Jayashree George
Art Therapy
Dr. Jayashree George is the current graduate program director of the art therapy counseling graduate program at SIUE. With a background in fine arts and art history from India, as well as a background in art therapy and marriage and family therapy from the U.S., Dr. George's clinical work focuses on trauma work using somatic experiencing and attachment-based couples therapy. She has worked with individuals, couples and families with a variety of issues including domestic violence, infidelity, post-traumatic stress and familial disharmony. Over the past decade or so, Dr. George's research interests have been centered in issues of diversity in clinical practice. Her most recent articles are listed below. Dr. George is a proponent of non-violence in intimate partnerships, practices couples therapy within a feminist, anti-oppressive frame, and is interested in discernment counseling for couples on the brink. Dr. George's current art practice explores the plight of elephants as they are blamed for their wildness and are oppressed in multiple ways. She harnesses this research to think about historical perspectives that may be useful in the present and can impact mental health in profound ways. She also paints en plein air to document the beauty of the natural world as well as the catastrophes. By doing so, she hopes to bear witness to the grief that accompanies climate change and environmental degradation.
- George, J. (2026). Attuning to generational relational wisdom through elephants. Murmurations: Journal of Transformative Systemic Practice, 10(1), 100-117.
https://murmurations.cloud/index.php/pub/article/view/344/223
- George, J., & Bakre, S. (in press). The formula for being a good daughter: Unravelling caste, race, and patriarchy in clinical work. In S. S. Poulsen, G. Seshadri, & R. Natarajan-Tyagi, (Eds.). Systemic therapy with South Asian populations: Innovative interventions. AFTA SpringerBriefs in Family Therapy.
- George, J., Hinz, L. D., Wong, T. Y. W., & Miana, M. (2025). Reinforcing the neurobiological foundation of art therapy assessment and treatment: integrating ETC and SIBAM. Art Therapy, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2025.2517436
- Wong, T. Y. W., Goerdt, M. N., George, J., & Green, J. Y. (2025). Identity and belongingness of Asian art therapy educators: critical art-based collaborative autoethnography. International Journal of Art Therapy, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/17454832.2025.2520821
- George, J. (2024). Elephants, ecological grief, and art therapy. Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 41(3), 118-127. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2024.2339014
- Yancey, G. B., George, J., Joo, K. C., Liu, W. (2022). Help seeking attitudes and behavior in India, the United States, and China. Emporia State Research Studies, 52(1), 3-16.
- George, J., Yancey, G. B., Sharpe, D. A., & Moore, A. K. (2021). Taking a pulse of the American Art Therapy Association’s values: A study of a nonprofit organization in conflict. The Psychologist-Manager Journal, 24(1), 48-83. https://doi.org/10.1037/mgr0000109
- George, J. (2020). History matters: Stories about identity, culture and art therapy. In M. Kitazawa (Ed.). Asian art therapists: Navigating art, diversity and culture (pp. 9-23). Routledge.
- George, J., & Stith, S. M. (2014). An updated feminist view of intimate partner violence. Family Process,53 (2), 179-193.
