What is art therapy?
Art therapy is making art alongside a trained art therapist, like me! In regular art making there is often a pressure to create something that pleases other people, but in our sessions I will be helping you to discover what pleases you and why – that way you are more free to tell your own story.
What happens in an art therapy session?
Oh, there are so many possibilities! We will start with your passions, whether that means space travel or reptiles (or, excitingly, both together!) and see where our journey takes us. We will have a lot of fun trying out different materials to see how they feel and what they can do.
Sometimes you might come with a project in mind or, some sessions, you might want suggestions. There will also probably be sessions where you want to do everything yourself, while in others we might work together on the same piece. Our main task though, is to play, because that is when great things happen.
What kind of great things?
When you get creative you are using your brain and your hands in unusual ways and that’s when surprises are born – images bubble up that you didn’t expect but which talk powerfully about your feelings.
In art therapy you have someone to share this excitement with and that can be very valuable in getting to know yourself better as well as looking at things in a new way.
What do I need to bring?
You, you, wonderful you! That’s it! I will bring the materials we need to get started. If we find you want to use something that’s not in the art cupboard, I will do what I can to bring that along too.
Do I need to be an artist to do art therapy?
There are two answers to this: the first is NO definitely not, no experience is required. My second answer is that there is creativity inside all of us: so… isn’t it time you set yours free?
Watch our video
Learn more about Art Therapy at KHG in this short video. Special thanks to Drew, who volunteered to participate in this video!