What is Creative Arts Therapy?
Creative Arts Therapy, alongside a registered professional, is a proven clinical form of psychotherapy that can help people of all ages and backgrounds to feel better, to get better at feeling, to process tough stuff and develop positive skills and behaviours. It draws on a range of creative modalities including visual arts, writing, movement, music and play to help you gain insights and make sense of your inner world. No prior skill or experience of the arts is required as the focus is on your experience of the artmaking process rather than the finished product.
Each art therapy journey is entirely unique and is tailored to the therapeutic goal, preferences and strengths of the client. Sometimes shifts happen quickly, some journeys take a lifetime but the arts have an incredible power to work with our unconscious, to help us express ourselves when we may not have words and to soothe us when we hurt. The arts are active, sensory and ever changing. They communicate with our minds, bodies and souls. They meet us where we are and companion us as we venture into new places. They allow us to externalise those things that challenge us so that we can work with them in safe ways.
Each art therapy journey is entirely unique and is tailored to the therapeutic goal, preferences and strengths of the client. Sometimes shifts happen quickly, some journeys take a lifetime but the arts have an incredible power to work with our unconscious, to help us express ourselves when we may not have words and to soothe us when we hurt. The arts are active, sensory and ever changing. They communicate with our minds, bodies and souls. They meet us where we are and companion us as we venture into new places. They allow us to externalise those things that challenge us so that we can work with them in safe ways.
How can I help you?
Creative arts therapy can benefit those experiencing:
Creative Arts Therapy is also a worthy investment in your wellbeing if none of the above applies. Just as we maintain our physical fitness through regular exercise, Creative Arts Therapy practices support you to maintain a healthy mental and emotional state.
- Healing from trauma and abuse
- Family & relationship issues
- Grief and loss
- Struggles with work or school
- Life transitions
- Mental health recovery (anxiety, depression)
- Existential concerns - feelings of meaninglessness, isolation, fear of death
- Disability
- Neurodiversity
- Organisational and community growth and health
Creative Arts Therapy is also a worthy investment in your wellbeing if none of the above applies. Just as we maintain our physical fitness through regular exercise, Creative Arts Therapy practices support you to maintain a healthy mental and emotional state.
Why Gossamer Wings? |
The word 'Gossamer' derives from the "summer of the goose." It refers to a time of year where people wake to find cobwebs glistening on the ground and floating in the air. We have since adopted the word to refer to sheer, fragile and ethereal things. Gossamer is a word that calms me just in the saying of it, like an exhale of breathe. It is light and gentle, and yet a spiderweb is also one of the strongest substances on earth.
When we seek therapy we are often feeling at our most vulnerable. It is from feeling into these states that we begin to make sense and to heal. My goal as a therapist is always to honour the fragile beauty of each individual and support them to recognise their own power and strength.
The arts also lends something ethereal to the therapeutic process. Just a birds instinctively know where to nest and migrate, we hold knowings inside us that we may never recall learning. We all have own own personal explanations for these things. Some may feel that they are genetically encoded, some may call them the whisperings of our ancestors, others may call them messages from angels. What I have keenly observed is that the ability of the arts to work in this soul space is a powerful tool in our quest for wellness.
When we seek therapy we are often feeling at our most vulnerable. It is from feeling into these states that we begin to make sense and to heal. My goal as a therapist is always to honour the fragile beauty of each individual and support them to recognise their own power and strength.
The arts also lends something ethereal to the therapeutic process. Just a birds instinctively know where to nest and migrate, we hold knowings inside us that we may never recall learning. We all have own own personal explanations for these things. Some may feel that they are genetically encoded, some may call them the whisperings of our ancestors, others may call them messages from angels. What I have keenly observed is that the ability of the arts to work in this soul space is a powerful tool in our quest for wellness.