While My Buddy Clay is not a replacement for professional therapy, it introduces therapeutic tools through story and imagery.
Tanvi Mehta’s
Art therapist Tanvi Mehta is making waves in the mental health world with the release of her new book, “My Buddy Clay,” a heartfelt resource designed especially for children aged 6–9 years and their caretakers. Both written and illustrated by Mehta, the book brings together years of clinical practice, cross-cultural insights, and the transformative power of creative expression in healing trauma and grief.
As she prepares for her official U.S. launch with the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA)’s Women in Design New York City Chapter, My Buddy Clay is already receiving heartfelt responses from readers across Southeast Asia, Europe, and India. The book is also available globally on Kindle, offering accessible support to families navigating emotional expression and loss.
Rooted in her experiences practicing as an art therapist in the U.S., Singapore, and India, Mehta’s work explores how creativity can be a profound tool for emotional healing-especially for children. This includes her work as an art therapist at Northwell’s Cohen Children’s Medical Center, where she supported children and adolescents in inpatient care through creative expression. Her qualitative research has been significantly informed by her grief work with children at Camp Good Grief, her work with older adults at The Memory Tree, and her trauma and loss therapy sessions at Sanctuary for Families in New York. These real-world encounters contribute to the nuanced, culturally grounded understanding she brings to the book.
One of the central narratives of My Buddy Clay features a young child navigating grief through clay-an example drawn from her clinical sessions that demonstrates how creative play can unlock emotions that words often fail to express. Mehta emphasizes that healing is not linear and that even very young children possess an innate capacity for emotional understanding when offered tools like art and storytelling within a safe and nurturing space.
While My Buddy Clay is not a replacement for professional therapy, it introduces therapeutic tools through story and imagery. It gently educates caretakers and educators on how play, symbolism, and art can support children’s emotional development, particularly when coping with loss, anxiety, or big feelings they cannot articulate.
In addition to her clinical and community work, Mehta also offers wellness-based therapeutic art services to corporate companies, supporting employee mental health and emotional resilience through creative, mindful engagement.
Drawing from her extensive clinical engagements, including with students at United World College of South East Asia and South Asian clients during her time at Greenpoint Psychotherapy, Mehta blends storytelling with trauma-informed frameworks, mindfulness, and culturally rooted practices. Her approach bridges Western psychological tools like CBT with the collective care and symbolic traditions of South Asian cultures, addressing the emotional expression gap often present in both Eastern and Western settings.
As the book gains international attention, Mehta is also launching community-centered events and workshops in the U.S., India, and Singapore. These include virtual art-based workshops and a forthcoming series of children’s books focused on emotional literacy and expression, all presented through culturally sensitive lenses.
Ultimately, Tanvi Mehta hopes My Buddy Clay reminds readers that every healing journey is personal and that children-when guided with empathy, creativity, and care-can begin to make sense of even the most complex emotions. Through art, connection, and global perspective, Mehta is helping reimagine how the world understands healing-and the many beautiful, unexpected forms it can take.
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