About Us

Angela Dedenbach, MA, AMFT is the Founder, Lead Facilitator & Chief Consultant for Wise Mind Healing Arts.  After many years as a musician, actress, and intermodal artist in her youth, Angela began exploring the arts as a healing tool while working with underserved children in her hometown of Lansing, Michigan in 1998.  Around that time, Angela was bestowed the Distinguished Artist Award for Vocal Music Performance by Hope College, and a few years later was recognized as the Marcia Westin Endowed Scholar at Michigan State University for her efforts providing youth arts education to underserved children in the community. She moved to Chicago, IL in 2002 and worked as a Performing Artist, Teaching Artist, and Program Director for non-profit arts and social service organizations serving youth-at-risk in the Chicago Public Schools.  In 2004, Angela was awarded a Full Endowment Scholarship to Columbia College Chicago for her committed efforts in Arts In Youth and Community Development.  After witnessing firsthand the power of the arts in the transformation of children and their communities, Angela moved to California in 2012 to pursue her Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology at California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) with a Specialization in Expressive Arts Therapy, where she served as Student Ambassador. Since completing her Master's Degree in 2015 she has served as an Expressive Arts Therapist at the bedside in inpatient settings such as medical/surgical units, oncological units, and psychiatric units, as well as outpatient primary care and behavioral health settings.  In 2017 Angela was selected to present at the Illinois Art Therapy Association Annual Conference in partnership with the CIIS Expressive Arts Therapy Department.  She has been employed in a private practice setting since 2016, and works as a Mental Health Counselor for her local county mental health system.  She has also provided consulting for organizations interested in the use of the Expressive Arts for improved wellness outcomes in their community, most recently supporting the Expressive Arts Collective of Long Beach in co-authoring a successful grant application which resulted in the opening of their first community site.  Angela launched Wise Mind Healing Arts in 2022 in an effort to bring Integrative Expressive Arts and transformative change to individuals and communities, with the goal of improving emotional health and wellness outcomes.  She is an active member of the National Organization for Arts in Health (NOAH) and adheres to the Code of Ethics and Standards for Arts in Health Professionals published by NOAH in 2018. In her spare time, Angela loves to spend time with her dogs, and maintains her own intermodal healing arts practice, using music, writing, visual arts, and textile arts for physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing.

***DISCLAIMER: Please note that Wise Mind Healing Arts does not provide mental health diagnoses, mental health treatment, or crisis intervention services.  Persons seeking mental health diagnosis, mental health treatment, or crisis intervention services will be referred appropriately.***