Today we’d like to introduce you to Tonia Herrero

Hi Tonia, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?

I’ve been an artist and creative all of my life. As a teen, all I knew is that I wanted to be an artist and have a career related to art, so I went to art school (California College of the Arts in Oakland/San Francisco, CA). While in art school, I took a lot of different courses in different departments and it wasn’t until Spring semester of my second year that I found something that felt in alignment. I had taken a community arts class where we collaborated with and mentored high school students at a local Oakland public high school. I had found that my true calling was not only within the arts, but using art collaboratively with others and helping facilitate other people’s creative process. Not knowing much about art therapy at the time, this led me to pursue a career in art education so I spent my final two years of college working at the same high school in Oakland as a teaching artist. After graduating from college with a major in painting and drawing and a specialization in art education, I began teaching art at the same public high school where I had been working while pursuing a teaching credential in art at California State University East Bay in Hayward, CA. I loved being an art teacher and I was so inspired by watching my students’ creative arts processes and building relationships with them as individuals. I ended up teaching there for 10 years in total. I had grown to find that the things I loved most about being an art teacher was not the things that were inherent to teaching such as technical skill development, discipline, assessment and grading. What I loved the most was designing art curriculum about helping my students express their emotions, experiences, thoughts and identity. Sometimes during class critiques, it would feel more like a group therapy session. I realized that I wanted to become an art therapist. I left my teaching position and moved across the country to Brooklyn, NY (my hometown) to pursue a masters degree in art therapy at Pratt Institute. During the program, Like the hero’s journey, I knew I wanted to return to the bay area with the elixir, which was the new knowledge and experiences I gained in school and my clinical internships. I graduated with distinction and was awarded the Excellent in Academic Achievement Award and immediately moved to back across the country to California and began working on my art therapy credential clinical hours at various facilities and part time positions. Once I received my ATR credential (Registered Art Therapist), I opened up a solo private practice seeing clients out of an office in Oakland in early 2019. This was the start of my company, East Bay Art Therapy. At the end of 2019, I passed the board exam and was awarded the ATR-BC (Board-Certified Registered Art Therapist). I also began doing off site contract work facilitating art therapy groups in public schools around the bay area. Fast forward 3 years later, my practice was full with a waitlist and I was ready to expand into a group practice. I hired my first employee in 2022. Today in 2024, I have 11 creative arts therapists on my team and we have a booming private practice as well as off-site contracts all over the SF Bay Area in hospitals, schools, senior centers, and affordable housing. I also facilitate arts-based trainings and wellness workshops at a variety of companies and non-profits.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

My journey has definitely not always been a smooth road. Upon graduating and returning to the bay area, it was very hard to find work as an art therapist, I spent many months looking for work and ended up having to take a part time job teaching art in order to supplement my income while eventually working a variety of part time art therapy jobs. Starting a private practice was also challenging. For months I looked at my caseload of 2-4 clients, wondering if I was ever going to be able to fully support myself with my practice. I did not have any formal training in running a business or being an employer, so I had to do a lot of research, networking, and hire people to mentor me. I couldn’t have gotten through it all without the emotional support from my family and friends.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about East Bay Art Therapy?

East Bay Art Therapy is a creative arts therapy group practice based in Oakland, CA. We offer private practice art therapy services in-person and virtually to individuals, families, and couples, ages 4 and up. We also offer a variety of art therapy groups for children, teens and adults. The other aspect of of company is our work within a variety of communities throughout the SF Bay Area including hospitals, public schools, senior centers, affordable housing, treatment centers, and more. We offer art therapy, music therapy and drama therapy for our off-site community-based contracts. We also offer employee wellness workshops for a variety of professionals and companies and arts based clinical trainings for therapists. All of our therapists have different specialties and work with a variety of mental health challenges ranging from anxiety and depression to trauma, and substance use, and a variety of identities including neurodivergent, LGBTQ+, BIPOC and folx with disabilities. We are a practice that is actively working to decolonize mental health care and we are affirming of all marginalized identities. Our team is very diverse and we have a breadth of lived experience that informs our clinical work.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?

Luck is an interesting topic, as I have worked immensely hard and made a lot of sacrifices to be where I am today. I can imagine that perhaps some degree of chance or luck has caused me to meet the right people and make the right connections that have helped my business to succeed. I am also so grateful for my incredible employees because my business would not be what it is today without them and their incredible work. I do believe that my passion, drive, dedication, and strong work ethic as well as my family and friends for supporting me along the way has played more of a role in my success than luck.

Pricing:

• Individual Therapy ranges from $160-200 per 50 min session
• Couples and Family Therapy ranges from $190-210 per 50 min session
• Group Therapy is $75 per 90 min session
• Inquire for rates for off-site groups, workshops and trainings
• We do not take insurance, but we are happy to provide superbills for reimbursement if you have out-of-network benefits

Contact Info:

• Website: https://eastbayarttherapy.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eastbayarttherapy/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eastbayarttherapy
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@eastbayarttherapy
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/east-bay-art-therapy-oakland-3
• Other: https://tiktok.com/@eastbayarttherapy

Image Credits

Christina Hernandez, Megan Fradley-Smith, Tonia Herrero