about us

Nadia Jenefsky and Drena Fagen are friends, artists, and licensed creative arts therapists. Together they founded ARTSPA in Williamsburg, Brookyn in July 2005. They cordially invite you to one of the only public art studios in New York to offer creative expression, self-exploration, and art psychotherapy for artists and non-artists alike.

drena fagen lmsw, lcat, atr-bc, ccls
licensed art therapist & social worker
Drena is a graduate of the Pratt Institute masters program in Creative Arts Therapy and the NYU School of Social Work. She is an adjunct instructor at New York University in the graduate Art Therapy department and an adjunct lecturer at the School of Social Work. In addition to partnering with Nadia to create ArtSpa, Drena facilitates art therapy groups for children and teens recovering from sexual abuse on a grant from the World Childhood Foundation at the Northside Center for Child Development, Inc. During the school year she consults with Counseling in Schools, Inc, a not-for-profit that provides much needed therapy services in underserved public schools throughout New York City. Drena recognizes the power of the art process in relieving both traumatic and daily stress. She holds an undergraduate degree in Graphic Design from the University of Florida. Her personal art runs the gamut from other-worldly abstract paintings to realistic portraits.

nadia jenefsky mps, lcat, atr-bc
licensed art therapist
Nadia received her Masters in Art Therapy from Pratt Institute and has ten years experience providing individual and group art therapy. Nadia has worked with physically ill children, adolescents in acute psychiatric settings, juvenile offenders, adults with mental illness, developmental delays, as well as individuals experiencing creative blocks, relationship issues, depression, anxiety and eating disorders. Nadia also holds a BA in Film and Communications from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. In addition to her background in film and video, Nadia has a special interest in women’s autobiographical comics, and has been making her own cartoon art for over 15 years. Nadia also has extensive experience mentoring other therapists in their professional development, and is a visiting instructor at L’Atelier, an art therapy training program in Geneva, Switzerland.

about art therapy
The field of art therapy is founded in a long history of art being used for psychological healing. Typically, psychotherapy is a space for clients to explore problems without judgment. Art therapy adds another dimension to the self-exploration by providing a concrete tool, the created art object, allowing an examination of life patterns through metaphor and symbolic expression. Art therapy is a licensed field of practice in New York state. Like clinical social workers, counselors, and marriage & family therapists, a licensed art therapist must have a Masters degree, pass a board exam, and have at least 1500 hours of post-graduate supervised experience. For more information about the practice of art therapy visit: www.arttherapy.org