Mountain Creative Arts Counseling

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United States
Hendersonville, NC
Mountain Creative Arts Counseling

I help adults re-connect to their creativity, without letting trauma, stress, and shame get in their way. In network with BCBS, Aetna, & UHC.

Kara Ashley-Gilmore, LCMHC, ATR-BC, SEP, provides Somatic Art Therapy and Counseling to adult survivors of childhood abuse & neglect who want support with the following:

🔹 Trauma & Attachment Resiliency
🔹 Anxiety & Stress-Management
🔹 Post-Partum Support
🔹 Psychedelic Integration
🔹 Art Therapy Supervision

Free 30 minute consultations are available. Ages 18+

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Other Services Include:

🔹 Healing Arts Workshops for Creativity Development

🔹 Individual Support for Integration of Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness: Preparatory and Post-experiece Art Therapy Sessions. (Not covered by insurance)

🔹 Art Therapy Supervision for ATR-P Credential Holders

🔹 Somatic Art Therapy Case Consultations for Professionals

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Contact via email is preferred: [email protected]

09/04/2026

What's the difference between a sketchbook and an art journal?

I think the answer is about introspection. There are many artists whose art journals look like a bound book of perfect, completed artworks. This is great, if that's your intention! However, if your intention is to go deeper, there needs to be time for some reflection about the art that has been created. Again, a therapeutic art journal is a container for PROCESS.

Intuitive painting is a great method for allowing space for both non-judgemental play, and an opportunity for self-reflection. Intuitive painting means you don't have a plan when you get started. You start with a color or stroke and respond to whatever comes out. It's essentially self-expression through lines, colors, and shapes--without knowing what the final outcome will be.

Writing about the completed painting can help you gain insight about what's under the surface. In the SoulCollage® process, writing from the perspective of the collage using the phrase, "I am the one who..." helps us get enough distance from our art to learn what it may be trying to tell us. This can be a simple way of beginning to write about your art.

Want to explore this (and more!) together? Register for our Therapeutic Art Journaling series, where we will use our journals and our favorite art supplies & writing tools to learn ways to build a deeper relationship with our art journals.

Date: 9/11, 9/18, 9/25
Time: 4 pm - 7 pm
Location: Art Place Gallery, 730 Locust Street | Hendersonville
Member: $195 Non-Member: $230

🔗 https://member.artleaguehvl.org/members/evr/reg_event.php?orgcode=ALHC&evid=62588075

09/01/2026

It's the start of the -ber months! Time to get cozy. 🌾

September's Collage: "Cultivating Dreams"

08/28/2026

Beneath all our emotions and labels is a complex world of color, texture, and rhythm. In this three-day intensive, we aren’t making masterpieces; we’re making containers. Using a mix of mark-making, collage, intuitive painting, and writing, you will transform a simple journal into a living document of your own resilience. Whether you are navigating a transition, processing stress, or simply looking for a way to belong to yourself again, this workshop offers a grounded, creative path back to your center.

Over the course of three weeks, we will focus on the three essential functions of a therapeutic art journal:

1. Emotional Expression
The journal is a safe place to discharge. When the nervous system is overwhelmed, we use the page to externalize what feels too big to carry.

2. Insight
Art has a funny way of telling us things our logical brain hasn’t figured out yet. By looking back at the images and patterns we create, we gain visual evidence of our inner worlds.

3. Record Keeping
Your journal becomes a tangible history of your survival and growth. It acts as a “witness” to your process, allowing you to see how far you’ve come.

Like all art-making, this Art Therapy Workshop may be therapeutic, but it is not a substitute for therapy. Privacy in the Art Place Studio classroom is not guaranteed.

All supplies will be provided, including a sketchbook to use as your art journal for this course. Bring your willingness to play, and your desire to connect and share!

🔗 Link in bio & at https://member.artleaguehvl.org/members/evr/reg_event.php?orgcode=ALHC&evid=62588075

08/25/2026

Stepping out of my comfort zone this year has looked like letting my work be seen.

As an art therapist and counselor, so much of my personal work and work with clients centers on process-based art-making, where the focus is purely on release, emotional processing, and the internal journey, completely detached from the final outcome. Process work builds resilience, leaves room for experimentation and play, and gives form to what words can’t reach.

But product-based art-making has its own unique power. Standing in front of a finished piece, and saying, "I made this, and it has a right to take up space," forces us to be vulnerable, own our work, and step into visibility.

Both practices have value. One nourishes the inner world, and the other allows us to share our truth with the outer world. Process heals us on the inside; product allows us to take up space on the outside.

Where are you in your creative practice: diving deep into the internal process, or stepping out of your comfort zone to share your work?

