Maria Teresa Hernandez 

Maria Teresa is a Registered Canadian Art Therapist and a member of the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario. She has been an artist for over 40 years and brings a wealth of experience to her therapeutic work.

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For 11 years, she facilitated art therapy groups at the YWCA Toronto for women and gender-diverse individuals. She worked with participants in the Breakthrough program—supporting those who experienced violence—and in the Choices for Living program for individuals living with mental health challenges. Her approach integrates dialogue, expressive arts interventions, mindfulness, and body-based awareness practices.

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Maria also serves as a clinical supervisor for students from the Toronto Art Therapy Institute (TATI) and the CREATE Institute (Centre for Expressive Arts Therapy Education). As a faculty member at TATI, she teaches graduate-level courses in Mindfulness & Art Therapy and Arts-Based Clinical Supervision.

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She is the creator of the Mindfulness Through Creativity program, offered through The Mindfulness Centre in Oakville, Ontario. Her work highlights how mindfulness and creative expression are vital tools for trauma-informed therapy and social transformation.

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Maria Teresa earned a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the National University of Mexico (UNAM) and a BA in Graphic Design from the Metropolitan University (UAM), Mexico. In 2011, she completed the Graduate Diploma Program in Art Therapy at the Toronto Art Therapy Institute. She is a certified yoga teacher and has been studying and practicing mindfulness at The Mindfulness Centre for nearly 20 years, integrating mindfulness into all her art therapy groups.

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Maria is a Level 1 Sensorimotor Psychotherapy graduate from the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute, where she also assisted in the Level 1 Training Program. In 2020, she completed the SoulCollage® Facilitator Training and has also completed Levels 1 and 2 of the Applied Polyvagal Theory in Yoga course with Dr. Arielle Schwartz and Dr. Stephen Porges.

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Maria has participated in over 21 solo exhibitions nationally and internationally, including at three major museums in Mexico: La Tallera National Institute of Fine Arts, Casa Trotsky, and Casa del Poeta. Her solo show Transient Illuminations: Where Light Breaks Through the Fractures was held at Propeller in June 2024. She has also taken part in numerous group exhibitions. Since 2011, she has been a member of the Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts in Toronto’s Queen Street West Gallery District.

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Maria Teresa’s Vision

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The practice of mindfulness has profoundly shaped Maria Teresa's personal life and professional work, both as an artist and an art therapist. She views the creative process as inherently mindful—an act that requires shifting attention non-judgmentally to the present moment, allowing experience to flow through the pencil as a channel of visual expression.

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Attuned to the subtle rhythms of her body and the gentle dance of breath within, she finds solace in the steady support beneath her—like the shifting sands of the shore under each wave. Amidst uncertainty and impermanence, she embraces the fluid nature of life, trusting that everything unfolds in its own time and space.

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Maria Teresa believes that creativity doesn’t emerge from acquiring theories or information, but from shedding the layers that obscure our natural expression. With each brushstroke, it's as if a scar is gently lifted from the spirit—revealing, releasing, and transforming. Like the alchemist with their elements, the artist engages not only in the transformation of the artwork, but of the self.