“What you seek is within you”
Whatever your needs may be, I am here to offer support. Therapy is a process of growth and self-discovery.
I have the tools and professional experience to help you get back on track.
Art therapy
Even without speaking you can release strong emotions or difficult thoughts.
Drawing, painting, sculpture, collage, journaling, creative writing, drama, movement, music and sand-play are all potential tools employed by the expressive arts therapist when working with clients.
Art materials, sand, water, paint, clay, paper, have their own properties, and the physical experience of using them can help to reach below the surface. Sometimes feeling or holding something physical can help you express something of your own internal world making it possible to share thoughts and feelings in a different way from speech.
What is Art therapy?
It is the 'self-expression that changes your state of being and tap your intuitive and creative powers' Cathy Malchiodi (1:2007)
There are many forms of self-expression from doodling to sketching and painting to writing, sculpture and play as well as movement and music. Whichever you choose to use is of no real importance other than that you do it and it brings you enjoyment, makes you feel lighter and relieves stress. Each has its own role and purpose beyond what we can understand.
'Art therapy is a modality that uses the nonverbal language of art for personal growth, insight and transformation and is inside us - our thoughts, feelings and perceptions - with our realities and life experiences.'
Cathy Malchiodi The Art Therapy Sourcebook
How does Art therapy work?
Art therapy has been shown to help relieve stress, bring balance to the body, mind and soul. As well as releasing powerful and distressing emotions. It can help with emotional & physical trauma, health problems, mental illness and enhance recovery both emotional and physical. By reducing and in some cases eliminating pain. The different uses of materials and activities help to engage the mind and soothe tension so the body can heal while bringing enjoyment and pleasure to transcend troubling feelings. The variety of techniques used depends on each therapist, this creates a very expansive field. Allowing a large enough array to make it accessible to everyone, since everyone is different. This requires us to find not only which therapy works for us but also which therapist is best suited for us, connection becomes the key.
What is connection?
Connection is a process which begins from the time we are born. How we connect to our mother, father or primary caregiver is one of the most important steps, and yet can be very complicated for some. This sets the scene for how we interact with people, how we feel in a group and about ourselves. Connecting to each other is vital to our survival, we each learned different techniques to be accepted, loved and have a sense of belonging.
One of the reasons people come to therapy is because they are suffering from a lack of connection, feeling of not being understood or not knowing how to connect. So if this is the case how do we know who to connect with and who is the right person?
So far life has taught me this can only be done through trial and error and through this we grow, we learn and trust can begin to form again.
We can resource ourselves by spending time in nature & becoming still again
How many sessions?
There is no minimum amount of sessions as each person is so different and sometimes just being listened to once is enough. At other times it can take more than expected or maybe you just need to dip in and out.
I am here and available to meet you where you are at and provide what you need in that moment, which can sometimes be to suggest someone else or another form of therapy.
What is a session like?
Each session is slightly different and depends very much on each person. I adapt myself to each personality as best I can
Let us try to sink ourselves completely into what we receive through colour from the rich and varied world around us. We must feel what is in colour if we wish to penetrate into its true nature, bringing insight into our feelings'
Rudolf Steiner Colour
Do you need to be an artist or be good at art to do Art therapy?
No. Art therapy is for everyone.
The process of doing and making, non-verbally, will help you discover new insights and gain a clearer understanding of whatever it is that you wish to explore. We are all creative beings and born with an innate desire to express ourselves and create.
'If you can write you can draw, if you can walk you can dance and if you can talk you can sing.'
A Zimbabwean proverb
