Lauren Zeltzer ATR-BC, LCAT Psychotherapist and Art Therapist
Virtual Art Lab: Your Weekly Creative Reset for Calm, Clarity, and Connection
A guided open studio for adults (anti-creatives, artists and everyone in between)—because sometimes the smartest way forward starts with making a mark.
Traditional wellness approaches can only take us so far. At Art Lab, I guide
participants in a creative process to tap into their calmness, curiosity, compassion,
confidence, courage, clarity, creativity and connectedness.
Art Lab goes beyond therapeutic recreation or refining art skills—it’s about
reconnecting with the fullness of your best self to supercharge your work, relationships & self-growth. No art experience needed. Just a willingness to explore.
Make Space to Make Art, Reset Your Mind and Reconnect with Yourself
Life moves fast. Stress builds. Insight gets buried under to-do lists and expectations.
Art Lab is a weekly, drop-in creative space where you can slow down, breathe deeper, and reconnect—with yourself and with others.
This is not an art class, and it’s not clinical therapy. It’s something uniquely in-between: a guided wellness experience designed to help you regulate mood, access perspective, and create space for your inner voice to reemerge.
No art experience is required. Just show up—with whatever materials you have—and let the process do the work.
Who It’s For
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Artists who’ve lost touch with their creativity
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“Non-artists” who think they’re not creative (but are curious)
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People managing burnout, overstimulation, or decision fatigue
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Professionals and visionaries who want to think in new ways
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Anyone looking for a gentle, grounded, non-judgmental space
Cost: $40/Art Lab Session
Calmer and More Regulated
The act of creating art—especially in a guided, low-pressure space—naturally supports nervous system regulation. Through focused movement and sensory engagement, Art Lab helps shift you out of overwhelm and into presence.
Reconnected to Your Creativity
Whether you’re a lifelong artist or someone who hasn’t picked up a pencil in years, this space invites you to tap into the creative part of your brain that’s often buried under stress and productivity. It’s not about making “good” art—it’s about making space for your ideas, your voice, and your intuition.
Feel Less Alone
Even though the group is virtual, the experience of quietly creating alongside others—whether cameras are on or off—fosters subtle connection. You don’t have to speak to feel seen. The shared act of showing up and making something is enough.
Feel Grounded in Your Body & Mind
Art-making pulls you out of your head and back into your hands. Through texture, color, shape, and gesture, you reconnect to your body and breath. This grounded awareness can stay with you long after the session ends.
Why Join Our Online Art Lab?
Whole-Brain Activation
Art doesn’t just relax you—it lights up areas of your brain that traditional problem-solving leaves untouched. By engaging your senses, emotions, and cognition all at once, art-making creates space for insight, clarity, and nervous system regulation.
Creative Nervous System Reset
This isn’t just “self-care”—it’s recalibration. The process of making art in a low-pressure space helps shift you out of stress response and into a grounded, restorative state. It’s like giving your inner world time to breathe.
Connection Without Pressure
You’re not alone here—even if you choose not to talk or share your art, creating alongside others fosters subtle, genuine connection without the awkwardness of forced interaction. Shared creativity builds belonging in a way talking sometimes can’t.
Can I turn my camera off & why it works & logistics:
Yes. Your comfort comes first. Most of us have experienced how draining Zoom can be and the relief/freedom “video off” provides from feeling pressure to perform and appear a certain way. That said, my intention for this group is to provide a radically supportive space for people to show up as they are which frees up our energy. Being on-camera helps access optimal benefits. Creating art has a way of making this feel easier.
To begin, participants focus on creating their own art, not their cameras, for the first 30 minutes. It can feel reassuring to glance up and see group members’ rooms/partial views of them working on their art. When we open for optional sharing during the second half it’s often meaningful for those inspired to share to see that they are witnessed and, even for those who remain silent, to provide that. Your presence is valuable and enough.
Lauren Zeltzer, ATR-BC, LCAT
Lauren has spent over 40 years exploring human potential, beginning as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal and later designing international development programs in West Africa. Guided by curiosity, deep listening, and a focus on building on people’s strengths, she has worked across cultures to create sustainable solutions. A livestock resettlement project in Cameroon sparked her interest in how emotional trauma could be addressed across language and culture, leading her to art therapy—a modality that engages more of the brain than talk alone.
Lauren became an art therapist specializing in trauma, serving at NY Presbyterian/Weill Cornell’s Midtown Treatment Center, where she helped clients coping with substance use and mental health challenges. She was also the consulting art therapist at Northwell Health/Phelps Memorial Hospice Program, supporting
patients and their families facing end-of life and bereavement issues. In 2020, she opened her private practice, working with individuals and organizations to address a range of mental health concerns and inspire new ways of thinking. She also leads “Online Art Lab” and art-based wellness groups that foster community and collaboration, partnering with organizations such as Catholic Guardian Services, The African Services Committee, New York Medical College, The Asian American Federation, and The Katonah Library.
She holds graduate degrees from NYU Steinhardt School of Art Therapy and Columbia University’s School of International Affairs. Learn more at www.laurenzeltzer.com or contact her at info@laurenzeltzer.com.
FAQs:
Do I have to share my art or talk during the group?
Nope. Participation is flexible. You can engage as much or as little as you like.
Is this therapy?
No. This is a non-clinical wellness group. If you’re interested in individual therapy, you can book that here.
Do I need to be “creative”?
Absolutely not. Many people who attend haven’t made art in years—or ever.
Can I turn my camera off?
Yes. Your comfort comes first.
Can I attend from anywhere?
Yes. We offer servcies anywhere across the world.
Ready To Get Started?
Step 1:
Reach Out Using Our Simple Form Below
Step 2:
Schedule Your First Session
Step 3:
See the New Possibilities of Your Life
