Art Therapy & Counselling

What I offer

I offer arts therapy and counselling sessions. I work with children and adults, groups and families.

We can talk, or do art, or a combination of both.

I am ACC registered and experienced in working with the impacts sexual abuse, which may include PTSD, anxiety and trauma.

What is Arts Therapy?

Arts Therapy uses creative processes, including art-making, drama, and movement to improve and enhance physical, mental, and emotional well-being. It is suitable for all ages and many life situations, and can be done with individuals or groups. Arts Therapy works by accessing imagination and creativity, which can generate new models of living, and contribute towards the development of a more integrated sense of self, with increased self awareness and acceptance. It differs from traditional art-making or performance in that the emphasis is on the process of creating and meaning making, rather than the end product.

But I’m not good at art….

You don’t need artistic talent or special skills to benefit from Arts Therapy. Art making takes place from within. Creative expression can lead to personal insight and emotional well being.

I offer a variety of creative mediums to enable you to find the best way to express yourself. This can be collage, clay, paint, mask making, music, mixed media, writing, natural objects….the list is endless.

And my role is to be a witness to your art, not a critic. Together we will discover deeper meaning. The focus is on the process of creating and meaning making rather than producing a product.

Talking is OK too, and an important part of processing and integrating what you are discovering about yourself.

Trauma

If you have experienced trauma in some way this can impact on your mental well being. Anxiety, depression, living in fear, flashbacks can all impact on your life. The body itself can become an unsafe place to be.

Switching off, tuning out or simply living in your head means you are denied access to the wisdom of the body. Working together at a slow pace I can enable you to regain access to your own body wisdom, listening to the signs and messages that your body gives you all the time.

Experiencing trauma means that the body can be triggered into feeling it is in danger in the most ordinary of situations when you are actually safe. This can be restrictive on how you live your life.

Combining mindfulness, embodied awareness and simply paying attention to the body you can learn to reprogram neural pathways so you don’t feel alarmed in ordinary safe situations and can pick up warning signs for when you need to pay attention. Abuse can impact on how able you are at putting in boundaries for yourself. This paying attention and practising awareness of the boundaries you feel comfortable with can empower you to feel more confident and safer in your own body again. This is a slow, considered process at a pace dictated by you.

overall approach

I have a huge range of methods and techniques that I have acquired over many years of practising and learning as a therapist. My role is to listen, understand, witness, suggest, walk alongside, support and just be with another person in whatever state or place they may find themselves in. My biggest teachers have been the clients I have been lucky enough to work with who have inspired me to continue to do this work. I would also never ask someone to try out something that I myself have not done. Personal development and addressing may own issues are core to the way I practice. I see my journey with my clients as a privilege. We are human beings learning how to be together and manage the many challenges life has to offer along the way.

Contact me for a session.