Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jenn Seniuk. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jenn, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

Hi Everyone! My name is Jenn and I am an Art Therapist (registered both in the States and Canada), a Certified Canadian Counsellor, and the founder of Belly Eye Art Therapy Inc.

How Belly Eye was born is such a funny, and incredibly random story. I think it is important to start even before the name was born in order to have context and to appreciate the dedication of my company’s name.

I am a Canadian, living in Alberta (my province is Montana’s hat!) and I was in school at the University of Lethbridge to become a teacher. My entire life I had dreamed of becoming a teacher. I even remember in kindergarden talking about being a teacher one day. But, when I was completing my undergraduate degree in a university that was well known for its Education Program, therefore highly competitive, I was hit by a pretty big reality check. My marks weren’t good enough to be accepted into the Ed program.

This might sound really confusing, but our University did a hybrid program where you could complete most of your undergrad, apply for the Education program while completing your undergrad and becomes a teacher in less amount of time. But, long story short, as recommended by my guidance counsellor, I took a few summer courses in attempts to boost my GPA so I could apply for the Ed program and become a teacher.

Life is so funny, what is that saying? When one door is slammed in your face as you are tripping and falling over your untied laces, another one opens? That’s how it felt being told by my counsellor that if I didn’t pick up my grades I would have to take the long route and potentially at another university to become a teacher.

So, that summer I took a course called ‘Art Therapy’. I knew it was something about Art, the course was condensed and I was good at art. I had also heard it was an easy A. Well, as I am sure you have guessed by now, especially since I introduced myself as an Art Therapist, that this course changed the entire trajectory of my life. I was blown away, I had massive ah-ha moments, I shared things I had never shared, and a little stick person drawing had me cracking wide open and witnessed in messy ugly tears by my peers. It was life changing.

So I consulted with my professor and she recommended that I apply for graduate school in the states as American Art Therapy programs were accredited and my credentials would hold more weight coming back into Canada to work. So wouldn’t you know, I broke up with my boyfriend of 4 years, moved out of his place and applied for grad school. Big changes happened once I decided this is what I meant to do with my life.

I was accepted into grad school and I told by the program director I was one of the best applications they had seen. So I am flying out to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with a single cup kurig machine taking up half my luggage, ready to start Grad School. The moment I landed I was so in love. I loved the city, I loved my classmates, I was SO inspired by my professors. I was expansive.

And then there was this professor, who had such a deep passion for Art Therapy. The way she spoke about the theories, the ways to hold space, and modeled self work through her own creative expression was inspiring. And something that always stuck with me was when she would say: when you are with a client, listen to your Belly Eye. Meaning, what is your intuition saying? We don’t just listen with our ears, but when we are sharing space with our clients we are listening with our entire being. What is our gut seeing?

It was also around this time that I starting tapping into energy work, and I received my Reiki level 2 certification. I was spending more and more time with myself, learning about my blind spots, my biases, my own judgements and holding space for it all. I was building a relationship to my intuition.

Now fast forward to graduation, I had a decision to make. Do I go back out to Canada and find work? Or do I take off to Australia? Random right? But I had dreamed of living in Australia for years and I knew once I got back to Canada and got into work it would be so hard to make the same space to take off traveling. So I went to Australia! I had only intended on going for 6 months, but before I had even landed on Aussie soil I knew I was staying the entire 2 years! (Working Holiday Visas are for 2 years).

And, again incredibly random, I found myself milking cows on this small dairy farm in South Australia. I love it. I would spend 4 hours a day milking the cows, in silence, with my thoughts. And there was one morning at 5:30 am where I started thinking about how in my travels I had noticed a big gap between the people who knew what Art Therapy was and the people that had no idea it even existed!

I had met so many people in my travels and I found it fascinating that there was such extreme answers, but what clicked this morning was that I LOVE to travel. Maybe I could be THAT connection between these two populations- those that know Art Therapy and those that don’t. I could travel and teach, and lead by example. I loved people, I loved talking and learning and listening. It felt right. And as soon as I had made this connection, the name came to me: Belly Eye Art Therapy. Why? Because this work that I was going to do was outside of the box, I would have to trust my own belly eye.

And this isn’t something new, I have always been a black sheep, someone who doesn’t feel right within the box, that often goes against the grain, but the times that I have trusted my intuition: changing career paths, going to grad school in the states, moving to australia amongst may many other examples, my intuition has never let me down. If anything trusting my belly eye has led me to most incredible people and experiences.

Plus, it felt really grounded to have a piece of my roots, “Belly Eye” that piece of grad school with me and anchoring my work. So I reached out to my professor and asked if it was ok to use her phrase, and she shared that she had actually learned of the phrase from someone in Thailand. She shared that this phrase was not meant to be hidden away but that it was meant to be shared. I was thrilled.

So now, I have this beautiful name, with such meaning and depth, it is also very unique so it doesn’t get lost in the sea of other art therapists on social media. And, something I didn’t intentionally plan is that the abbreviation is so perfect. BE. Just be. Connecting to your belly eye is about being in the moment, with your client, with yourself, with whatever powers you believe in, BE.

The brand identity has shifted over the last 6 years, several times, but Belly Eye has been able to hold space for it all. This feels metaphorical, not only has it held space for the brand to change and grow, but it has also held space for me to grow and be messy and figure out this whole Art Therapy, Art Therapist thing. Belly Eye for me holds a lot of magic and power and has been the most supportive container on this journey so far!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

How I got into this industry is a part of how my company got its name. But what really changed the trajectory of my career from being so focused on becoming a teacher, to becoming an Art Therapist was when I took the Art Therapy summer course and I felt SO heard, and seen with a simple stick figure drawing. I was blown away that something as simple as a few lines could hold so much emotion, vulnerability and authenticity.

