Ana Petkovic Gale

Looking back at her life, many of her experiences have been building blocks into the world of art therapy, Ana Petkovic Gale realized.

Health and wellness has always been a part of Gale’s life. Growing up in Serbia she played club volleyball, and was eventually recruited to play in Wyoming at Sheridan College in 1998, where she earned a degree in textiles and design. This was her calling, she thought, and she became certified as an assistant coach at the college. Eventually, Gale found her way into elementary schools as an assistant in the special education program.

“After that it was almost like building steps [towards art therapy],” Gale said.

Building experiences 

During her time working with special education students and at a non traditional nursing home as an activities director, Gale remembers thinking about what services she could provide and learning about different challenges people face. When Covid came, things slowed to a halt and Gale was back in Sheridan, this time at Anytime Fitness, again she was building, she said.

“I love learning about mental health. I know that physical fitness is something that is very beneficial, as we all know, we should all work out, we should all eat healthy,” Gale said. “But sometimes it's so easy to do some things, and why are we not doing them? Well, sometimes it's just within our own walls we're struggling with some things.”

Gale was going through a difficult time and she noticed it was art, which had fallen to the wayside,  that brought her joy. She is here to help people, she said. Gale has many friends who are veterans and through her experience with special needs students she began to think of art as something that could be therapeutic beyond the art parties she hosts.

Gale began doing paint and sip parties through her company 307 Art LLC, but wanted to do more, she said. After looking into it she found she could get her art therapy certification without going back to college.

Providing release

After Covid, “a lot of people kind of struggled getting back … sometimes those social skills, we got comfortable with being on our phones or on computers and even struggling, maybe with some addictions that we just didn't know how to handle being separated,” Gale said.

She received her certification and really enjoyed learning about the different insights that can be gleaned from someone’s art. 

She has not yet begun promoting her certification, as she only received it in the beginning of November, and has been pondering what that would look like, she said. Sessions have to be tailored to different clients, a special needs students may look different from someone who has dementia.

“And then, you know, prior to setting any sessions, getting to know what their likes are, what is their family,  just feeling really comfortable before even we start any work,” she said. 

Adding this is different from working with a client with past addictions who has maybe been referred by a counselor.

“I would be more than happy to be part of that, or even  like a group therapies .. so it really varies to who the client is and what their needs are,” Gale said. 

Individuals in art therapy are looking for a feeling of safety, where they can express themselves without judgment, Gale said.

As an example, if she was working with a client and talking about family, Gale would take note of who is in the portrait. If this patient leaves themself out it may indicate depression or a sense of not belonging.

This can be beneficial to veterans and law enforcement officers too, she noted.

“We could never relate to the police officers and understand what they're going through. But if I can, you know, provide some sort of ease to their day at some point … that was the idea behind the certification that I provide something that would help,” she said.