Alice Berry, a School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni (1980), has completed her Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology (Counseling Practice, 2014) at Roosevelt University, and is a                                              Licensed Professional Counselor.

She has a 30-year background in the arts as a fashion, textile and installation designer, entrepreneur and visual artist, and began her creative life in the 1980’s as a clothing designer, creating clothing and scarf lines sold in many stores and museums.

Around the turn of the century she began to create artworks that were more concerned with ideas of perception and social influence, some within the realm of fashion, some not. Exhibiting visual art works in galleries and art shows as well as professional venues, she created performances that explored the subjectivity of people’s perception of color on a social and emotional level.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwahXvsUUqg .

In 2011 Alice came to a point where she needed a change, personally and professionally, and her investigations into cognitive psychology as it relates to color perception led to a return to academia in pursuit of a degree in Clinical Psychology.

Seeking to create a “therapeutic moment” benefitting other artists as well as herself, she decided to concentrate her counseling practice on working artists and creatives (individually, group or institutionally), seeking ways to connect and sustain a practice that would benefit this misunderstood and underserved population. Her training included extended therapy with working creatives, and her experience with the art piece Tx~Art has revealed that the majority of people who seek out a therapeutic moment who are artists relate to the world differently and benefit from a therapist who understands their way of viewing the world. Because there is a dearth of counseling available for people with the particular needs and sensibilities of working creatives, providing therapy in this way can serve the artistic community and the city.

Going forward, Alice plans to concentrate on this underserved population, for which she has a particular affinity. Unfortunately, those who have insurance or can pay out of pocket is only a small segment of the community she wishes to serve, and so she has a sliding payment scale for artists and working creatives who may not be able to afford therapy on an ongoing basis.