CU Denver Visual Arts Thesis Exhibition

Jacenta Irlanda (she/her/hers)

MA, LPC, ATR

Art Therapist and SOMB Full Operating Treatment Provider, Evaluator, & Clinical Supervisor

Jacenta L. Irlanda, MA, LPC, ATR (she/her) is an art therapist and clinical director at Specialized Offender Services, LLC (SOS). Jacenta completed her master's degree at Naropa University in Boulder, CO in transpersonal art therapy in 2017. Since her time at Naropa, Jacenta has been dedicating herself to learning and applying decolonization practices in therapeutic spaces. With a love of pop culture, she integrates stories and dreams into therapeutic healing spaces. She started off as an illustrative artist who worked at conventions under her own art business Centalynn Artworks and formulated art commissions related to mental health before going to school to become an art therapist.

She was invited to participate in events at the Denver Art Museum to offer her self-created art therapy intervention The Warrior Embodiment to provide empowerment to visitors. She was invited to be a guest speaker to Naropa University’s Jungian class to discuss how to integrate superhero psychology with art therapy modalities and in 2023 she was invited to teach the Art Therapy Practicum Counseling Graduate class at Naropa University. She has given presentations about art therapy, superhero psychology, tackling heteronormativity in sexual offense specific treatment, and many more. She appeared on podcasts to discuss using superhero psychology in mental health practices with art therapy. She was also a board member of the Colorado Art Therapy Association (CO-ATA) and was the president of CO-ATA for two years. She formulated her art therapy private practice Creative Core Therapy, LLC in 2022 where she meets with private clients and is working on expanding her business to include master classes for the public.

Currently, she is a licensed professional counselor, clinical supervisor, evaluator, and clinical director who provides art therapy and transpersonal psychotherapy with adults who committed a sexual offense and are on probation. She was the first internship student at SOS to offer art therapy to this population and was given the task to integrate art therapy into their therapy structure as well as offer presentations on art therapy. The Sex Offense Management Board (SOMB) has invited her in to help make changes to how therapy is done with adults who commit sexual offenses and has accepted her as a presenter at their Annual Conferences in 2021 and 2023. She has given trainings through the SOMB for fellow treatment providers across the state. She strives to create change in therapeutic spaces by continuing to develop her understanding, building community, and giving trainings to other mental health professionals to help promote healing in the community and in systems.