My client focus has shifted quite a bit over the last 6 years, but where I have landed feels very in alignment with my purpose. I don’t know of any other art therapist with this specialization, but I currently work with adult men who are looking for healing through creative expression. I have always really connected with men, but what I found was that majority of my caseload were naturally men. Bless their sisters, moms, and girlfriends for encouraging them to try creative expression. Shifting my focus to specializing in men’s art therapy felt like a natural next step. My books are also open, so if you know of someone who has a brother, cousin, friend, uncle, dad who could benefit from art therapy, send them my way! I can see anyone in Canada, and I can work with anyone who resides in a non-art therapy licensed state. https://arttherapy.org/state-advocacy/

I also find that when men are coming to art therapy, this is often a last ditch effort to find some reprieve from the emotions they are feeling internally. They are open to trying something new, they take risks and are incredibly brave in and outside of session. Maybe this is only in my experience, but they do the homework! I also love how direct this population is. They get in, do the thing, and get out.

And from this work, it has actually inspired my latest project that I am INCREDIBLY proud of. It is still new, we are only 2 months in so far, but alongside a friend who is houseless, we started a project called The ‘My Friend Dave’ project. We meet every monday in a small park and support men in sharing their story through creative expression. We are working on writing a book, the guys make art, they play my guitar, they connect, laugh and have a safe place to land.

In such a short amount of time the feedback has been remarkable. One guy has asked to see an Art Therapist, another has gone to treatment, and they are meeting up outside of Mondays to have bbq’s and play bocce ball in the park. They are so proud of this project and the work they are doing within the project. They hand out our business cards and talk to everyone about it. Because of them, we have 20 people who come in and out of the project. It is an incredible privilege to see these guys walk a little bit taller and have some light in their eyes.

But what I think sets me aside from other Art Therapists is that I am not afraid to be different. Art Therapists are different in general,compared to the psychologists, meaning we have a lot of creative flexibility in the field, but I like to push those parameters too. I lead by example, I am big on modeling what healthy relationships can look like, what a different system or approach can look like for practitioners and participants. Especially with the My Friend Dave project, we are working on doing things differently. And what I am learning is that creative expression is a privilege. And that treating someone with dignity and respect is deemed as ‘revolutionary’. WHY? I also don’t believe that creative expression is just art supplies. We all have our own unique language of creative expression, and for me it’s also the crunching of the leaves when we walk in the fall, singing so terribly in our cars, its meeting strangers and chatting in parking lots for 20 minutes, creative expression is all of the in between moments. And I believe this because then creative expression is accessible to anyone and everyone. It doesn’t feel as scary to dip your toes into using art materials, and the shame can exhale and step aside.

And the final piece I want to share (this article is making me realize that I have done a lot of work in this field and I have a lot to be proud of!) is that I am also renovating a school bus named Thelma! My dream is to finish renovations, live, travel and work in her full time! I would love to see clients virtually from the bus, and then travel north america educating cities, towns, communities on how to start their own ‘My Friend Dave’ project! I believe that Thelma is about 2 years away from full completion!

Ok I told a fib, there are a couple other things I want to place here and acknowledge. When I am not seeing clients for one on one therapy, I work with school divisions, corporations, companies, groups and run full day Art Therapy and Emotional Regulation workshops. I find this work so fulfilling and it scratches the ‘teaching’ itch! I get to spend a full day educating people on what art therapy and emotional regulation is, how they can implement tools for themselves, their staff and their students!

And I have my own Art Therapy podcast! This has been such a blast, and the reach for this has been incredible. It originally started between myself and my friend Catherine who is from the UK, but we met in Australia when we were both speaking at an Art Therapy conference! Podcasting is such a fun way to connect to people around the world! I have made the coolest connections from doing this work- and if anyone would be open to being on the show, I would love to have you! Let’s chat all things art therapy and creative expression! You can find ‘Art Therapy Is’ where you find all your favorite podcasts.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

This is funny to think about. The company officially started around the time I was milking cows in Australia. I hadn’t registered it just yet, but I was active online, running campaigns, and running probono Art Therapy groups in Aus.

So the initial capital was small, which worked well for what I was doing, but it came from milking cows!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

What I think really helped build my reputation was my connection to people. And not just on social media, but the people I was meeting as I travelled. I love connecting and chatting. When Belly Eye started it was the perfect time, I was backpacking around Australia, in and out of hostels, meeting people literally anywhere and everywhere. As I got chatting with people I would tell them about my work and who I was and they would follow me. I hadn’t realized it, but at the time and within the first few months I had a few thousand followers and it was all by talking to people.

I also really believe that you can feel who is being genuine and who is putting on a show whether that is in person or online. Especially people who come from trauma backgrounds. They can smell bullshit a mile away! I think the more I work on myself the more confident I become, and with that the more genuine I feel to others. That genuineness = safety. It is big. This, no bullshit, authentic safety piece is a big part of the reputation I have and I do receive feedback on this as well. The feedback is nice, especially on days where the inner critic is trying to creep in.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bellyeyearttherapy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bellyeyearttherapy/ ; https://www.instagram.com/myfrienddaveyyc/ ; https://www.instagram.com/arttherapy.is/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BellyEyeArtTherapy
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@myfrienddave
• Other: Podcast!: Art Therapy Is

  And we are on Apple Podcasts

Image Credits

Emma Bass
Ray Muise