Meet The MM Team

Hi! I’m Mélanie Boothe (she/her/hers). I am deeply grateful to the Sinxt Peoples and all the Keepers of the land, on whose traditional, unceded territories I have the honour to live, work and play. I am an art therapy student at the Kutenai Art Therapy Institute, and I am so excited to be starting a placement at Movin’ Mountains!

I grew up in rural Manitoba and earned a Bachelor of Environmental Sciences at the University of Winnipeg, followed by a Bachelor of Education at l’Université de Saint-Boniface. I moved to Rossland in 2007 and gained over ten years of experience teaching children and youth of all ages in our local schools. Working with young people with diverse needs really inspired me to explore with them different ways of practicing self-regulation and creative expression, building understanding, and celebrating strengths. These passions eventually led me to art therapy.

My focus is on providing individuals a safe therapeutic space to express and process their emotions so they can discover and benefit from the healing and life enhancing qualities of their own creative process. I present art invitations and materials, opportunities for fun experimentation, and mindfulness and movement exercises as required to foster engagement and meet the needs of individuals in the present moment.

When I am not being creative or studying, I enjoy spending time with my partner, my two sons and our two cuddly cats. I also love connecting to nature as much as possible, especially by hiking, biking, paddleboarding, and just simply admiring the beauty that surrounds me.

My quote: “Trust the process.” We may not always understand where life (or our artwork!) is leading us, but meaning emerges over time. We often discover that the steps we were taking were setting up the foundation we needed to move big mountains all along!