Hello! My name is Tiernee Schatz and I am a training herbalist, board certified art therapist, nationally certified professional counselor, and certified clinical trauma professional with a post graduate nutritional psychiatry certificate. I founded Blue Pines Counseling with a focus on holistic healing at both the individual and community level. My graduate studies at Mount Mary University in Milwaukee, WI built upon my extensive fine art training, inspiring me to integrate all of my interests and values as a mental health professional. It is also where I found a passion for prevention and early intervention through attachment theory and environmental justice research.

Growing up on a small family farm, I spent my childhood developing a close relationship with nature. To this day, I revel in the marvels of nature and love sharing in the joy of discovery that both art and nature provide. My childhood experience in nature informs my work as an art therapist and counselor, and is the common thread in all of my inquiry, both artistic and therapeutic. I believe fostering a relationship with nature can have profound impacts on our mental wellbeing, providing a long lasting source of health, hope, purpose, restoration and resilience. I also believe this connection can provide a healing, reparative relationship in addition to being a significant prevention resource.

My approach when working with children is typically emotion-focused and skills-based, allowing children to experience, identify and express their emotions creatively through the art process. Through this process we develop insight and identify tools to help them understand and manage their emotions, thus their mood and choices, while improving self-confidence and behaviors. In the event a child has experienced a traumatic event, my approach is still very much the same with an added focus on processing the emotions and memories related to the event, working towards post traumatic growth.