What is Art Therapy?
Art Therapy, or Art Psychotherapy, is a form of psychotherapy where clients are encouraged to use art materials for expression and communication.
Engaging with creative materials in art therapy can help you safely explore your experiences, emotions, and thoughts. With the support of the art therapist, it provides a way to find meaning and articulate experiences that may be distressing, confusing, problematic, or simply difficult to discuss.
You don’t have to be an artist or even consider yourself creative to enjoy the wonderful benefits of art therapy! All that’s truly needed is a willingness to dive into the art materials during your therapy sessions.
Art therapy is not an art lesson or a recreational activity. It can be enjoyable, but the focus is on the client’s therapeutic journey. Art therapy is facilitated by a qualified art psychotherapist and incorporates therapeutic approaches to help support you in your journey.
Some sessions, a client may choose to use only materials to express themselves, in others, they may prefer to talk.
Art materials are wonderfully flexible, and each client uses them differently.
"It's not about being good at creativity, it's about creativity being good for you.” James McCrae
What should I expect?
If it seems like I may be able to help, I will suggest an initial friendly face-to-face appointment that will be completely confidential.
During this appointment, you can see the art therapy space, follow up on any further queries and we can talk in greater depth.
It is also an opportunity for me to gather information about you and your hopes and expectations for therapy. I will ask questions and make notes. This is to ensure you are getting the best intervention for your specific needs.
I will then discuss with you whether and how we can work together, frequency of sessions, cost and payments.
Usually, I recommend 4 initial assessment sessions, after which we can decide whether to continue longer term. This is to make sure you feel comfortable I the art therapy space and feel that I am the right fit for you.
You will have the opportunity to go away and think about everything before we take the next step.
Working Together
Once you feel confident that you would like to start art therapy (or another service), we'll find a regular day and time that works best for your sessions together.
I have a therapy contract that we can go through together, and it’s designed to provide you with a clear framework. There’s no need to worry about it; you’ll only sign what you completely agree with, and we’ll review it thoroughly.
All your information is treated confidentially and will not be shared with anyone other than my Clinical Supervisor (who also treats all shared material confidentially). This includes the artwork you create during our sessions together.
All your art work will be stored in a folder/box especially for you. I will keep it safe for the duration of your therapy. When we end our work together, you can decide what you would like to do with it.
I suggest regular review sessions, which gives us the opportunity to look at the progress of our work together, possible time frames, and what we may work towards.
If you are under 18, I will require parent or guardian consent. I will not share anything from the sessions with your parent or guardian unless you ask me to or there is a safeguarding concern.