What is Arts Counselling?

Sometimes the best way to express our experiences, especially those we find hard to name or understand, is creatively. Therapeutic Arts Counselling uses art media to support expression and communication alongside talking. It naturally expands creativity and feelings of self worth, and is a positive outlet for stress and difficult feelings.

You don’t need to have any natural artistic talent to benefit from creative therapies: the focus is more on the creative process than on a finished image. It can be particularly helpful for those experiencing distress which they are unable to verbalise, particularly young people who may not be able to fully understand their trauma, or find it too overwhelming.

Most sessions involve a combination of talking and artmaking. However, at times, we may just talk and think together or, alternatively, the artmaking can be the focus. We can use image making, sandtray work, metaphor and imagination as additional tools to explore difficult thoughts and experiences. We can also work with Clayfield Therapy to address traumatic experiences held in the body. Ultimately it is what works for you that matters and so I am guided by you and what you bring to sessions.

If you wish to explore this method, I will support you in using art materials in your own way and at your own pace, encouraging you to reflect on your artmaking process so that together we can begin to make sense of what is happening in your life in a safe and unpressured way.

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