We are now onto our fifth therapist feature on The Vibrant Therapist Spotlight! I truly enjoy the opportunity to connect with other therapists through this series. I learn much from hearing their stories and strategies to maintain vibrancy. I hope you have all been enjoying this regular feature on the blog as well.
This month I am excited to introduce you to Lanie Smith a Registered Art Therapist and owner of a group therapy practice in Arizona. Like myself, Lanie supports other helping professionals in figuring out how to maintain their own well-being while supporting their clients, but has created a unique approach to doing so which is called EcoArt Wellness.
Please introduce yourself to the readers and tell us a little about the work that you do.
Hi! I’m Lanie Smith, MPS, ATR of www.laniesmithcoaching.com, a Registered Art Therapist, Owner/Founder of Integrative Art Therapy (www.integrativearttherapy.net), and Vitality Coach for driven helpers + healers. I am passionate about working with other helping professionals whose success has come at the expense of their own sense of health and well-being. I help them regain vitality without sacrificing success using my signature approach called EcoArt Wellness to design a sustainable selfcare lifestyle through the power of the creative process and nature combined.
Can you tell us a little bit about EcoArt Wellness and how you came to incorporate it into the work that you do?
EcoArt has been an integral thread in my work since before I even entered the field as a helping professional. I worked with indigenous cultures and minimal resources as a student research in N. Uganda looking at the efficacy of Art Therapy with war affected youth under the National Institute of Health. While designing Art Education curriculum for our comparison group, I gravitated toward taking participants outdoors to explore landscapes and photography while using available materials such as house paint rather than traditional art supplies found in the U.S. I came to see abundance in what is already available and passionate about not producing more waste while introducing patients and clients to natural materials and their own innate resources when I entered the Art Therapy profession. I eventually opened my private practice and during some of my own health issues found my own EcoArt to be instrumental in guiding me and later moved my office into the mountains so I could lead individual and groups of other helping professionals in this way. Now that I also offer online coaching and I love inviting my clients into such experiences using natural settings in their own area as it can be a backyard, a park, a balcony, or even a house plant.
What drew you to working with other helping professionals?
My work overseas was an overwhelming introduction to trauma in the field. My own shock and family history left me questioning how to best care for myself in the face of devastating stories and difficult cases. I made vicarious trauma the focus of my thesis while finishing grad school and my interests continued to gravitate toward creative self care while working in the field. When I opened my practice I attracted a lot of helpers and healers individually and felt inspired to start an expressive arts support group that also attracted many helping professionals. I fully believe we attract who we are meant to serve and my background in secondary trauma and interest in creative self care served me well in supporting other helpers in strengthening their boundaries while simultaneously learning from them as I had my own survival patterns and hustle tendencies.
What common themes have you noticed as you support others who are working in the helping professions?
Making time and space for what energizes is a recurring theme which often involves letting go of commitments that drain while shifting mindsets and reversing old survival patterns. Many of my clients and self included have had to reverse the order in which they care for themselves and others because they are natural helpers who have oftentimes developed this role in their family of origin without knowing how to really care for their own needs, so there can be an tendency to feel guilty for taking time or space for ourselves. Showing them that they can actually be more helpful when they are grounded and nourished is much our work together in helping them design a sustainable self care lifestyle. There is also a theme of self doubt so learning to tune in and listen to their body to follow their natural wisdom and intuition rather than believing old stories and negative beliefs that no longer serve them is foundational. Lastly, I see healers moving back and forth between hustle and collapse from overwhelm that leads to a burnout cycle where they ignore their natural rhythm to do what they think they ‘should’ out of fear of failure, judgment, or rejection.
What types of doubt and fears have you encountered in your career and how have you addressed them?
