What is Integrative Arts Psychotherapy, who is it for and how does it work?
What am I trained in? I am an Integrative Arts Psychotherapist - simply put I am a psychotherapist who enables the sessions with arts. I draw on a range of psychological modalities: psychodynamic, developmental, person centred and trauma informed. Integrative arts psychotherapy is a clinical, evidence-based approach that combines traditional talking therapies with creative methods.
What happens in sessions? I work with a client’s creative expression and talking to enable them to uncover what’s troubling them. Creative expression might include art making, using objects in a sand tray, using other images and metaphors, writing, sound – whatever releases the imagination to express and represent things that are hard to put into words.
Does the client need to be artistic? Not at all, no art experience is needed – drawing stick people, using scribbles … it is all welcome. Thinking of metaphors, discussing dreams, thinking about how the body feels in response to an emotion… all of this is part of a creative dialogue to uncover more.
What type of issues do I work with? Generally, I am working with ‘defences’ people have developed from an early age to cope with their life events - these could be now showing up in unhelpful modes of operating like withdrawal or rage-full outbursts, or ‘clinical’ conditions like anxiety, depression, OCD, and more. All these defences show up in relationships and how we experience life. Because these are often related to development as a child, I’m curious about childhood experiences but equally recognise the impact of later experiences of trauma (big or ‘small’).
Why might someone want therapy? Sometimes a life stage or event (grief, retirement, divorce, redundancy, relationship difficulties etc) may seem particularly difficult to deal with alone – this can be an important time to seek the support of a trained therapist. Sometimes a set of reactions or behaviours maybe difficult to function with (depression, anxiety, OCD, stress, intrusive thoughts) – this can be a time to add therapy to some of the medical support you are seeking. There are other reasons to seek therapy – there may be big life questions you want someone to sit alongside you with; someone who can help hold a space in which you explore these without judgement.
How can change come about? Most psychological issues have power because they arise in our unconscious reactions - I believe coming into awareness through a connected relationship with a trained therapist and allowing the unconscious to express safely in sessions through art/creative expression starts to enable awareness and autonomy from which a person can change. In the sessions we look for patterns and meaning, for this reason psychotherapy tends to be longer term, and looks further into the past.
How do we work safely? I work in collaboration with my client – building the therapy outline and path together. In this I keep mindful of how we pace the work, how we work within someone’s ‘window of tolerance’. My training includes a trauma informed approach. In addition, I’m accredited with two professional bodies – HCPC and UKCP which holds me to professional standards to keep my work ethical and safe.