Alyse Ruriani (she/they) is a queer fat femme registered art therapist, licensed professional counselor, illustrator, and person with lived experience. She is the author-illustrator of The Big Feelings Survival Guide, a creative workbook for mental health that takes features Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Art Therapy inspired prompts.

Alyse aims to communicate information, provide tangible tools, and validate the human experience through engaging artwork and illustrations. All of their work is informed by their lived experience, professional knowledge, and creativity–a combination that brings forth a multifaceted approach in art, in therapy, and in advocacy.

Alyse lives in a colorful apartment in Chicago (the unceded land of the Council of Three Fires) with her black cat/co-therapist Boo. When Alyse is not working, you can likely find them swimming in some body of water, making art with friends, or engaging in whatever her newest ADHD-fueled hyperfixation is at the moment.