Profiles

Alex E. Dryden, PsyD, LCP, LPC, ATR-BC

Alex E. Dryden, LCP, LPC, ATR-BC is a licensed clinical psychologist and registered, board certified art therapist with over 22 years of experience in the field of art therapy and mental health. He is an Alumni of the Graduate Art Therapy program at Eastern Virginia Medical School, graduating from the program in 1995. Dr. Dryden earned his doctorate in psychology through the Virginia Consortium Program in Clinical Psychology, and completed his pre-doctoral internship at the Institute for Child and Family Health and postdoctoral fellowship at Jackson Memorial Mental Health Hospital, where he conducted art therapy and play therapy in English and in Spanish. Dr. Dryden’s work experience is varied and from a developmental/lifespan perspective, as his clinical work with has been with children, adolescents, adults and families. His work has taken place in psychiatric hospitals, residential treatment centers, veterans administration hospitals, juvenile detention centers, public schools and university settings, as well as in community mental health centers, homeless shelters, HIV services centers and in patients’ homes. His work has focused on crisis intervention, trauma intervention and resolution, LGBTQ+ specific mental health, identity exploration, cultural expression and transformational learning. Dr. Dryden has provided supervision for art therapy, counseling and psychology interns, art therapists in training and residents in counseling for the last 17 years.

Dr. Dryden’s research areas have focused on perceptions of masculinity, feminism, intersections of identity, sexual orientation and expression, gender identity and posttraumatic stress disorder in combat affected military as well as civilian populations. Dr. Dryden has co-authored book chapters on the topic of intersectionality, feminism (specifically with women of color), and the psychological experiences of racism.