Art Therapy

 

 

Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses visual and tactile media as a means of self expression and communication. Art therapists aim to support people of all ages and abilities and at all stages of life, to discover an outlet for often complex and confusing feelings, and foster self awareness and growth.

- British Association of Art Therapists (2022)


How does Art Therapy work

Art therapy uses various art materials and creative techniques for expression and communication. This allows a person to explore complex feelings and states of mind using image, colour, texture, movement, and metaphor as well as conversation. 

 

No prior art making experience is needed as the focus is on the process, play and curiosity driven reflection. 

 

Art can embody a person’s experiences so that they can be seen and thought about, it can aid in telling one’s story and finding its meaning. 

In a trust and respect based therapeutic relationship difficult issues are considered in a non-judgemental way, opening new perspectives on personal experience and leading to a deeper self-understanding and compassion.

 

In my work I support people who:

  • Struggle with overwhelming emotions
  • Feel depressed and/or anxious
  • Feel lost or burn out
  • Experience loss
  • Wish to grow more confident and self-compassionate
  • Seek to better understand themselves and to make sense of their experiences
  • Look for new ways of expression and connection

Art Therapy & Nature

Environmental art therapy draws on ecophychology, and invites us to see a person as interconnected and interdependent with the Earth. It invites to experience oneself as nature. 

This type of art therapy employs metaphor and creativity to work along the cycles of nature: 


Processes of growth 

Rebuilding after a storm

Enjoying the abundance and then letting go

Death and grieving  

Hope of new beginnings


We can find all these in our natural environment. And so nature here becomes a co-therapist, holding us, and mirroring back. 

 

The sessions are often held outdoors, in a forest or a park, but also indoors, using gathered materials from outside. Art therapy sessions outdoors invite more mindfulness as we become much more aware of our senses. Just imagine walking in a forest: all those colours, fragrances, textures and sounds! 

 

 

Just as one of the tasks of psychotherapy might be to help a client come home to themselves, perhaps one of the many tasks of ecotherapy is to explore and come home to nature, to help individuals find their place again in the great scheme of things.

- Heginworth and Nash (2020)