Kayla Estrada, MA

Provisional Art Therapist

Supervised by Heather Vliet, LPC

Scheduling: 503.444.8230
Hours: Monday-Thursday, 9:00am - 6:00pm

A woman with long black hair and glasses, wearing a yellow turtleneck and a black denim jacket, smiling outdoors.

“Drawings are the natural language of children; they are one of the universal ways children express feelings.”

— Liza Hinz, Expressive Therapies Continuum

My Approach

My goal as a therapist is to provide holistic care that considers the individual and their many systems and their communities. We will focus on strengthening the relationship with your authentic self and extending that to those around you. 

Art Therapy and a spectrum of art media can act as fun and creative tools for visual, metaphorical, and transformative communication and processing. I believe that every person has the ability to express themselves through art regardless of skill level. Art-making in our sessions is encouraged, not required.

Ages:

  • 8 years - young adulthood

Specialities:

  • Art Therapy

  • Anxiety and Depression

  • Low Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence

  • Life Transitions and Family Stress

  • Chronic Illness and Medical Trauma

  • Grief and Loss

  • Collaborative Problem Solving

FAQs

What is your experience with children and teens? 

I have worked with youth and their families across multiple environments, including schools, a children’s hospital, and now primarily within an outpatient mental health clinic. Across these settings I have provided art therapy for individuals ages three to young adulthood and their families. My experience with youth includes those diagnosed with chronic illness, depression/suicidality, Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, OCD, PTSD, and developmental delay/regression. Within my work at a children’s hospital, I provided mental health services for kids that were hospitalized for short term and long term stays due to physical trauma, injury, and mental health crises.

What is a therapy appointment like? What will we do? 

Imagine a room filled with art supplies that you can use to express how you feel or what you’re thinking. In our first few sessions I may ask you to work with an art material to warm up your creativity, get to know who you are, and explore the reason you’re coming into therapy. We could start the session with art, end the session with art, or just talk it out as you scribble with some markers, fold origami, or play with clay. There may be some days where I provide prompts that will guide your creation or you can do a “free draw” where you create anything you want in order for us to explore where you’re at that moment.

What if I don’t want to make art or I’m “not good” at art? 

Art is not just pencil on paper! It could be gluing pictures onto a canvas, mixing paint into clay, or ripping up a piece of cardboard then stapling it back together again. There are many ways to express yourself and your current skill level should never be a barrier to that. I understand that sometimes it can be really hard to feel creative depending on where you’re at that day or what may be happening in your life. Art-making is always encouraged in each session, but not required.

Do you work with adults? 

I believe caregiver or family collaboration can be beneficial and transformative when aligned with the client’s goals. Routine check-ins are a great resource for me to understand from a caregiver perspective what we could be bringing into the therapeutic space. Participation during the therapy session is encouraged and my goal is to provide youth with the autonomy and agency to express their needs and focus caregiver involvement on growth within their family system and environment.