Experience
Caitlin Harper, MA, ATR-BC, LPCC, grew up on Chicago’s south side and spent her summers in the nurturing landscape of Appalachia, where she learned about the value of art and the importance of community. She received her BA in Studio Art and German Studies from Centre College in Danville, KY in 2008. She then spent a year in Vienna, Austria, completing a Fulbright grant on the role of art in mental health.
From 2009 until 2013, she spent her time working in the medical field in Chicago. She worked a year as a cardiac technician, and three years as a clinical research coordinator with a focus on the efficacy of medication in Schizophrenia. Through this experience, she discovered that there was one foundational piece missing in the medical field– care for the human soul and compassion for suffering, which prompted a movement toward her career as a therapist.
In 2013 Caitlin moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico to complete a master’s degree in Art Therapy and Counseling. Within a month, she started a community art group at Nambé Pueblo, which encouraged traditional artists to share their knowledge with multiple generations of others. She worked in the Domestic Violence program as an art therapist and counselor until 2018.
In 2018, Caitlin began her work as a Behavioral Health Therapist, at a tribal integrative health center, Kewa Pueblo Health Corporation, in Kewa Pueblo, New Mexico. She spent this time collaborating with medical doctors in the treatment of a multitude of mental health conditions with people of all ages. Some of her experiences include crisis management, acute trauma, anxiety, depression, and pediatric mental health. She also served as Interim Director of Behavioral Health during a transitional period for the clinic.
Caitlin’s experience in rural health care led her to open Eldorado Art Therapy and Counseling, where she provides access to a multitude of services, including couples, individual adult, pediatric, and adolescent therapy.
Treatment Focus
Caitlin’s approach to therapy is eclectic in nature. She utilizes Acceptance and Commitment, as well as Existential therapy techniques. Viktor Frankl, one of Caitlin’s heroes, once said, “when there is a why, there is a how.” Her approach encourages clients to identify points of meaning in their lives, and to activate strategies for enhancing this meaning. Acceptance and Commitment therapy allows people to learn to become more accepting of their emotional states, provide themselves with nurturing in those states, and make a commitment to a plan for change. Existential and Acceptance and Commitment therapy work well as complementary modalities, and so you may find that through them, you will discover an enhanced sense of vibrancy within your own life.
Caitlin uses a combination of talk therapy and art therapy. Not all clients feel comfortable with the art making process, and so she is flexible in the nature of the needs of her clients.
Art therapy is the process of utilizing art both as a form of emotional regulation, as well as a route to identifying undiscovered parts of ourselves. Caitlin provides a multitude of art materials for clients to utilize in sessions. Her goal is to help clients access the resilience of the imagination, and become more emotionally flexible. She believes in the healing power of art, having experienced it many times herself.
Caitlin is accepting of ALL people and does not discriminate against any socioeconomic status, gender preference, race, political stance, religion, or cultural upbringing. She believes that ALL people will experience some sort of suffering in life and that anyone and everyone is welcome to her office.