Here’s to trusting the process, taking up space, and showing our work this year! 🎨🖌

08/20/2026

Community Workshop available in Downtown Hendersonville!

Community Altered Book Workshop with Art Therapist, Angela Modzelewski

Date: 9/13/2026
Time: 10 am - 12 pm
Location: Art Place Gallery, 730 Locust Street, Hendersonville

Learn how to repurpose old books into works of art that tell your personal story. You'll also have the opportunity to create pages for a community-based altered book project that is designed to help community members process and express their experiences of Helene and hopes for the future. Share your stories in a safe, therapeutic space. No artistic experience required - just bring your imagination and a willingness to get crafty.

Turning the Page on Helene is a community-based art project that uses the transformative power of altered books to tell our communities’ stories of Hurricane Helene through the visual arts. The goal is to create a safe space for community members to share experiences of the hurricane as well as their hopes for rebuilding a better and brighter future. Participants help co-create community altered books by making pages that capture their experiences of the storm.

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08/19/2026

“We Need Your Art” Casual Book Chat

📅 Monday, 9/14/26
🕠 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
📍 Ecusta Cafe
(FREE EVENT!)

I borrowed this book from the library, read the first two pages, then immediately bought it. Amie McNee perfectly articulates everything

I’ve been sharing about the importance of having a creative practice.

You need to read this book!

And I want to discuss it with you!

Join us for an informal chat about the book, our insights, and how it’s impacting our creative lives.

Bring your book, your notes, your journal, and let’s dive in!

🔗 Registration Link in bio & at
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/we-need-your-art-casual-book-chat-tickets-1992520508478?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true

08/14/2026

My article has been published in this month's edition of The Envoy Guide!

Time and again, I’ve watched a beautiful shift happen in the healing process: as painful symptoms begin to lift, a natural sense of wonder takes their place. People inevitably grow curious about the world around them and instinctively look for ways to channel that curiosity through creative outlets.

Subscribe or Purchase the Digital Issue to learn more about the connection between our creative health and our overall well-being.

🔗 http://www.theenvoyguide.com/subscribe

08/11/2026

The Creative's Book Club meets again on 8/31! 🖌📚

Do you have a beautiful stack of art project books that are fantastic for inspiration but rarely make it off the shelf? You’re not alone! We love flipping through the hundreds of projects in every medium imaginable, but carving out the focused time to actually sit down and complete them often feels impossible.

Welcome to The Creatives Book Club! This won't be a traditional book club. Instead of simply reading a book about art and creativity, we'll meet once a month to actually do a project from one of the many arts & crafts books available. It’s the perfect way to explore new mediums, hold yourself accountable to your creative practice, and finally make those beautiful pages come to life!

We meet on the last Monday of the month, from 4-6pm, at the Art League Classroom in Hendersonville.

Join us for an evening of collective art-making, mingling, and shared discovery as we dive into a project from an inspiring book!

Bring your chosen art or craft book and the supplies you need to complete your project of choice.

📅 Our Creative Schedule (4:00 PM – 6:00 PM)
4:00 - 4:20: Set up your Materials & Settle In
4:20 - 5:30: Art-Making (project of choice from this month’s book)
5:30 - 5:40: Clean Up
5:40 - 6:00: Share & Mingle

Ready to trade reading for making? Admission is free, but register to save your seat!

🔗 https://member.artleaguehvl.org/members/evr/reg_event.php?orgcode=ALHC&evid=62572189

08/03/2026

When you think of a blank book, what comes to mind?

A sketchbook is typically for practice/play, experimenting, honing technical skills, or planning future masterpieces.

An artist book is a finished, deliberate work of art in itself.

An art journal, however, is a container for PROCESS.

When we transition into therapeutic art journaling, the book becomes a safe, non-judgmental series of pages where we pair visual art-making with raw, reflective writing. It is not about making something pretty; it is about externalizing the heavy, complicated thoughts we carry in our minds and bodies.

As you can see from these pages in my own journal, the writing doesn't have to be neat, readable, or even structured. Sometimes, scribbled words or raw sentences are layered right over paint, acting as both an emotional release and visual texture. By combining colors or imagery with writing, we engage different parts of our brain, unlocking a deeper capacity to process our stories and build resilience.

Want to explore this together? Register for our Therapeutic Art Journaling series, where we will use our journals and our favorite art supplies & writing tools to learn ways to build a deeper relationship with our art journals.

🔗 https://member.artleaguehvl.org/members/evr/reg_event.php?orgcode=ALHC&evid=62588075

08/01/2026

August's Collage, "Nature's Gifts" 🌱🪺

Address

307 N Main Street, STE 9-10
Hendersonville, NC
28792

Telephone

+18287854789

Website

http://www.mountaincreativearts.com/

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