ART THERAPY

PLEASE NOTE that I work with adults only (18+).  

Art therapy is a combination of talk therapy and art-making… mucking about with art materials, and words, and ideas, and emotions to see how they make you feel. To see how they can bend, and move, and intersect. We’ll dig in. We’ll pause, and express, and notice. We’ll make some space for all of it to unfold, and be. Some space (literal and metaphorical) to breathe – to make a mess, to see, to ask questions, to let yourself feel what you feel… and move through it towards a different sort of understanding. Space for a different kind of conversation, one that enlists creativity and curiosity in understanding YOUR lived experience – in the world, and in your body. A movement forward. Unstuck.

PRIVATE 1:1 SESSIONS

• Art therapy and Brainspotting can be combined for any session
• Online or in-person (in-studio, 108-561 Johnson St, Victoria BC)
• Rate details

CREATIVE MENTORSHIP SESSIONS

• Online + in-person (in-studio, 108-561 Johnson St, Victoria BC).
• These sessions are for folks who are wanting to build a creative care practice, and need some hand-holding. I looooove holding hands. We will walk through all of the logistics of creating space, gathering materials, getting creative around motivation & scheduling, specific practices & processes that fit for you… and really, whatever else feels helpful in getting this happening for you.
• NOTE: these are booked as “art therapy” sessions on my calendar.
• Rate details

WHO IT’S FOR…

• Maybe you’re looking for a therapist for a regular/ongoing relationship…
• Maybe you’re not sure if you want to commit to ongoing therapy – or you know you don’t , but you’d like to be able to pop by for support when needed.
• Maybe you’re an artist who’s feeling stuck in your art practice …starting it, or getting back to it.
• Maybe you’ve never touched art materials, and want to give it a try, but don’t know where to start.

MAYBE…

• It would feel helpful to get some suggestions and tips for practicing art-making differently, or with more creative confidence, ease, curiosity… setting up a home studio, or creative corner/nook. Suggestions for things to make, art materials to buy, ways to muck with them.
• You’re feeling stuck, and you’d like to try something different …and maybe it’s this, but maybe it’s not, and you have questions.
• You want to define and understand self-care differently, but you don’t know where to start, or what the heck that might look like, or feel like.
• You’re bored, under-stimulated, over-stimulated, overwhelmed, underwhelmed …and you want to try something different, have a different kind of conversation. FEEL different.
• You’re wondering about the legitimacy of self-identifying as Neurodivergent, or you know you are but you don’t know what to do with that fact, where to start.

MY APPROACH

My approach to art therapy is very much rooted in the conversation of Neurodiversity …we’re all different. There’s no “normal” way to be, or think …or process & make sense of hard life stuff. What is YOUR experience in the world, in your life, in your relationships, in your body …in any given moment. I will support you in learning how to practice noticing what that is, understanding it differently, and building creative care practices to support yourself in all of it.

We’ll chat, we’ll work with different art materials and processes/ways of using them …creating, mucking about, pausing, noticing, regenerating, integrating. Some sessions will be spent working on a particular project, and others will be spent (literally) mucking about and making a mess.

WHAT TO EXPECT

• This work is collaborative, and it is a practice.
• Sessions are a combination of talk therapy, art-making (with a focus on creative process over product), and sometimes movement.
• No experience with art or art materials is required, and you needn’t consider yourself “artistic” or “creative” to participate and benefit.
• This is time that’s dedicated to just you, to intentionally & collaboratively explore different materials and processes – and to notice how they make you FEEL, in your body, right now. To help you get a clearer sense of where you’re at, what you want, and to enlist your imagination in creating the changes that you’re looking for.
• You might begin a session knowing exactly what you’d like to work with and/or talk about, or you might not. You might have an idea or issue that you’d like to explore – or maybe you don’t, and maybe it’s taken all that you have to just show up. Any which way – I’m here, with you – to guide & collaborate & keep & hold this space for you.
• There is no formula, no typical session …each day, each session will be different.
• Things will absolutely come up for you through the different processes that we will explore together, but I will not be making any diagnoses or interpretations based on the art that you make, or how you make it.
• This is a space and opportunity for you to explore, pause, reflect, be curious, and to make your own interpretations of what might come up (and out) for you.
• Our time together is confidential, respectful, and collaborative.