Meet Lindsay
Art Therapist & Owner of The 3 Brushes, LLC
About Lindsay
Working through life's challenges is rarely a straight path. Healing often unfolds through moments of uncertainty, grief, growth, connection, and meaning-making, sometimes all at once. While each person's story is uniquely their own, my personal experiences have deepened my understanding of the therapeutic journey and the importance of having support when navigating life's most difficult seasons.
I am Lindsay Downs, MA, LCPAT, ATR-BC®, a Licensed Clinical Professional Art Therapist and Board-Certified Art Therapist providing in-person art therapy in Gaithersburg and Montgomery County, Maryland. For more than seven years, I have worked alongside children and tweens, teens, and adults navigating grief and loss, life transitions, trauma, emotional overwhelm, and the complexities of being human.
While my professional role is not centered on my own experiences, they have informed the empathy, curiosity, and respect I bring to the therapeutic relationship.
The Path I Chose as an Art Therapist
My path to becoming an art therapist was influenced by my own experiences with therapy, healing, and living with a chronic lung disease. I have experienced medical trauma, periods of uncertainty, and the challenges that come with learning to navigate life when circumstances are not always within our control. Throughout those experiences, therapy provided a space to process, reflect, and make meaning of what I was carrying.
Art has also been an important part of my own healing. Long before I became an art therapist, creativity offered a way to express experiences that felt difficult to put into words. Today, art remains a meaningful practice in my life—not because it solves problems, but because it creates space for reflection, self-understanding, and connection to myself and others.
What I Believe About the Work I Do
These experiences do not make me an expert on anyone else's story. I recognize that I am a work in progress, too. What my experiences have provided is a deep respect for the vulnerability it takes to ask for help and support, the courage required to face difficult emotions, and the reality that healing often happens in layers and small, meaningful steps rather than dramatic or forceful transformations.
I strive to create a space that is compassionate, collaborative, and grounded in authenticity. I believe people deserve to be met where they are, without judgment or pressure to be anything other than themselves.
Whether someone is grieving a loved one, adjusting to a life transition, navigating anxiety or depression, processing trauma, or simply trying to understand themselves more fully, art therapy can offer a place to pause, explore, and reconnect. I believe art and art-making can help rekindle relationships with others as well as with ourselves.
My Clinical Work & Ongoing Work
My clinical work is informed by psychodynamic, existential, humanistic, trauma-informed, and grief-informed approaches, but at its core, my work is about relationships. Healing happens through connection—to ourselves, to others, and sometimes to parts of our stories that have not yet had the opportunity to be fully expressed.
Outside of my clinical work, I continue to make art in my home studio or wherever I happen to have a sketchbook. I spend time in nature through walks, hiking, and kayaking, venture to coffee and tea shops with my husband and friends (we keep a junk journal of our finds), and seek out opportunities for learning and growth. These practices help me remain connected to the same values I encourage in art therapy: curiosity and exploration, creativity, reflection, deeper connection, and compassion informed by lived experience.
Thank you for taking the time to learn more about me and the experiences that have shaped my work as an art therapist.
If you are considering art therapy and want to see if we're a good fit, I'd welcome the chance to schedule a free 20-minute consultation.
Why I Chose The 3 Brushes
When I began creating my private practice, I wanted a name that reflected both my identity as an art therapist and the values that guide my work.
The 3 Brushes was founded on the belief that healing is a creative process—one that is rarely linear and often requires patience, courage, and support.
The three brushes represent the values of trust, compassion, and growth.
Trust is the foundation of every therapeutic relationship. Whether you are sharing a difficult experience for the first time, exploring grief, or learning to understand yourself in a new way, healing begins with feeling safe enough to be seen and heard.
Compassion creates space for us to meet ourselves with kindness, especially during moments when we may be carrying pain, uncertainty, or self-criticism. Compassion allows us to acknowledge our experiences without judgment and to recognize that healing often happens one step at a time.
Growth does not always mean moving at a fast pace; slow is steady enough. Sometimes growth looks like rest. Sometimes it looks like surviving, adapting, grieving, or simply allowing ourselves to be present with what is. Over time, these small moments can become meaningful changes in how we understand our experiences.
The name also reflects my belief that there is no single path toward healing. Just as an artist may choose different brushes to create a work of art, each person brings their own strengths, experiences, and ways of expressing themselves. Art therapy is not about finding the "right" way to heal; it is about discovering what feels meaningful, authentic, and supportive for you.
The heart of The 3 Brushes reflects the values I strive to bring into every session and every relationship: trust, compassion, and growth. These values continue to shape both my work as a therapist and my own ongoing journey of healing, creativity, and self-discovery.
