My Approach
​
Depending on your individual hopes and goals for therapy, I can integrate different psychological approaches in order to best meet your specific needs. I primarily work within the modality of Art Psychotherapy, which is a form of
Psychodynamic Psychotherapy where art making can be used as an additional means of communication and expression.
Some people prefer to do Psychodynamic Psychotherapy or Counselling purely through conversation without making art and that's ok too. What's important is that you feel safe to share your thoughts and feelings in the way that feels most comfortable for you.
Depending on what you want to achieve from your sessions, I can also incorporate elements of Mindfulness, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Psycho-education, Mentalisation Based Treatment (MBT) and Solution focused work.
We can tailor the approach to offer more directive short-term work, or longer-term more exploratory work, and we would think together in your initial consultation session about a therapy plan that feels right for you.
What is Psychodynamic
Psychotherapy?
My approach is rooted in psychodynamic psychotherapy, which means that I work with the understanding that the experiences we have in life, particularly our experiences of relationships, form the basis of how we view ourselves and others. Often our experiences from childhood can create beliefs and patterns of behaviour that end up replaying into adulthood, sometimes with problematic consequences, and much of this processing is automatic or "subconscious" - so oftentimes you won't necessarily know why you respond the way you do.
​
As your therapist, I am interested in helping you to become more aware of these processes, or relational dynamics, so that you can gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of yourself, and ultimately feel empowered and supported to grow and evolve.
The Therapeutic Relationship
Reflecting on past experiences and co-creating a shared narrative together is a key aspect of this work. The therapeutic relationship (how we interact with each other) can also be a valuable tool for insights into your relational dynamics.
If we are working on processing trauma memories and the affects this has, then we would always start by building feelings of safety and developing strategies for you to ground and soothe yourself.
Our therapeutic relationship will always be central to any healing that takes place, so it's important to me that we build trust by working with kindness and compassion; using clear and open communication; and by establishing and maintaining safe boundaries.
Incorporating the Art
I am skilled in supporting people to use their innate creativity as a means of expression; connection; or deeper exploration.
The art making can provide another means of communication; and can provide a unique outlet for our less conscious thoughts and feelings to emerge. When engaged in creative activity, we use the parts of our brains more connected with our emotions or our physical bodies, which can be particularly helpful for working with pre-verbal memories. Creative activity can even facilitate the formation of new neural pathways, or new ways of thinking!
In this way, the art making can serve as a catalyst to your therapy, and the image becomes a helpful reference point or metaphor that we can play with.
​
For more information on art psychotherapy, check out: