Art It Out Therapy Center provides individual and group therapy services to children and teens.
We are located in Marietta, GA at: 1640 Powers Ferry Rd, Building 3, Suite 200, Marietta, GA 30067. Please contact us with any questions you may have: 770-726-9589.
meet our therapists
Teresa Harris Woodruff, LPC, ATR-BC, CTS
Teresa is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Board Certified Registered Art Therapist (ATR-BC), Certified Anger Management Specialist (CAMS), and Trauma and Loss Clinical Specialist (CTS). She studied art education at the University of Georgia, where she had the opportunity to teach art to elementary students in Cortona, Italy for a semester. It was in Italy where she learned about art therapy and how art could help children who are struggling with emotional distress. She then received her Master's in Counseling with a concentration in Art Therapy from the University of Louisville.
Teresa has worked in a number of therapeutic settings such as hospitals, schools, Beyond Words Center for Social Skills, The Bridge Family Center (a residential treatment center for adolescents), Kate's Club (a free support group for grieving children), and Hatch's House of Hope (a free support group for children with a past cancer diagnosis in Chattanooga, TN). Teresa served as Georgia Art Therapy Association's delegate in 2008, treasurer in 2009, and vice president in 2010.
Teresa combines making art with psychotherapy to help children and adolescents increase self-esteem, develop anger management strategies, reduce anxiety, deal with major life transitions, work through grief and loss, and expand communication. Teresa specializes in working with clients who have low self-esteem, anxiety, difficulty adjusting to parental divorce, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Developmental Disorders, or an acute or chronic medical illness. Teresa also sees clients who do not have a diagnosis but would benefit from gaining coping skills for dealing with life's stressors.
Alison Ratner, LCSW
Alison is a licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). She received her Masters of Social Work (MSW) from the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work in 2005 and has a BA in Psychology from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. Alison's experience includes working with children, adolescents, families, and groups. She has worked in a number of therapeutic settings such as a residential treatment facility for adolescents, a free outpatient center for children and families, an outpatient community mental health center, a private practice social skills center for children, a school for children with developmental disabilities, and currently in private practice.
She has a passion for working with children, teens, and families and helping others find happiness and stability in their lives. She currently focuses on working with individuals and families with diagnoses such as ADHD, Anxiety, Mood Disorders, Depression, Developmental Disabilities, Oppositional Defiance Disorder, and Attachment issues. Other topics Alison has experience working with include: self-esteem, parent-child relationships, sibling relationships, grief and loss, sibling support, sexual orientation, bullying, or life transitions.
In Alison's practice, children are given the opportunity to express their thoughts and feelings and learn how to do so more successfully in their natural environments, as well. Utilizing child-centered and child-specific techniques such as play, art, bibliotherapy (the use of books in therapy), writing, relaxation, and skill building, each child will find a warm and open place to work through their stressors and struggles. Children will gain the necessary coping skills to keep in their "tool box" for life and will benefit from positive growth and increased self-esteem. Alison provides individual therapy for children and adolescents; family therapy; sibling therapy; parent training or support; and group therapy services.
Alison is also available for contract work in schools or agency settings providing group therapy or other therapeutic services. For more information on contracting Alison for your school or agency, please contact her directly at: alison@artitout.org
Anna S. Ford, LPC, ATR-BC
Anna is a Board Certified Registered Art Therapist (ATR-BC). She obtained her Master's degree in art therapy at The George Washington University, where she had the opportunity to serve as an intern at Sunrise Senior Living in Washington, DC; The Children's Inn at The National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD; The Rita Project (an open studio for survivors of suicide) held at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, MD; The Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt in Baltimore, MD; and at a community center in the neighborhood of Jorge Dimitrov in Managua, Nicaragua.
After completing her Master's degree in art therapy, Anna worked as an art therapist at Iona Adult Day Health, Wellness, and Arts Center in Washington, DC facilitating art therapy groups and individual sessions with older adults facing such challenges as memory loss, stroke rehabilitation, and cognitive and intellectual disabilities. Subsequently, Anna was invited to join the Child Life Services team at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee as their first art therapist. Anna implemented an art therapy program there, educated the community about the benefits of art therapy for children, and facilitated art therapy sessions for hospitalized children and their families. While in Nashville, she also led art therapy groups in the intensive outpatient program and the day treatment program at The Renfrew Center, a women's mental health center specializing in the treatment of eating disorders.
Anna is a member of the American Art Therapy Association and the Georgia Art Therapy Association. She has worked with children, adults, and families facing a variety of challenges including depression, anxiety, grief and loss, eating disorders, and physical, cognitive, and emotional changes brought on by age, medical illness, or disability. She works from a humanistic, client-centered perspective using art to facilitate expression, build self-esteem, improve communication and relationships, ease anxiety, and lift depression. Anna's art therapy sessions are designed to engender a sense of hope by providing a safe, nonjudgmental space to work through difficult feelings and by encouraging the development of coping skills for managing major life transitions and everyday stressors.
Catherine Schenck, LPC, RPT
Catherine Schenck is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and a Registered Play Therapist (RPT). She studied at Georgia College & State University, where she earned her Bachelors in Psychology and played on the softball team for four years. Later she returned to school to earn her Masters Degree in Counseling and Psychology and eventually her credential as a Registered Play Therapist.
Catherine is a Child-Centered Play Therapist, meaning that she allows the child to take the lead in their sessions. As opposed to traditional talk therapy, Play Therapy allows children to use play as their language and toys as their words. Because children do not have the language skills that adults do, it is necessary for them to be able to use play to communicate. Catherine also uses Sandtray Therapy, which a dynamic and expressive form of psychotherapy that allows clients to express their inner worlds through symbol and metaphor.
Catherine has worked in a variety of environments, including home, agency and school settings providing individual, family and group therapy. She specializes in working with children ages 3-18. She has experience working with many different childhood issues including ADHD, school concerns, depression, anxiety, adjustment issues, trauma, grief/loss, and attachment/bonding difficulties. Catherine also uses filial therapy to work with parents who are good candidates, teaches parenting skills and provides consultations alongside Play Therapy.