Centering Sessions is Michigan’s first Group Clay Art Therapy Program.

Spring & Summer 2025

Centering Sessions Groups

We are now accepting applications for Spring & Summer 2025 Centering Sessions!
Centering Sessions is Michigan’s first Clay Art Therapy Group Program, facilitated by Kathryn Whitlock, MA, ATR-BC, LPC, CCTP-II, our clinical director.
All Centering Sessions Courses come with a studio shelf, open studio opportunities,
25 lbs of clay per 8 weeks, access to glaze firings and a wide array of
glazes, decorative slips, and underglazes, in addition to access to specially curated Centering Sessions Supplies provided by NBATS 30-45 minutes of Group Therapy weekly, starting at just   $50/week.

We help people
build insight into
who they are and
who they want to be
through…

  • Group members get access to 1 hour of group therapy per week in addition to their 3 hours of clay instruction. Our therapy sessions cover a broad range of topics, but our Core Goal is always to help people:

    1. Reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety.

    2. Increase the frequency and quality of experiences of mindfulness, contentment, and self-energy.

    3. Develop positive coping skills to help them live the life they want inside the studio and out in their everyday lives.

    4. Build Self-Awareness, Self-Compassion & Inward Empathy, and Self-Energy.

  • Centering Sessions strives to create a thriving community of learners in every community studio it calls home. We pride ourselves on creating a therapeutic learning environment that

    1. Builds member self-confidence.

    2. Encourages interpersonal growth.

    3. Provides a haven of safety and comfort within which group members can work towards healing unresolved interpersonal wounds.

    4. Emphasizes community and connection.

  • All CS courses include 3 hours of clay instruction with an experienced veteran of the ceramic arts weekly, tailored to help group members

    1. Find their unique artistic voice.

    2. Learn and improve technical skills (throwing / handbuilding / decoration / glazing)

    3. Learn how to leverage skills learned to enhance self-expression and connect inner experiences of thought, feeling, and fantasy to outer self-expression.