Caroline Peterson, MA, ATR-BC, LPC, Director of the Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy (MBAT) program for Cancer Patients

Ms. Peterson, a licensed professional counselor (LPC) in the state of Pennsylvania, is a board certified art therapist and an advanced level instructor in mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). She received training from the originator of MBSR, Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, and she has completed advanced teacher training offered at the Center for Mindfulness at University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Ms. Peterson has combined these skills to create mindfulness-based art therapy (MBAT), an intervention for persons with cancer and other medical illnesses designed to decrease stress, increase quality of life and enhance natural creativity. Ms. Peterson, a Research Associate at Thomas Jefferson, is a key member of the research team that is testing MBAT as part of a research grant from the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute. In addition, she is as a provider of individual mindfulness consultations, to which she brings her clinical training, for the Brind Center’s MBSR program,.

Ms. Peterson received her MA in Creative Arts Therapy from Drexel/Hahnemann University in Philadelphia. She has authored or co-authored several publications, including a number of peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. Prior to coming to Jefferson she worked in addictions and with chronic schizophrenics in an inpatient psychiatric hospital. An artist for most of her adult life, she is the founding chair of the Center for Community Arts in Cape May, New Jersey and serves as an ex-officio member of the CCA board of trustees. She is a professional member of the American Art Therapy Association (AATA) and the Society for Arts in Healthcare (SAH). Her direct office line is 215-503-0269.