I am an arts therapist, teacher, speaker, somatic movement educator, filmmaker, and interdisciplinary artist.
After thirty years of studying, art-making, teaching, and working with hundreds of clients and students on creative self-expression, I’ve uncovered this truth:
The more creative we are in our thinking and actions, the more we can expand our perspectives, achieve our most important goals, and live a life of purpose.
I’m here to help you make that happen.
With compassion, clarity, and perspective I offer a creative approach to face life’s struggles.
I support artists of all disciplines and anyone who wants to foster growth, healing, and expression. My expertise and personal experience is especially useful when dealing with addiction, grief and trauma. I am drawn to share the knowledge I have developed over the last few decades to be a force for change in the world through film, writing, teaching and speaking.
My dynamic offerings combine expressive arts therapy, somatic (body-based) practices and creative mentoring to help you:
- Feel supported with life’s challenges to find new pathways for growth and change
- Access your inner wisdom by tapping into life stories, memories, and emotions
- Find effective self-care rituals and mindfulness tools to promote well-being and resilience
- Embrace your creative voice to open up a gateway to emotional health
- Combat the blocks that get in the way of committing to artistic expression and learn how art can be a companion
- Overcome self-sabotaging thinking and behaviors to lead a more fulfilling life
More About My Work
I am registered as an Expressive Arts Therapist through the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA), a Somatic Movement Therapist through the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association (ISMETA), and have a Masters in Psychology. I have presented at international conferences and as an experienced group facilitator and teacher I have brought my work to institutions such as South by Southwest, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Epiphany Center for Women and Children, and San Francisco State University. I am a teaching supervisor at WHEAT Institute in Canada, and since 2003 I have been training students at the Tamalpa Institute, the internationally renowned training center for movement-based expressive arts therapy. I have a Studio Art degree and continue to work in the mediums of photography, dance, writing, and film. In 2014, I created When the Fall Comes, a performance project that culminated in a short documentary based on my own life story encountering intimate grief and loss. When the Fall Comes was translated into French and Korean and streamed in universities across America and Canada through Kanopy. My current film is an award-winning documentary called The Creative High that features visual artists, performers, and musicians in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction who are transformed by creativity in their search for identity and freedom.
Adriana has presented at international conferences and spearheaded many noteworthy projects and programs including the Arts Exhibit Program at California Institute of Integral Studies where she was art curator and director from 2002-2009. She has facilitated workshops and classes through her own practice as well as at Sonoma State University, National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Epiphany Center for Women and Children, Art Institute of California, and other respected institutions. Since 2003 she has been a faculty member of the Tamalpa Institute, the internationally renowned training center for movement-based expressive arts therapy co-founded by Anna Halprin and Daria Halprin. Adriana’s well-articulated style of teaching and speaking makes her a dynamic presence at events and workshop venues.
Adriana has a well-established practice as an expressive arts therapist and somatic movement educator. Trained in the Life/Art Process, a method developed at the Tamalpa Institute, she uses creative methods to establish health and well-being in individuals, groups and communities. Adriana’s work holds a special focus on addiction/recovery, grief and trauma. She is extremely generous with her clients and students, offering an abundance of creative and somatic (body-based) resources, bringing a compassionate nature to her work, and generating concrete solutions towards more productive and fulfilling lives.
Adriana’s films include When the Fall Comes, a testament to love, loss and art. Weaving through vivid images of the San Francisco Bay Area, Argentine tango dancing, performance moments and poignant interviews focused on the work of grief and the arts, Adriana shares her personal story about the melancholy, joy and reverence that accompanies loss. When the Fall Comes aims to demonstrate how the arts can allow complicated feelings and experiences resulting from grief to be expressed, as well as provide opportunities to come together around the topic of loss. Adriana directed her latest feature film The Creative High, an award-winning documentary about artists who have faced addiction who are transformed by their creativity. This is a passion project born out of her own recovery from alcoholism. She was awarded Artist of the Year in 2016 through In Recovery magazine.