WHAT IS ARTS PSYCHOTHERAPY?
Arts Psychotherapy helps us to know ourselves better in relation to the world engaging the feeling and thinking parts of the brain.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Integrative Arts Psychotherapy is a process of deepening awareness, increasing choice and changing behavior, helping you to understand your problems differently and find new ways of responding.
In my practice I integrate psychological theories with an opportunity to engage with the arts. Providing a safe space to build a trusting and secure relationship, we explore aspects of life using a range of creative processes. Moving between talking and using the arts, I offer an empathic holding presence supporting you to work with your inner world.
WHO IS IT FOR ?
People come to Psychotherapy because it allows them an opportunity to explore feelings, beliefs, thoughts and events, supporting change and growth on a personal level in a safe and confidential environment.
I support adults and young people to live a more satisfying life, working towards a deeper awareness and understanding of painful and difficult feelings, especially when these impact negatively on lives and relationships in the present.
It can be beneficial in a wide range of cases, including anxiety, depression, relationships, self esteem, panic attacks, dissatisfaction, self harm, eating disorders, coping with change and loss, mid-life challenges, addiction, trauma, grief, or other types of physical, mental or emotional challenges.
Psychotherapy is able to provide a space that has the capacity to change lives and create lasting change. The Arts can provide a place to connect to unconscious material. No previous experience of art is necessary.
Depending on your reason for engaging, Arts Psychotherapy can be short or long term.
WHEN WORDS ARE NOT ENOUGH
Life causes us to develop defensive strategies, working with the arts and image can offer added opportunities for bypassing defenses. Art can hold many meanings at once supporting expression and communication, engaging the unconscious, calming the mind, containing the unspeakable and facilitating healing when particular issues or feelings are too difficult to talk about.
WHAT IS WALKING AND TALKING THERAPY OR ECO PSYCHOTHERAPY
Drawing on research from environmental psychology there is a growing body of research pointing to the beneficial effects of nature on human perception, emotions, behaviour and cognition.
Walking therapy with me is for anyone who is interested in doing psychotherapy outdoors, working 1-1 at your own pace; sharing and exploring your thoughts, feelings and behaviours and connecting with the natural environment can help imagine new ideas and potential solutions.
As human beings, we are a part of the natural world and have a deep connection with nature that is inherent in each and every one of us. Being in nature can provide an anchoring and grounding space. Covid provided the opportunity to take psychotherapy outdoors into a natural setting.
Spending time in nature can be therapeutic, it can provide a healing space to explore any issues you are having. When combined with walking, the release of dopamine, endorphins, serotonin, oxytocin, and adrenaline inside the body can support our work together relaxing the body and supporting you to process your feelings.
Throughout the session, we keep a safe and confidential environment for our work to evolve. Working together, building a reciprocal connection with nature, creatively working with the landscape, eco psychotherapy is a place to review and understand your experiences and support self-discovery and understanding.