[Self-Study] Beyond Physical Recovery: Art Therapy Approaches for Traumatic and Acquired Brain Injury (N/NY)

Corinna Costello PhD, LPCC (KY), ATR-BC, ATRS has been a licensed counselor and registered/board-certified art therapist for 30 years. She earned her PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision (2015) and a MAAT from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1994). Cori is an Assistant Professor in Art Therapy at the University of Louisville in their art therapy program. Cori’s research includes areas of creativity, mindfulness, brain injury, acquired injury, and recovery and resiliency experiences.

Alexandra Stewart is a second-year international graduate student in the University of Louisville’s M.Ed. Art Therapy program and serves as a Graduate Research Assistant in Neurorehabilitation and Arts in Health. She completed a nine-month, 600+ hour clinical internship in adult neurorehabilitation, working with individuals living with traumatic and acquired brain injury, stroke, spinal cord injury, aphasia, and co-occurring mental health concerns.

Her clinical work has included the development and facilitation of art therapy groups focused on grief and loss, identity reconstruction, emotional regulation, resilience, substance-use recovery, and participation in life. She also volunteers as a monthly art-based group facilitator with the Brain Injury Alliance of Kentucky and has more than 10 years of experience supporting and developing trauma- and pregnancy-loss programming. Her developing professional interests center on neurorehabilitation, grief and loss, identity reconstruction, resilience, and accessible art therapy interventions that support meaningful participation in daily life. She expects to graduate in December 2026. She is married and has 3 children and enjoys painting, photography, and gardening.