in experiential processes?

Please join me for an embodied opportunity to experience the physical and emotional roots of your own intellectual activity. This will help you learn to decipher the objective from the subjective and appreciate the healing function of each kind of information processing.

By taking the time to connect with Cognitive/Symbolic level of the Expressive Therapies Continuum within yourself, you’ll have an easier time recognizing its utility in therapy and attuning to clients who engage intellectually; they’ll no longer seem avoidant or esoteric.

ALSO available to you is an optional 1-hour post-workshop discussion group for leveling up your learning even further. We’ll take what you experienced in the workshop and move it into the realm of mindful observation, giving you foundational familiarity with the visual discernment necessary for recognizing how somatic data in client artwork reveals itself and guides therapist responsiveness.

Optional post-workshop discussion group

Introduction to Expressive Therapies Continuum Pre-Assessment Skills, Part III: Cognitive & Symbolic Data

This opportunity is only available to workshop participants. The optional 1-hour (1.0 CE hour) post-workshop discussion group will focus on leveling up your understanding by processing your experience with an eye toward the observational skills needed for assessment within the structure of the Expressive Therapies Continuum.

Our time will be spent learning to decipher elements of visual expression that often go unnoticed when the therapist is concentrating on meaning-making; detecting the language of the nervous system is a skill that can take time to acquire, but this discussion group will serve as a starting point for beginning to bypass meaning-making biases in favor of enhanced objectivity and clarity with regard to client visual data.

Enhanced objectivity and clarity can translate into increased curiosity about and openness to a client’s internal experience, which will improve a therapist’s assessment and progress monitoring skills.

All workshop participants are invited to engage in the discussion group for rounding out their experience and augmenting their ability to apply workshop concepts within the context of empathically attuned client care.   

This post-workshop discussion group will begin 15 minutes after the conclusion of the experiential workshop. The discussion will be recorded; registration for it includes access to the recording through February 11, 2026.

More information about this experiential workshop & post-workshop discussion group

About the Presenter

Megan VanMeter is licensed by the counseling boards in the U.S. states of Arizona, Indiana, and Texas, and she also holds board-certification status through the Art Therapy Credentials Board.  She has developed an online private practice using the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC), a nervous system-informed framework, as a basis for assessment, treatment planning, intervention, progress monitoring, and case conceptualization.  Megan earned her master’s degree in art therapy with a specialization in grief and medical counseling from the University of Louisville, where she studied under ETC co-creators Vija Lusebrink and Sandra (Kagin) Graves-Alcorn.

She has served on professional boards and committees at local, regional, and national levels.  A scholar at heart, Megan enjoys doing research, giving presentations, and writing about the Expressive Therapies Continuum. She is hopeful that a new generation of therapists will have the opportunity to learn the ETC via methods similar to the ones her professors used.  Megan is cultivating a community of ETC enthusiasts and provides ETC learning opportunities to help others develop appreciation for both the basics and the nuances of this important framework. 

Cancellation & Refund Policy

Cancelation requests must be made in writing and sent to admin@meganvanmeter.com.  The date stamp on the message will be used for determining the date the cancelation was requested.

A full refund (100%) will be made for cancellation requests received at least 10 days in advance of an event.

A partial refund (50%) will be made for cancelations requests received 5-9 days in advance of an event.

Sorry, no refund (0%) will be made for cancellation requests received 0-4 days before an event.

Cancelation requests received:

• 10+ days in advance = 100% refund

• 5-9 days in advance = 50% refund

• 0-4 days in advance = 0% refund

Technology-related refunds: please see the Terms & Conditions.

Materials & Supplies

1. When you register for the experiential workshop, you will receive a confirmation email that includes a link to a handout. We’ll be personalizing this document so that it’s specific to your experience of the hands-on exercises. Make sure you have a copy of the handout available to support your learning throughout the workshop. The document is a PDF that can be filled out on your device OR you can print it out and bring something to write with.

2. We will work with paints to help us develop embodied familiarity with the concepts.  As such, please bring anything you’ll need for painting—including everything necessary to clean up or manage your supplies and protect your space during the experiential workshop. The hands-on portion will entail five 10-minute exercises. Make sure you have at least ten supports (canvas board, paper, etc.) to paint on.

3. Given the different time zones that will be represented at the event, it’s understandable that people might need to nibble or snack.  Since paints and food don’t go well together, the second hour of this experiential workshop will be best for munching.  We’ll reserve the first and third hours for painting.

Terms & Conditions

By registering for this event, you agree to the Terms & Conditions identified here. You also agree to receive email updates about the event. These will go to the default email address associated with the credit card you used; you might need to check your junk folder.

Per good professional boundaries, do not photograph, capture screenshots of, video record, audio record, livestream, or publish online this workshop, post-workshop discussion group, or any portion of them.  These learning opportunities offered through Megan VanMeter PLLC are under copyright protection.  Your attendance and participation does not constitute the right to take copyrighted material and store, modify, or distribute it in any way.

It is your responsibility to ensure that you are using the technology and equipment that best facilitate your online learning experience.  Megan VanMeter PLLC does not assume liability for lagging technology/equipment used by any attendee.  Refunds will only be made available if technology and equipment failures on Megan VanMeter PLLC’s end contribute to difficulties with a webinar or workshop.

Please note that Megan VanMeter PLLC does not assume liability for misapplication or misuse of the content and information covered in any presentation.  Learning opportunities are provided for informational purposes only; your attendance and participation does not constitute a formal agreement or arrangement for supervision, treatment, training, or any other purpose.

The learning environment offered through Megan VanMeter PLLC is actually a co-created one; your attendance and participation constitutes an agreement to contribute to this through professional behavior. Any attendee who is disruptive to the learning process or derisive toward anyone present will be asked to leave. A refund will not be available in this case. 

Megan VanMeter PLLC is not liable for an attendee’s emotional experience during webinars, workshops, or other learning opportunities. You agree to gauge your comfort level during these events and take appropriate action to achieve homeostasis if your unique circumstances create internal disturbance in response to the content covered. While Megan VanMeter PLLC takes care and precautions to ensure a safe learning environment for others, the psychological nature of the learning opportunities offered may mean that some content could be triggering to some people. Your attendance and participation constitutes an agreement that you understand the potential for this risk.

In the event of embodied/experiential workshops, it is important that attendees wear appropriate attire and take steps to protect their workspace and the equipment within it. Megan VanMeter PLLC does not assume liability for damage to clothing and other belongings; your use of art materials and methods is under your own control, and you are responsible for your property at all times.

Any concerns or complaints should be sent to admin@meganvanmeter.com. A response will be provided within 48 business hours. While no particular outcome can be guaranteed, every effort will be made to resolve the issue(s). Documentation of the concern/complaint, the response, and follow up will be tracked.