About Dr. Lucia Capacchione
Dr. Capacchione, PhD, ATR, REAT, was an early pioneer (1970’s) in Journal Therapy, Inner Child Work & Expressive Arts Therapies. She was an art therapist, clinician, healer, author, artist, designer and pioneering creator of the Creative Journal Expressive Arts suite of therapeutic methods, captured in her 23 books.
Her first book, The Creative Journal: The Art of Finding Yourself was published in 1979. This foundational book introduced a novel blend of visual art and reflective writing to the growing area of journaling.
In the mid 1990’s, she served as a creativity and career consultant for many years to Walt Disney Imagineering, resulting in her co-authored book with Disney’s Peggy van Pelt, Putting Your Talent to Work, published in 1996.
During her extensive career, she developed a collection of unique therapeutic approaches for dealing with stress reduction, well-being, and creativity, including methods of drawing and writing with the non-dominant hand, and therapeutic collaging. She named the entire suite of methods Creative Journal Expressive Arts (CJEA) which includes: Creative Journal Method (1976), the Inner Child Reparenting Method (1976), the Whole-Brain Two-Handed Method (1976), the Body-Mind Healing-Arts Method (1980), and the VisioningⓇ Method (1994).
Dr. Capacchione’s Creative Journal Expressive Arts (CJEA) methods continue to be used internationally in mental health care, wellness support groups, addiction treatment, body-mind healing, life & career coaching, creativity enhancement, spiritual guidance, education, public school programs, and more.
Background
Born in Los Angeles in 1937, Lucia completed her bachelor’s degree as a fine artist at Immaculate Heart College under the supervision of renowned artist Sister Corita Kent. After graduating, she took a position as a graphic designer at the design office of Charles and Ray Eames, icons of mid-century modern design whose work can be seen at museums around the world. While there, she worked on groundbreaking exhibitions including Mathematica. She went on to become a Montessori educator and worked with the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
After the Watts riots in Los Angeles, CA. Lucia was recruited to create the first Head Start program, a state funded initiative. Her serigraph art created in the 60s and 70s was reproduced in the form of pop art posters and greeting cards by Luart and Hallmark, and have since become collectors’ items, even being featured in the period television drama Mad Men. She combined her educational and design skills to the invention of interactive toys for Mattel, including the Talking Picture Schoolhouse.
She discovered art therapy as the result of a misdiagnosed illness in the 1970s. While struggling with her illness, she picked up a sketchbook and began to draw and write and created an approach to heal herself. She went on to earn her ATR and PhD to become one of the leaders in Art Therapy and Expressive Arts Therapy.
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