Pat B. Allen, Ph.D., A.T.R., is an author, artist, art therapist, and teacher who connects to the Creative Source through art and writing. Her two books - Art Is a Way of Knowing (Shambhala 1995) and Art Is a Spiritual Path (Shambhala 2005) - explore the borders between art, psychology, spirituality, and social action. Author of numerous professional articles, Dr. Allen lectures and delivers workshops throughout the country using the Open Studio Process which she has developed. Her artwork has been exhibited in a wide variety of juried and invited exhibits.

Dr. Allen has been a Registered Art Therapist (A.T.R.) since 1977. She earned a Ph.D. in Art Therapy from Union University in 1986. Dr. Allen served on the faculty of the Art Therapy Department of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago from 1988-2011. Dr. Allen was a co-founder of the Open Studio Project in Chicago and founder of Studio Pardes in Oak Park, IL, where she provided a community art space for herself and others to explore the creative process, and from where she directed the Facing Homelessness Mask Project.

Her current interest is in researching creativity through close study of nature and she is at work on a humorous novel about the resurgence of feminine energy in the evolution of consciousness. She divides her time between Oak Park, IL and Ojai, Caliifornia.