Emma JM. Ates, RP, RCAT, DTATI, CCT
Emma JM. Ates is the developer of Contemplative Creative Therapy (CCT), Contemplative Bio-Based Therapy (CBBT) multimodal and holistic treatment models, and some CCT specializations: Contemplative Photo Collage (CPC), Contemplative Photo Therapy (CPT), Contemplative Brush Method (CBM). She is the founder and director of the Center for Contemplative Creative Science (CCCS). Ates’s work integrates Buddhist psychology, Dharma art and Miksang contemplative photography with art therapy, contemplative science, and embodied creativity.
She is a psychotherapist and art therapist in private practice who draws upon Buddhist psychology, contemplative psychotherapy, and contemplative creative therapy (CCT) in her work with adults and couples. Her most recent work focuses on promoting gradual and empowering embodied mind training in the CCT process of transforming cognitive and affective suffering. Her research focused on Contemplative Creative Therapy and Contemplative Bio-Based Therapy models and treatment using contemplative multimodalities with embodied mind training in psychotherapy
Based in Toronto, where she lives, and practices, Ates has been an instructor for the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies Applied Mindfulness Meditation certificate (course: Mindfulness & Art Therapy) and the Toronto Art Therapy Institute. She has been asked to develop and facilitate workshops on mental health and contemplative creative approaches with Glendon York University (2020/2021), the Mindful Society Global Institute (2021/2016), and Sick Kids Hospital Toronto.
Emma is a registered psychotherapist (CRPO), a registered Canadian art therapist (CATA), a contemplative creative therapist (CCCS) with over 20 years of meditation practice, and ten years as a contemplative creative instructor. She has been in practice since 2017 as a mental health therapist and provided brief therapy for youth, adults, and couples at the Centre Francophone du Grand Toronto. Since January 2021, she has been in private practice (part-time) and offers services in both English and French at the Mindful Maelstrom Clinic in downtown Toronto.
Emma received a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from Aix-en-Provence University in France, and she holds a Master Level Diploma in Art Therapy (DTATI) from the Toronto Art Therapy Institute (TATI). She completed training and certifications in contemplative psychotherapy and compassion-based resilience training (CBRT) with the Nalanda Institute; applied mindfulness meditation at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies; and trained in Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT).
PUBLICATION
Book (2017): Contemplative Photo Therapy: Group Intervention for Youth with Anxiety Disorders
MEDITATION & CONTEMPLATIVE ARTS
Emma took refuge in the Tibetan Mahayana lineage in 1999 in France and continues her Buddhist studies and practice to this day in Canada with Gaden Choling for the West and the Paramita Center. For over 10 years, she has been a contemplative arts practitioner. I was trained with Nalanda Miksang Contemplative Photography (level I, II, III, Absolute Eye & Maitri Space Awareness) with John McQuade. I am trained in Shambhala Art with Steven and Anne Saitzyk, and in Brushwork and Big Brush Mind with Barbara Bash. I was also introduced to Ikebana, E-Tegami with Sachiko Hata Pereklita; and Sumi-E (brush painting) with Hiroshi Yamamoto (Hakuho) at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Center of Toronto.