09/04/2026
It is with profound sadness that I write to inform the Tracy’s Kids community that Tracy Councill died last Friday.
Like you, the Tracy’s Kids’ Board and I will always remember her fondly and have enormous respect for her life’s work.
When I met Tracy more than 28 years ago, I knew she was doing something extraordinary. I never could have imagined that, through our work together, and support from so many contributors, the Art Therapy model she developed would go on to touch the lives of more than 100,000 children and families. And that doesn’t include the many Art Therapists she taught and mentored, who have carried her work forward to countless others.
The Talmud says, “Whoever saves a single life, it is as if he saved an entire world.” Tracy touched innumerable young lives, giving children a way to cope, navigate emotional stress and trauma, and live full and fulfilling lives during their treatment and beyond. She made an extraordinary difference in the world.
Tracy’s Kids was transformative for me as well. I had never openly discussed my own experience as a ten year old cancer patient. It was only at age 40 that Tracy’s work — and our friendship — helped me confront the weight I had carried for so many years. She opened my stubborn, cynical mind to the power of Art Therapy and gave me a way to channel my own experience into something positive: helping other children navigate a very different treatment path from the one I had known.
I often told Tracy that God put her on this earth to do the work she did. She fulfilled that purpose by profoundly enriching the lives of so many.
In the Jewish tradition, we honor a person’s impact by saying, “May her memory be a blessing.” So many people carry powerful memories of Tracy’s kindness, warmth, and skill. Those memories will truly be a blessing for generations to come.
The Tracy’s Kids Board will be working with her family — Don, Molly, and Grace — to carry on Tracy’s groundbreaking work and advance the field of Art Therapy. If you would like to support that initiative, please consider making a contribution through www.tracyskids.org
