We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sylvan Streightiff. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sylvan below.

Sylvan, appreciate you joining us today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

I learned about Art Therapy during a lecture series while earning my BFA in Drawing and Painting at CSU Long Beach. I’d like to say this was a defining moment in my career but it was more of a stepping stone that motivated me to enroll in a series of psychology courses. The most defining moment in my professional career was realizing I am Autistic.

Throughout my life, I have been fascinated by understanding the way people think and function. Understanding the unique ways people communicate and interact has been a life-long special interest of mine. A lot of this comes out in the ways I go about creating paintings. I tend to manipulate oil paint in a way that mimics my contemplation of humanity through layered symbolism, color, line, and shape. In 2020 I had full intentions of pursuing a M.A. in painting. But when the pandemic hit, I shifted gears and submitted a last minute application for a M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy and Art Therapy through Dominican University of California (previously through Notre Dame de Namur University). This decision was driven by a strong desire to help others.

During a therapy program you get to know yourself and classmates on a very deep and intimate level as trauma and distant memories burst through internal floodgates. Art therapy taps into your limbic system in very specific ways, causing more than you’d expect to come to the surface for processing. Yet, it wasn’t until my final year of the program when I finally began to understand myself through an Autistic lens. This moment felt like it defined everything, it gave me reasoning and understanding for so much of the confusion, pain, and differences I had faced in every avenue of my life. This realization has taught me the benefit of removing shame by approaching yourself with curiosity. This simple tool has shown to encourage immense growth and relief from suffering for clients in my therapy practice.

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.

My life has been shaped by experiences where I have had to reflect and respond to things out of my control. I was diagnosed with Type-One-Diabetes at age eleven. As a result, creating art and giving my time serving others became outlets for dealing with my health struggle. With this, I learned to value education and participating in a community.

Type-One diabetes propelled me to help others coping with the same illness, specifically by volunteering with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Becoming a volunteer Youth Ambassador eventually led to my role as a spokesperson for the organization. I participated in a number of fundraising activities and helped raise thousands of dollars for diabetes research. Part of my service involved designing body injection site sheets for a local hospital. These sheets contained labeled diagrams on the bodies of Spongebob and Hello Kitty that helped aggregate a light hearted and safe perspective for children when injecting themselves with insulin.

My creative and humanistic approach to therapy is driven by my passion for advocacy work and non-profit efforts (specifically through the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, American Diabetes Association, as creative director for the Kurdish Refugee Relief Foundation, and the San Diego Homeless Choir). This can be seen directly through the integration of Art Therapy body mapping in my published research (https://doi.org/10.33015/dominican.edu/2023.AT.04). This was motivated by a desire to aid underserved populations and highlights my knowledge of complex trauma, specifically regarding chronic illness and individuals with Alpha-gal Syndrome (a tick-borne illness resulting in a life threatening allergy). In order to optimize accessibility, I also created a documentary where an art therapy directive called “body-mapping” was utilized to express the unique and life-threatening experience of living with this tick-borne illness (https://youtu.be/2931Uh1KOZQ).

The way I navigate therapy challenges traditionally studied approaches, especially when it comes to Adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)and Autism. Traditional approaches tend to fall short when it comes to neurodivergence. They lean heavily into behavioral concerns while, often neglecting the need for acknowledging the nervous system. Approaches that work for neurotypical populations, that a lot of therapists do naturally, can actually inflict trauma for individuals with ADHD and/or Autism and function more like neurotype conversion therapy. This can often result in individuals going inward, experiencing a loss of words (can also be related to apraxia). The integration of art-making and somatic tools (nervous-system grounding techniques, mindfulness, body scans, breathwork, etc.) within sessions provides alternate modes for expression and healing.

What sets me apart from most therapists is that I prioritize increasing somatic awareness within sessions and provide the tools for deepening the client’s understanding of self. Additionally, I teach clients how to use these tools in ongoing ways to increase their quality of life. Within sessions, I integrate psychoeducation, somatic work, art-making, journaling prompts, and additional resources to best support your unique needs and goals. I can connect clients with the tools they need to feel empowered in their unique healing journey. I work collaboratively to meet needs, understand perceptions, cultivate strengths, improve relationships and self-esteem, and achieve personal growth.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

Regardless of an individual’s neurotype, we are all working to understand ourselves and others. Every interaction is an opportunity to understand the way we think and care. That being said, the most essential key to being able to support others is to show up for yourself first. Without consistent self-care practices and routines, therapists will reach a point of burnout. Once an individual understands how to best support themself, the most helpful tool for succeeding as a therapist (aside from training/knowledge) is connecting to a community of providers who expand the ways you think about approaching therapy. This creates opportunity for listening to the direct experience and needs of individuals within the populations you are working to support. Much of what exists in psychology research is limited and lacks the voice of underrepresented populations. In order to best advocate and understand how to support others, it is essential for therapists to go beyond textbooks, actively listen to others, and gain direct experience.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Being diagnosed with chronic illness results in a forced and ongoing adaption. This can look different for each individual and can become more difficult when it requires others within a family to shift behaviors in order to support those unique needs. I attribute most of where I am at to privilege and support of loved ones. Disliking needles feels irrelevant when the alternative to insulin shots is death. With each additional diagnosis (Asthma, Celiac, PCOS), it feels as though I am running down a grocery list of “What’s Next?” For a decade I numbed the majority of my feelings about living with chronic illness because logically it didn’t change my reality. This is what I had to unlearn.

While working on my thesis (https://youtu.be/2931Uh1KOZQ?si=_15QauuTHmWymhrY) I experienced an anxiety attack where I was hyperventilating and unable to move from my bedroom floor. This moment was a combination of being overworked with school and work while also anticipating an extended travel to visit with family during the holiday. I experienced major delays with authorizations and insurance (over 5 months of weekly calls to every end), leading me to a lack of access to my pump supplies and sensors.Everyone processes things differently. I am an expert in mental health and yet still managed to bypass myself. It is possible for someone to not be effected to the same degree as I was and that is okay.

What this moment revealed is that after a decade of diabetes, I failed to acknowledge how I hate needles. I spent over ten years numbing my emotion and thinking that it didn’t matter because needles were a necessity to surviving. In this moment I logically knew I would be okay, but the loss of control by not having access to my optimal treatment in combination with the unlocked awareness was enough to send me over the edge where I was past a point of containing myself. This moment was so gratefully followed by a nurse practitioner going out of her way to connect me with sample supplies in order to buy me time through the holidays.

So often we can push through and numb ourselves to get through the moment. Yet, our bodies hold onto this tension and each moment of frustration or pain is an opportunity to learn. Releasing tension and pain can start within the ways we talk to ourselves and how we value our mind. I share this moment to show that is okay to dislike and acknowledge any aspect of life. Regardless of the emotion, it deserves to be acknowledged and welcomed in with curiosity and compassion rather than judgement. We could feel like we have great control over our management and be thrown an obstacle that sends us way off course. Increasing our ability to understand how we embody emotion and respond to any stimuli can help increase awareness and control within the ways we learn to cope and react. Each moment is temporary, this can feel great and/or alarming. We are never alone and when we are connected to communities of likeminded others, there are always so many waiting to extend a helping hand.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sylvansart.com
• Instagram: artonthespectrum.therapy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sylvan-streightiff-6b53911b0/
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/2931Uh1KOZQ?si=9HYwKwH31GAHSI0k

Image Credits

Oil paintings on canvas by Sylvan Streightiff (www.sylvansart.com)