Bani Malhotra

Bani Malhotra, Ph.D., LPC, ATR-BC is licensed professional counselor and a registered, board-certified art therapist. She is an assistant professor of art therapy at Florida State University, where her work bridges clinical practice, research, and education. Dr. Malhotra’s research centers on advancing health and well-being in the context of trauma, injury, and illness adjustment. Her scholarship focusses on understanding the experiences and supporting individuals and families cope with stress and adjustment after injury and illness by developing interventions that enhance psychosocial support. Dr. Malhotra draws from her clinical and research experiences to examine the potential of receptive and expressive art approaches to uncover socio-cultural influences on health, such as access to care, stigmatized identity, personal and collective strengths, and mechanisms of change. With a commitment to accessibility and innovation in art therapy, she employs mixed methods, community-based, and interprofessional strategies to design interventions that promote recovery and well-being.

Dr. Malhotra has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and has presented internationally and nationally on topics including traumatic brain injury, burn-care, post-traumatic stress, pediatric cancer care, visual thinking strategies, indigenous and traditional arts, and metaphorical elicitation. With dual training in psychology and art therapy, she brings extensive experience providing counseling and art therapy to neurodivergent and neurotypical individuals of all ages. Her professional and clinical background span a broad range of mental health, behavioral, and medical concerns in clinical, community-health, and school settings in both United States and India.

Dr. Malhotra actively serves the art therapy community and leads the membership engagement activities as a chair of the American Art Therapy Association’s (AATA) International Shared Interest Group and contributes as a member of AATA’s Research Committee. She currently serves on the editorial review board for Canadian Journal of Art Therapy. In 2025, Dr. Malhotra was awarded the Elite Reviewer Award 2024 for Rehabilitation Psychology, Journal of American Psychological Association. Passionate about mentoring students in scholarly writing, she often kicks off with her favorite line: “Let’s write about it!”