1:1 art therapy

Sometimes speaking out loud (verbal expression) about our thoughts and feelings is simply not possible.

This could be because we’re unable to or it’s not our preferred way to communicate. We might not know the words to accurately match what’s happening internally, or maybe words don’t even exist to describe it. Perhaps what we need to share feels too heavy, challenging and scary to say out loud.

Creating art, such as a drawing, painting, collages, sculptures, are all forms of visual expression that don’t necessarily need words (making them non-verbal-friendly).

This means Art Therapy innately broadens access to communication & sharing about ourselves.

We feel it's important to emphasise that we find Art Therapy super inclusive of queerness and Neurodiversity - two elements of identity we hold close to our hearts.

Art Therapy can provide a space to explore and understand all of these important facets on our own terms and at our own pace. This can also extend to gender, spirituality, faith, culture and more.

With a focus on embracing your unique way of processing, our approach to Art Therapy aims to be as neuro-affirming as possible.

As art-making provides an opportunity for non-verbal and sensory-rich expression, it can engage with different parts of yourself in ways that traditional talk therapies might not be able to.

Art Therapy usually focuses on what you're already good at. This approach emphasises your strengths and capacity for growth and resilience, rather than just addressing deficits or pathologizing experiences (in other words, Art Therapy is less interested in what you can’t do and more interested in what you can do).

Art making can tap into our kinesthetic experiences (movements in our body) and sensory experiences (sight, smell, sound, touch or taste), which can increase our ability to emotionally regulate and experience a flow state.

A flow state in a session is cool - it’s when you’re being creative and become fully absorbed in the process.

You may experience a sense of timelessness, feeling directly focused on a task, where it feels natural, fluid and pleasurable.

Art making can help soothe, distract and control our emotions. It can help us to move away from overwhelming emotions, and move to calmness or grounding in the present moment.

We feel that playing for the sake of playing is really underrated (especially for adolescents & adults).

Play means doing something without a goal in mind, trying things out, seeing where it takes us and using our imagination.

Imagination enables us to think beyond current realities, meaning we can also be a bit more flexible when problem solving later on! It can also help emotional regulation as we can use visualisation of calming or joyful scenarios.

This is when we achieve or accomplish something. It can make us feel competent, confident and in control.

You’d be surprised at how empowering it can feel to get creative!

Feeling in control of your creative process and making your own decisions (like what art materials you use and art directives you do) can increase your feeling of agency and autonomy.

This can spill out into other parts of life, increasing a sense of general satisfaction and competence.

Learning new skills, no matter how small they may seem, can increase feelings of accomplishment. It can feel especially good if these are art skills or techniques that you thought you’d never be able to do!

All of these feelings of mastery can help build a more positive perception of yourself and boost your self-esteem.

In contrast to talk therapy, Art Therapy can offer a concrete representation of your thoughts, feelings and experiences with an art object that you can literally hold out in front of you.

This can sometimes help create a safe distance between our experiences and our selves, which can help us see it in a different way.

The art object can be a record of exploration and progress, like a marker in time. Looking at your collection of art objects over a period of time can almost be like reading your diary entries over the same period.

It can also be a tool to help you when communicating with the Art Therapist or even friends, family or other support people.

Witnessing yourself and your own art object can increase self-insight and awareness.

It’s also just an object that you have full control over - it’s up to you whether you want to keep it, leave it with the therapist, throw it in the bin, gift it to someone, put it up on your wall, put it in a box under your bed, or even adapt it at a later date.