Charmaine Husum

Charmaine Husum DKATI, RTC, CT, runs a private Art Therapy and Counselling practice (Centre of the Heart) on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani), the Tsuut'ina, the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations, and the Métis people of Calgary Alberta, Canada, seeing clients in person and online both regionally and internationally.  She is also an Artist, Kundalini Yoga teacher and trained in the somatic approach of Integrative Body Psychotherapy and Reiki. 

Helping others find their personalized way to healing through art psychotherapy, mindfulness and body focused approaches is the foundation of her work.  Her approach to healing is within a Humanistic, Feminist lens that believes the power of healing lies within the individual.  She specializes in working with trauma and symptoms of PTSD and C-PTSD as well as Autism, Depression, Anxiety, Eating Disorders, Addiction and other mental health symptoms. She also works as an integration specialist for people needing support after psychedelic or plant medicine journeys using art therapy, meditation and transpersonal counselling.

Believing  in the benefits making art has to transcend the pains life can bring, Charmaine's empathetic nature offers compassion and acceptance to those that cross her path. With passion and conviction to create a better world,  her work has contributed to healing for groups and individuals. 

Her current research enthusiasms are in neuroplasticity, neuroscience, epigenetics, mystical integration and intergenerational trauma; on which she is currently writing a book and creating online courses and programs.

Goals & Approaches
I am not separate from the work I do. Art, creativity and mindfulness practices have been a part of my own healing and I believe in these modalities to help others as well.

My personal and professional life has followed a path of creativity, hard work and social justice since 1995.  Before pursuing my dream of accreditation as an Art Therapist and Counsellor, I worked on feature films both on and off set as an artist painting scenery and props (www.sceniccharms.com). In this role of heightened creativity and fast pace, working with some of the most talented and prolific artists, directors, musicians and actors of our time, I was  quickly made aware of how creativity could shift the path, direction and energy of a project to either succeed or fail. What I saw was that when people were engaged creatively instead of with a  focus on egoic pursuits, magic was made.

​I have always believed in magic and use the idea of etheric forces guiding our path in my sessions when appropriate. As a child and teenager it was art and poetry that propelled me through hard times in life. I feel fortunate to have had art and creativity be such a large part of my journey and now as an Art Therapist, I revel in how this modality works to change the lives of others.

My goals are to help others find their own path to healing through the use of art and therapeutic approaches with mindfulness and body centered awareness.  As a Kundalini yoga teacher, my understanding of the body and breath holding keys to healing is central.

​Using the making of art, sand tray and play therapy, clients are invited to uncover the layers of experiences in life to push through obstacles and heal.