Featured Art Therapist: Jenni Graham

Liberation for all minoritized people! 
We are celebrating National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month by featuring Art Therapists who work in the name of Social Justice and Liberation.



Meet Featured Social Justice Art Therapist,
Jenni Graham! 

Jennifer M. Graham, LCAT, ATR-BC, MPS
Founder & Art Therapist at The Truehart Creative Arts Organization
Philadelphia, PA
truehart1733@gmail.com  |  facebook.com/apathtohealingandfreedom  |  insta: @thetruehart

Tell us about your work!

I currently work mostly with young adults & have extensive experience working with adolescents & children. I am passionate about group work, but I’m currently introducing myself to the Philadelphia area through individual work as well as community event collaborations.  

What does social justice mean to you?

To me social justice is about creating spaces of healing, creating equity, & building authentic connections.

How do you center social justice and liberation in your work?

As an Art Therapist I believe in a transformative & restorative approach to mental & emotional health through a lens of wellness; where people can be fully seen, heard, & validated. I believe that marginalized groups of people, specifically people of color, & more specifically Black people (or members of the African Diaspora), deserve mental health clinicians who will not pathologize or criminalize our emotional responses to the toxicity & trauma created by the historical & current impacts of systemic racism. As a Black clinician, I understand that although being Black makes me uniquely qualified, I must be mindful of not engaging in the current status quo expectations or standards of service in the mental health system. I question & challenge tools of evaluation & diagnosis, or measurements of wellness and illness that stem from a one story perspective that limits human compassion. I understand, respect, & practice empathy for the ways that history & society impact people’s experiences & the ways that they navigate through life. I understand that my own self reflections & growth process on the journey of cultural competence is necessary for me to be an effective change agent for the people I’m in service to.

The Values Stat­­ement for The Truehart is as follows:

The Truehart provides safe, creative, and judgment free spaces to understand people's experiences within the context of their families, communities, and society as a whole. We believe in the restorative power of addressing the totality of people's humanity by acknowledging the emotional, mental, and psychological aspects of our human existence. We do not approach mental health through a lens of pathology or mental illness, but rather embody a focus on mental wellness. The Truehart does not "treat clients"; instead we engage in treatment by working with participants.

Our staff is both challenged and supported to embrace the journey of cultural competence to acknowledge, respect, and appreciate the diversity of intersectional identities and realities. We recognize diverse value systems and resist imposing "dominant" culture norms.

We believe in creating space for people to name and process often normalized trauma; to ultimately open up internal resources that can be utilized to reach one's highest potential, goals, and dreams. We believe that when individuals, relationships, families, and communities are afforded the opportunity to heal, it will be possible to embark on the freedom of sustainable changes.