Profiles

Matthew G. Bernier, MCAT, ATR-BC

Matthew Bernier, MCAT, ATR-BC, is a registered, board-certified art therapist. He is an Associate Professor in the School of Health Professions and an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.  He has been a full-time faculty member in the Graduate Art Therapy & Counseling Program since 1990.

He obtained his Master of Creative Arts in Therapy degree in 1983 from Hahnemann University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has art therapy experience with children, adolescents, adults, and families, especially those who have experienced domestic violence or physical and/or sexual abuse.

His academic interests include: processes, materials, and theoretical approaches of art psychotherapy; the Expressive Therapies Continuum; the Art Therapy-Projective Imagery Assessment; symbolism; art history; psychopathology; theories of personality; child and adolescent art therapy; therapeutic puppetry; and expressive therapies and social change.

Mr. Bernier regularly serves on professional committees and boards. He has served as a trustee and the vice president of the Puppeteers of America and as a director of the American Art Therapy Association. 

Mr. Bernier has presented locally, nationally, and abroad on a variety of topics including domestic violence, the role of puppet play in child development, and therapeutic puppetry. He has published in books and professional journals. He is the co-editor of Puppetry in education and therapy: Unlocking doors to the mind and heart (2005).