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Marie Deschamps ’04
Marie Deschamps ’04, wearing a bright pink fedora and a denim jacket embroidered with vibrant flowers, smiles outdoors on a sandy beach.
Marie Deschamps ’04, wearing a bright pink fedora and a denim jacket embroidered with vibrant flowers, smiles outdoors on a sandy beach.
School is not just about what you are studying, but about exploring who you are going to be.
Marie Deschamps ’04

Political Science and Pre-Med Majors
Art Therapist, Researcher, & Innovator at CuriousArtTherapy.com
Art • Humanities & STEM • Curiosity • International student

The theme of my Macalester story is that there is a pattern, even when you can’t see it. I arrived as a French-born, German-educated international student determined to be pre-med and join Doctors Without Borders. But what I loved most about Mac was that you didn’t have to be just one thing: you could be an activist and a scientist, a dancer and a political thinker, and still feel completely accepted.

I majored in political science and pre-med but spent countless hours in gender studies, art studios, and theater rehearsals. I was surrounded by curious, passionate people who showed me that learning could be both rigorous and joyful.

After graduation and volunteering with an NGO in Senegal, I entered medical school, only to find it wasn’t what I imagined. I left, completed an MPA in public affairs at the London School of Economics and Sciences Po Paris, and worked in corporate responsibility, but felt disconnected. I missed the aliveness I’d felt at Macalester, the sense that learning, creating, and caring could all flow from the same place.

That search, though painful and marked by a period of depression, led me back to what had always been there: art as a way of understanding and healing. Becoming an art therapist allowed me to bridge science, emotion, and imagination. What was key to finding my life purpose was the unwavering support of my Macalester friends from around the world, who kept cheering me on when I no longer believed in myself.

Today I lead expressive therapy groups in trauma-informed addiction recovery at Black Horse Health, and support people navigating grief through online workshops. I completed my PhD in Expressive Therapies at Lesley University in 2025 and am credentialed as a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate (LPC-A) and provisionally registered art therapist (ATR-P), under the supervision of Kula Moore, ATR-BC, LPC-S.

I created ICANFEEL, an art-based symptom-management software exploring how creativity and technology can bring humanity back into healthcare, and built it with fellow alum Andrew Porter ’04. A two-year clinical trial at MD Anderson Cancer Center was recently completed, with early results published in my doctoral dissertation. Most recently, in partnership with the NSF IUCRC BRAIN Center (University of Houston / Arizona State) and Black Horse Health, we launched BrainFeel, a relapse-prevention protocol pairing ICANFEEL with mobile brain-body imaging and AI analysis, within an embodied approach to expression. It rests on two convictions I’ve carried since Mac: that the body knows before language does, and that distress is expressed differently in every culture, so an instrument that isn’t embodied and culturally plural isn’t measuring anything real.

Changing paths reminded me that Macalester was never about following a straight line, it was about learning to integrate every part of who we are. Looking back, I see that Mac encouraged my many passions and helped me realize that my purpose lies in uniting creativity, healing, and critical thinking. The question I hope students will ask themselves is not just what they want to do, but who they want to become, and how their authentic expression and unique weirdness can add something true and necessary to the world.

Last updated: August 2026