Oh the fears! This is an ongoing journey as each time I level up or evolve to become who I want to be fear is there to protect me just in case this change could be life or death. There have been so many from showcasing and selling art in the South where I grew up to leaving Mississippi, working in Africa, and moving to New York. Starting my own business and hiring others is probably right up there as the scariest though because it was my livelihood. I have always held the mantra: Leap and the net will appear. The net is often other mentors who have been through similar experiences and can offer their wisdom so I keep those nearby! I’ve also used the creative process to remind me that I can always course correct if my idea doesn’t work out. Nature is such a grounding force in my life so I have daily rituals to start and end my day outside and have regular ecoart projects along with altered books as a reflection of my growth journey. It offers perspective and a reminder if I am feeling scared as I can see all of the times I have experienced fear in the past and survived which gives me courage for the next level of transformation.
How do you personally manage overwhelm when working on multiple projects?
My color-coded calendar helps in fulfilling different roles! I delegate a lot. I have also learned to give plenty of time and space instead of overscheduling. I try to follow the 2:1:none principle…no more than 2 major tasks a day which can be broken into smaller items doing one thing at a time and taking breaks to do nothing! I also keep a master schedule to help organize my different commitments and make master lists if I start to get overwhelmed so I can pick the top priority and focus on that one thing. I have found a lot of peace and happiness in simplicity so I say ‘no’ or ‘not now’ way more. I wait to schedule new projects until there is more breathing room. There is always more that can be done and I am a big fan of essentialism so if it’s not a ‘Hell yeah!’ then it’s a ‘No.’
How do you approach your work and self care in order to avoid becoming burnt out or depleted?
It’s a lifestyle for me. As someone diagnosed with an autoimmune condition while starting a private practice I am hard core committed to my own self care. Having been on a healing journey for many years I do not see self care as optional. I see it as foundational to my role as a therapist, coach, and creative. I keep plenty of white space for my own meandering, artmaking, and play while prioritizing all things health such as healthy meals and a variety of exercise outlets…hiking, biking, rollerblade, dance, racquetball, pilates, yoga, tennis. Same for cooking and eating…I play with lots of different combos to keep in interesting, take classes; even hired a vegan chef recently instead of dining out for date night and loved it because it resulted in several meals and new recipes.
I try to keep a lot of variety within routine structures. When I move away from my own creative selfcare I begin to feel depleted which makes me susceptible to burnout. It’s an honor to model self care and approach my work with ease and flow which in turn give me the energy and creativity to serve my clients. My job is to show up in as much presence as possible. I am responsible for the showing up part. I relinquish outcomes as part of my own spiritual practice seeing myself as a collaborator with nature and the creative process in the art of relationships and life. Non-attachment and letting go are regular practices to allow me to show up in service with trust in the natural order of life. There are many Taoist and Zen parables that come to mind…remaining a neutral observer is important for me not to cling to ‘good’ versus ‘bad.’ This helps me practice staying centered regardless of what is going on around me and practice makes progress. As a result, most days are overwhelm free as surrender certainly has become easier the longer I practice.
If you could go back in time, what tip or advice would you share with yourself at the beginning of your career?
I would ask my younger self to slow down, tune in, and trust the natural wisdom available to us all when we stop and listen. I made a lot of decisions out of fear and that was humbling to see. I also had a lot of pride so while I have always been good about getting support I didn’t always get help as soon or as often as I could have. Ultimately, I would give her compassion and loving-kindness. As Pema Chodron reminds us, “Be kind to yourself and let your kindness flood the world.”
Thank you so much for participating in The Vibrant Therapist Spotlight, Lanie!
Did my interview with Lanie help inspire you to think about ways that you could become more vibrant in your practice? If so, please send me an email at sarah@sarahleitschuhcounseling.com. and let me know what you are going to try!
If you’d like to connect with Lanie you can find her on Facebook and Instagram. Lanie also offers a free guide incorporating some of her EcoArt strategies for helping professionals. Click here to access Lanie’s 5 Step EcoArt Experiential Internal GPS system for learning to slow down, tune in, listen, and follow your innate wisdom for less stress, more ease, and natural creative flow.
Take Care,
Sarah
P.S. Who should I feature next month? Please feel free to send me suggestions for upcoming posts in The Vibrant Therapist Spotlight series. You can reach me at sarah@sarahleitschuhcounseling.com.