Our Team
Cat Jannuzzi, MA, ATR-BC, LCAT and Elana Naclerio, MA, ATR-BC, LCAT met at Long Island University Post campus where they received their Master's degrees in Clinical Art Therapy. Cat and Elana interned at St. James Rehab and Healthcare Center on Long Island and realized they were both very skilled and passionate about creating and utilizing art therapy directives to assist adults and older adults. They continued to work at the rehab center where they became known as the "A-team" or "Dream Team". One does not have to spend much time with them to see the teamwork and natural partnership between them. It is their exceptional training and their compassion for people that inspires them to create and provide quality therapy services. They created Rain or Shine Art Therapy Services because through the rain and the shine, the good and bad times, they are there for their clients with unwavering commitment. Cat and Elana have shown hundreds of people their clinical skills and dedication to serving the needs of this population.
Elana Naclerio
MA / ATR-BC / LCAT
"Evidenced based research and my personal observations of the process of art therapy allows me to assure its efficacy.
As a therapist, I believe it's essential to be an active listener, observer, acknowledge my client's emotions, and help them express themselves through whatever therapeutic outlet fits best for that particular moment. My clients and I develop a plan of action together to best nourish and enhance strengths, relieve/manage symptoms, understand root of personal stressors, and to bring joy to ones life.
I believe that humans are multifaceted beings with physical, psychosocial, emotional, cultural, historical, financial, and spiritual domains of life influencing our thoughts, beliefs, decisions, and actions.
I am able to maintain an objective standpoint and implement my personal therapeutic style while being mindful of individuals multifaceted viewpoints. I utilize various psychological and creative approaches to address each individual specifically in order to best serve my clients.
I have been honored to work with a variety of populations and ages and see that all people have potential for growth. Everyone seeks the need to create, connect, reduce stress, and find joy and purpose. Social beliefs and constructs limit people from expressing their emotions, accessing their wisdom and creativity, and using their strengths in positive ways.
As children we innately utilize our imagination and hope, as adolescents we are constantly changing and growing, as adults we are forming our lives, and as we age we reflect and experience dramatic changes to our entire lives. Expressing our emotions, acknowledging our experiences, and transforming all that we are into something meaningful helps us to better understand ourselves, others, and the world around us. It can be just the thing that seperates surviving from truly living.
I have developed a special personal goal to influence older adults in positive ways. I am opposed to the belief that the elderly are no longer growing or creative during the later stages of their life. This social belief limits this population from services that can assist them to utilize their wisdom, express emotions verbally and non-verbally, learn from past experiences, and create new forms of coping and learning.
My goal is to use clinical art therapy modalities to help dissolve these historical and social constructs and assist individuals in improving their quality of life. "
Cat Jannuzzi
MA / ATR-BC / LCAT
"I believe there are many ways to use this type of therapy and that its not just for artists or people interested in art. I am always determined to find the best way to reach each specific client in the best way I can, whether they believe they are creative or not.
As an art therapist, I have seen beautiful transformations in client's lives come through engaging in the creative process whether that be through art, music, gardening, relaxation techniques and so on. I have had many, many people in groups or individual sessions say, "I've been holding on to this for ___ years!" (Usually many, many years.) It is part of my job to create that safe space for people to feel comfortable enough to embrace their own creativity and set these thoughts and issues free. We all hold images and memories in our minds and have associations to colors and symbols. Using art, music, etc. can be a gentler, yet fully satisfying way of putting things out there!
It has been my experience that many older adults at this stage of their life are reflecting on things that have happened to them. I feel it is part of my mission to help people find peace with past experiences and reminisce about the pleasant parts of their lives. I've helped people, that were thought to not be physically or mentally capable of much, find non-verbal ways of expression. So many times I can't count people have said "you think you're going to get this person to paint?!" Well isn't it worth a try? People are amazed at what can happen and I never underestimate the value of facilitating someone to let things out.
I am a natural listener, honest, very caring, patient, and sweet. I use my creativity to find the endless ways art and music can be brought into therapy. As an artist, I am very knowledgeable about art-making and have used art for my own healing. I love using music because I am a passionate music lover and have seen how using the lyrics or connecting to a song can be very therapeutic. I also love bringing humor into the therapy. I believe laughing and a space to allow ourselves to be "silly" can bring a lot of healing. Though I love to make people laugh, I can also be a serious and supportive therapist and can assist a person through dark times."
© 2019 by RAIN OR SHINE CREATIVE ARTS THERAPY SERVICES, PLLC
Our Offerings
Healthcare Setting:
We offer a variety of group therapy and individual services to help clients in residential facility centers cope with stressors, manage symptoms, and improve quality of life.
Home Setting:
We provide individual art therapy sessions for clients in the home setting. Art therapists assist clients to channel emotions, explore creativity, cope with stress and increase a positive sense of self all within the comfort of their home.
Community Centers:
We offer a variety of group therapy sessions for community centers, churches, synagogues, organizations, and libraries. Call us if your community is seeking supportive services to foster self-esteem, peer support, outlets of expression, opportunities to explore spirituality and belief systems, and coping tools to deal with grief, stress, depression, and anxiety.