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

Alright, Tonia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Throughout my career as an art therapist, I’ve constantly had to take risks in order to reach the success I have today. Before becoming an art therapist I was a public high school art teacher for ten years in Oakland, CA. I absolutely loved my job, but I reached a point where I truly realized it wasn’t the best fit for me. My favorite aspect of being an art teacher was the relationships I built with my students and how I experienced the therapeutic benefits that my art curriculum provided my students who almost all came from challenging backgrounds. I also hated grading and discipline! When I finally decided that art therapy was a more fitting career field for me, I quit my stable job, upped and moved across the country to Brooklyn, NY to pursue graduate clinical studies in art therapy at Pratt institute. It was a huge risk and it was not easy, but it was absolutely the best decision I’ve ever made.

After graduation, I returned to California and struggled to find art therapy positions that were more than just part time. In 2019, the same week I received my ATR (Registered Art Therapist credential), I decided to start my own practice, East Bay Art Therapy. It was a risk because I had no experience owning my own business or being self-employed. I had to do a ton of research and consulting with no savings in the bank to spend on start up costs. I started small and by 2021 my practice was full and thriving. In 2022, I filed for S-Corporation status and began taking steps to become an employer. This was another giant risk because I had no experience having employees. Today, I have three employees in total, one who works on site at the East Bay Art Therapy office in Oakland and two working off-site for contracts I have with public school districts in the South Bay. I absolutely love supervising employees and running my own company. I am grateful for the risks I’ve taken to reach where I am today, and East Bay Art Therapy is still growing and we have more contracts and projects in the works!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I have been an artist my entire life. I got my BFA in 2007 from California College of Arts and during school realized what inspired me the most was collaborating creatively with young people and facilitating the creative process in others. I worked as a teaching artist at public high schools during college through a work study program and fell in love with teens. This led me to become a credentialed high school art teacher upon graduation. I was an art teacher at the same school in Oakland for ten years before realizing my true calling in the field of art therapy.

I am a Licensed and Board-Certified Art Therapist and art therapy group practice owner (East Bay Art Therapy). Art therapy is an integrative approach to psychotherapy that helps clients connect their mind, body, and spirit. An art therapy session may start off with a verbal check-in, followed by an art making directive, and concluding with reflection and verbal processing of the art. The amount of time spent in each phase varies depending on the client’s needs and preference for that session. Some sessions may be purely verbal, and others focused more on the creative process. I can provide clients with a specific directive or prompt for art making that I feel may be helpful and other times clients may work in a more self-directed way. Clients can utilize any visual arts processes in sessions including drawing, painting, collage, mixed media, sculpture, sewing, digital arts, or photography. At my practice, we provide a wide range of art materials for our clients.

At East Bay Art Therapy, we work with ages 10 and up, but we specialize in adolescents. I have always had a natural talent for working with teens, especially with my success as a high school art teacher in my first career. I believe that my authenticity and “realness” sets me apart from other therapists and helps teens feel like they can trust me. Some folks find teenagers to be extremely difficult to work with, but I find them the most fun, engaging, challenging (in a good way), and rewarding, there is never a dull moment! I help teens heal from and better understand their depression, anxiety, trauma, substance abuse, grief, ADHD, body image and disordered eating issues, self-harm, and suicidal ideation. It’s not easy work, but this work gives me a sense of aliveness. It feeds my soul and inspires my own creativity to help others through the art making process.

Any advice for managing a team?

I was a bit nervous about becoming an employer, but it has turned out to be the best fit for me. Throughout my extensive work history, I have had bosses I’ve hated and bosses I’ve loved like family. I honor my employees and express gratitude, appreciate and praise for their efforts, skills, and passion. I focus supervision on their positive achievements just as much as any constructive feedback I may have to offer. I also offer the highest pay that my company can afford. Art Therapists can be very underpaid for the amount of stress, responsibility, and training that is required for the job, not to mention the student loans from graduate school! I want my employees to feel needed and appreciated. I believe that this approach is one of the reasons why my team is so passionate about their work for my company.

In my first career as a teacher, work was my whole life and I did not have healthy boundaries around my personal time or honor my need for self care. I’ve learned from that experience and because of that, I respect my employees’ mental and physical well being needs and encourage self-care. I help to teach them the importance of a healthy work/life balance. The feedback I’ve gotten is that this approach to supervising is vastly different from what they are used to, which is very unfortunate.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I don’t think just one strategy works for marketing an art therapy practice. I’ve had to use multiple different strategies for my business to be successful. What helped me at the very beginning was having a strong web presence to bring in new clients curious about art therapy. Over time, it’s been the networking with other professionals that has enabled my company to be visible in the Bay Area. Learning how to be articulate and engaging, but also succinct when telling people about what my company has to offer has been essential for growing my business, which took practice. I believe my background in teaching has helped me in this regard. I offer experiential trainings to clinical staff and organizations about art therapy, which is a growing part of my business. When people can experience art therapy hands on, whether in a first session as a client or during an experiential training, they have a personal and first-hand experience of its power.

Contact Info:

• Website: eastbayarttherapy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eastbayarttherapy/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eastbayarttherapy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/east-bay-art-therapy
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/east-bay-art-therapy-oakland-3

Image Credits
Christina Hernandez and Tonia Herrero