Did you know that Art Psychotherapy & Art Therapy are actually interchangeable terms? But what do they mean?
First of all, you don’t have to be an “artist” to engage in this type of therapy and there is no such thing as “getting it right”…
For instance, maybe you’re someone who is always doodling or drawing, or loves to paint, sculpt, or make things.
Or, maybe you think you can’t draw at all, and the thought of picking up a paintbrush is truly scary.
Whatever your background, art psychotherapy could be a useful way to help you process what you’re going through. It’s evidence-based and most importantly, it is done in a safe and non-judgemental way.
Creativity requires embracing a certain amount of chaos, and it demands some leaps of faith
Berrett-Koehler, 2009
How it Works
As a trained therapist, I help you to use a range of different materials (including paper, pens, paint, clay, puppets & sand) to express your thoughts and emotions. The emphasis is on the process of the image making, and then using the images to explore and learn more about yourself.
This can help enhance your sessions in the following ways:
- If you are finding it difficult to talk about certain things, your images can “speak” for you.
- There may be things you are not fully aware of (out of consciousness) and your images may show them
- Sometimes it may feel “safer” to work by exploring an image (on the outside) than a feeling or memory (on the inside)
- When you feel stuck and don’t know what to focus on, you can start by playing and seeing what comes out
You can also read more about this at the British Association of Art Therapists’ site
All Art Therapists in the UK have to be registered with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) and adhere to their standards of proficiency.
