Olena Darewych
Adjunct Faculty
I am a Registered Psychotherapist (RP) in Ontario, Registered Canadian Art Therapist (RCAT), educator and researcher. I completed my PhD in expressive therapies at Lesley University in 2014 and my MA in Marital and Family Therapy, with an emphasis in art therapy psychology, at Notre Dame de Namur University in 1999. I earned a BSc (Honours) in Zoology from the University of Toronto in 1996.
As an art therapist, I have experience working with children, adolescents, and older adults in a variety of settings in Australia, Canada, the United States and Ukraine. My passion is conducting self-development workshops for institutionalized orphans in Ukraine. In my therapy sessions, clients make their own life meaningful through the act of creating with a variety of sensory stimulating resources and connecting with their mind, body and soul. Through image-making, clients generate clear and tangible visions of their past, present and future life as well as goal-oriented pathways. In my hands-on experiential courses, students undergo self-discovery and learn through the arts.
My most recent research explores digital technology as a new creative medium and clinical intervention tool for adults with developmental disabilities. Currently, I am the art therapist at The Salvation Army Lawson Ministries Hamilton. I am a past-president of the Canadian Art Therapy Association. My personal creative outlets are dance and iconography.
Research / Areas of Expertise
- art therapy
- autism
- expressive therapies
- spiritual pathways
- Darewych, O. H (2020). Positive psychology arts activities: Creative tools for therapeutic practice and supervision. London, UK: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. https://www.amazon.ca/Positive-Psychology-Arts-Activities-Therapeutic/dp/1785928368
- Darewych, O. H. (2019). Positive arts interventions: Creative tools helping mental health students flourish. In L. E. van Zyl & S. Rothmann (Eds.), Theoretical Approaches to Multi-cultural Positive Psychological Interventions (pp. 431-444). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20583-6_19 https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-20583-6_19
- Riedel Bowers, N. & Darewych, O.H. (2019). Expressive Arts: Instruments for individual and community change. In P. Dunn (Ed.), Holistic healing: Theories, practices and social change (pp. 181-197). Toronto, CA: Canadian Scholars' Press.
- Darewych, O. H. (2018). Digital devices as creative expressive tools for adults with autism. In C. Malchiodi (Ed.) The Handbook of Art Therapy and Digital Technology. London, UK: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
- Darewych, O. H., Newton, N., & Farrugie, K.W. (2018). Investigating imagination in adults with autism with art-based assessments. Journal on Developmental Disabilities, 23(2), 27-36. http://oadd.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/41025-JoDD-23-2-v12f-27-36-Darewych-et-al.pdf
- Darewych, O. H., & Riedel Bowers, N. (2017). Positive arts interventions: Creative clinical tools promoting psychological well-being. International Journal of Art Therapy: Inscape, 23(2), 62-69. doi:10.1080/17454832.2017.1378241 http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/G6ZwuFXTg3Xy4q4Skt98/full
- Darewych, O.H., Brown Campbell, K. (2016). Measuring future orientations and goals with the bridge drawing: A review of the global research. Canadian Art Therapy Association Journal, 29 (1), 30-37. doi:10.1080/08322473.2016.1166010
- Darewych, O.H., Carlton, N.R., & Farrugie, K.W. (2015). Digital technology use in art therapy with adults with developmental disabilities. Journal on Developmental Disabilities, 21(2), 96-102.
- Darewych, O.H. (2014). The bridge drawing with path art-based assessment: Measuring meaningful life pathways in higher education students (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (UMI No. 3615961.)
- Darewych, O. (2013). Building bridges with institutionalized orphans in Ukraine: An art therapy pilot study. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 40(1), 85-93. doi: 10.1016/j.aip.2012.10.1001.
- Darewych, O. (2013). Seeing oneself through art. In Chang, J. (Ed), Creative interventions with children: A transtheoretical approach, 35-39. Calgary: Family Psychology Press.
- Darewych, O. (2009). The effectiveness of art psychotherapy on self-esteem, self-concept, and depression in children with glaucoma. The Canadian Art Therapy Association Journal, 22 (2), 2-17.
- Darewych, O. (2009). Art Therapy travels to Ukraine: Brief group therapy with orphans. The Canadian Art Therapy Association Journal, 22 (1), 11-20.