Therapeutic Art & Talk Therapy

A woman with long dark hair and earrings, wearing a floral robe, sitting on a bed outside on a blanket, writing in a notebook with a pen, with greenery in the background. 
Art is the bridge between our internal world and external world.

Sometimes it is not always easy to talk about emotions or how we are feeling. It takes courage and vulnerability to meet with a counsellor and talk about concerns in your life. I offer Therapeutic Art exercises combined with talk therapy for those interested to enrich the counselling experience in a unique way.

Different parts of our brain get activated when we engage in art making, helping us to move out of rumination or worry. Therapeutic art redirects our attention to the creative process in the here-and-now allowing our intuition to guide and lead us to new insights.

Therapeutic art can be a useful way of processing emotions that may be harder to verbalize. While therapeutic art is not art therapy, using simple therapeutic art practices guided by our intuition and current emotional state can assist in exploring emotions and bring out new insights, ideas or perspectives.

What does a therapeutic art session look like?

Next, we will likely settle in to the session with a simple exercise, such as a meditation or a mindful art exercise.

Depending on what is going on for you, we may focus more on talk therapy, or we will use some time delving into a therapeutic art exercise to help ease what may be causing tension or distress.

No need to buy a bunch of art supplies. All of the therapeutic exercises can be done using just a pen/pencil and paper.

Recommended supplies to have on hand: Pencil crayons, paints, markers, pastels, magazines to cut out of, clay, glue

At the start of the session, we will begin with a check-in to see if there is anything that has been bothering you or on your mind.

I’ll check in to see what art supplies you have. Based on what you have, we will work with the materials that are accessible to you.

Flat lay of various items on a wooden surface, including a jar with a black label, a small cutout paper with handwritten notes about human experiences and a cozy spot for relaxation, a blue book, a green plant, and a box of assorted decorative stickers with floral and bow designs.
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*Please note that I am not an Art Therapist; After completing my Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology, I enrolled in additional training as a Therapeutic Art Practitioner from the Canadian International Institute of Art Therapy (CIIAT). I incorporate art for those interested to facilitate self-exploration and insights, but the art is not used as the therapy, meaning it is not assessed by me. I have experienced first-hand how powerful art can be in learning more about our internal processes and how it can visually bring awareness into meaningful insights. Thus, this is an option for those who may be interested.