Mental Health Intern
Uses She/They pronoun
Claire has a pending Washington Department of Health Registered Counselor Agency Affiliated License. (#CG70054961)
Claire’s path to working with eating disorders has been deeply shaped by her lived experience of finding connection, safety, and self-expression through art and movement. As a queer, neurodivergent artist, dancer, and art therapy student, Claire has spent much of their life exploring what it means to live in a body—especially in a world that often teaches disconnection from it. Through both personal healing and community engagement, they have come to believe that creativity, embodiment, and relational care are powerful tools for recovery and liberation.
Before beginning her master’s in Counseling and Art Therapy at Pennsylvania Western University, Claire worked as a high school English teacher, supporting students in telling their stories, finding their voices, and expressing emotions through writing and discussion. That experience revealed how profoundly art and language can uncover the inner world—and how healing it can be to be truly seen and heard. Their experiences in body liberation and dance communities have also shown how movement can be both grounding and freeing—a way to rebuild trust in one’s body after pain, trauma, or disconnection. Claire views recovery as an act of reclamation: of one’s voice, body, and aliveness.
At Opal, Claire is honored to bring these passions together by supporting clients in rediscovering their inner voice, exploring creative expression, and finding gentleness toward themselves in the recovery process. Her work is guided by the belief that healing is not about perfecting ourselves, but about coming home to who we already are.
Professional interests:
Art therapy, BIPOC issues, creative expression, dance/movement, DBT, depression/anxiety, diet recovery/chronic dieting, disability mental health, LGBTQIA+ issues/gender affirming care, religious trauma, sex/kink/non-monogamy positivity, somatic psychotherapy, student health, systems of oppression, trauma, women’s health