We had the good fortune of connecting with Logan Brantley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Logan, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
When I became a clinical social worker, I was told that burn-out and overworking were the standard in our field. That the more you worked = the more you cared. I get told this about being an artist too – all about the hustle! I now know this to be pretty toxic. I always come back to the airplane oxygen analogy – put your oxygen on first before you help those around you. It’s pretty impossible to help people if you don’t have the resources to take a deep breath on your own!

Life is all about balance, and balance is a verb. What I mean is that balance is not something we achieve and are done with. Balance is something we’re constantly in relationship to, tending to and evaluating what makes it happy. Balance can be compiled of different things at different times in our life based off of what we need in that moment. There’s no one recipe!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I value psychotherapy as a “creative” career path just as much as my painting. Being a psychotherapist requires you to be flexible and curious with your content, just like painting. The inner landscape of an individual is complicated and layered like a painting. Through my artistic background, I believe that I am better able to support flexible thinking and illuminate what “better” may look like when sitting with others internal worlds.

Through my continued expertise in understanding the aesthetic response, my clients are able to develop additional “languages” through the senses and art form. When individuals are empowered to express themselves beyond cognitive, verbal language, they are able to feel more heard and seen in their emotional nervous system.

The more that I learn and implement from the expressive arts, the more that I am able to notice how other methods of healing (like brain spotting, somatic work, parts-work, solution-focused therapy, etc.) are embedded underneath the umbrella of expressive arts therapies.

If you’re curious about what this looks like, feel free to join my patreon page (patreon.com/soulworkshealing) where you can try-out various expressive arts techniques and get free downloads of mental health inspired art each month!

You can also follow along on my instagram and website to stay up to date with upcoming offerings in PB/Birdrock!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There’s one routine I make sure to do with all first-timers to San Diego. First, we go grab breakfast (Los Dos for breakfast burritos, Hermosa Surf for a smoothie, or La Clochette for a delicious cappuccino). Next, we take it to go to eat at Kate Sessions park.

Kate Sessions gives the quintessiantial view of all of San Diego’s many pockets of life from above, while also immersing you in San Diego’s personality by being among many happy dogs, mature parks and friendly faces.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
In being an artist and a psychotherapist, I have sometimes felt tunneled into one identity or the other. The Expressive Arts Institute (EAI) of San Diego, and specifically Judith Greer-Essex, is teaching me that you can be both. I am currently a student in their program to become a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist (REAT) recognized by IEATA, in addition to my independent license as a psychotherapist.

The Expressive Arts Institute celebrates the beauty in creation and community. They offer workshops, Master’s programs and intensives to educate folks about the power of the expressive arts.

Website: soulworkshealing.org

Instagram: soulworks_healing

Other: Art page: @lb_artistries / Loganabrantley.com Expressive arts workshops & psychotherapy: @soulworks_healing / soulworkshealing.org

Image Credits
Copyright UNC Wilmington (image credit Bradley Pearce) for photo of art exhibit Headshot – Nina Wilder (ninawilder.com)

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutSocal is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.