For Youth

Emily Tara Weiner, LMFT, ATR, CMI is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California (# 97750) and a Registered Art Therapist (ATCB # 15-248).  She is also a Certified Mindfulness Instructor with Mindful Schools.  Emily has a duel master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and Art Therapy from NDNU in Belmont, CA, and brings over a decade of formal meditation and mindfulness training to her counseling work. Emily is certified in a mindfulness-based art therapy method called Focusing Oriented Art Therapy (FOAT) by Dr. Laury Rappaport.  Emily is the founder of the Mindful Art Program for youth, featured in Dr. Rappaport’s book, “Mindfulness and the Arts Therapies”, and has led Mindful Art workshops for youth and educators at various charter schools, mindfulness organizations and retreat centers around the country including The Omega Institute, Esalen Institute, Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (iBme) and Joyful Mind Project.  In addition, Emily co-founded ArtCare, a mindfulness-based art therapy program for hospital settings implemented at Kaiser Permanente hospital.   Emily has a holistic and strength-based approach to counseling and believes in cultivating wellness in herself and her clients.  

The Mindful Art Program is framed as a wellness program, and focuses on cultivation of mindfulness skills, stress reduction, social and emotional learning, and self-compassion for children and adolescents, as well as educators.  The Mindful Art Program, while not a therapy program, is largely based on Dr. Laury Rappaport's Focusing-Oriented Art Therapy (FOAT) methods.  The Mindful Art Program is also based on the curriculum of Mindful Schools, a non-profit organization in Oakland, CA, which provides mindfulness training for both students and educators.  Therefore, the program can be adapted for therapy settings as well as school, after-school, camp, and mindfulness retreat center settings.