I create therapeutic art programs, performances, restorative workshops and community events for museums, galleries and arts organizations, as well as clinical settings and schools.  I work with a wide-range of clients including individuals, families and couples, teens and children on relationships and issues such as anxiety, depression and trauma.

Expressive Arts is an effective, creative and uplifting therapeutic modality that draws upon multiple arts disciplines, such as painting, movement, music, dance and poetry. Accessing multiple sensory pathways offers participants greater potential for meaningful growth and lasting change.  The discipline was co- founded in the 1970's by Steve and Ellen Levine, Paolo Knill and Shaun McNiff as an art practice and art-based therapy. The philosophy of the Expressive Arts embraces an interdisciplinary approach to the arts, integrating indigenous healing systems with contemporary theories such as phenomenology, feminism, postmodernism and eco-aesthetics.

Elizabeth Tobias, MA, is an Expressive Arts Therapist, Artist, Educator and Community Organizer. She is a specialist in Social Emotional Artistic Learning and works to build stronger, more creative and resilient children, families and communities. As a contemporary artist, Elizabeth draws upon multiple art disciplines to create socially engaged immersive installations. She works with schools, museums and non-profits to create customized programs, performances, workshops and events. 

Elizabeth currently serves on the Advisory Council of Arts+Culture San Diego. She is the recipient of numerous awards and has exhibited her films and work at museums and galleries throughout the world including Harvard University, Utah MOCA and Ping-Pong at Art Basel.  She received her MA in Psychology and her Professional Diploma from The Expressive Arts Institute. 

In 2019, Tobias received awards for her short documentary, "Survivor! 98 Second Stories, an advocacy project bringing awareness to the sexual assault epidemic. In 2014, she was awarded a Learning Innovation Fellowship from The National Science Foundation as part of a collaborative project to combat climate change. In 2012, she earned a Durfee ARC Grant for The Cupcake Project, a traveling exhibit about the hunger epidemic in America,  She develops many of her projects with Los Angeles Art Association.

She has worked with organizations including Vista Hill Parent Care, The San Diego Unified School District Department of Student Advocacy, La Jolla Elementary School, La Jolla High School, The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, The Expressive Arts Foundation and Arts for Learning.

I promise to be there with you every step of your journey. My goal is to support you in expressing yourself creatively and authentically as you grow from your struggles, heal from your pain, and move forward to where you want to be. You will be supported as you rediscover yourself and what you want to be doing with your life. I will bring my heart, my experience and my understanding to your journey and will provide you with a safe, nurturing and creative environment for your process.