Healing Through Art: An Art Therapist's Unique Approach

When it comes to addressing mental health difficulties, traditional talking therapies can be really helpful and definitely have their benefits. However we are physical beings; when we are sad we cry, scared we hide, jump up and down when we are excited and bite our nails when we are anxious. Before we could talk our first forms of communication were physical and we were "creative" before we were verbal, squidging and smearing food and later scribbling and colouring.

Art Psychotherapy (also called Art Therapy) taps into our innate desire to express ourselves without needing to find the perfect or right words, "A picture is worth a thousand words".

Sadly, a lot of adults lose this natural ability to express themselves in this way and have said to to Art Therapists "I'm no good at art" and feel embarrassed to even begin to express themselves creatively.  Unfortunately early carefree self expression, exploration and imaginative immersion evaporates so quickly once we hit the educational system and we are judged and graded. We learn quickly what we have to "say" might not be worth saying. An Art Therapist allows a creative freedom with their clients as there is no right or wrong in self expression and I often remind my clients that Martin Creed won the Turner Prize with a screwed up a piece of paper! A client may experience alongside the guidance of an Art Psychotherapist that what they have to "say" is both accepted and cherished.

Often what a client experiences in the engagement with an Art Therapist also mirrors other experiences for example difficulty choosing a piece of paper might also reflect difficulties with decision making.

The creative outlet provided by Art Therapy has so many other benefits apart from just being a physical release. An Art Therapist can help clients; capture a chaotic internal world and organise complex thoughts and feelings, allow for suppressed and early experiences to come to the surface, and captures a visual diary of the whole therapeutic journey.

As Art Therapists we also have the benefit of using themes to aid focus and guide the therapy which can really help move towards identified desired outcomes. However I feel the best part of art psychotherapy is that it slows everything down. In our current rapid, microwave, burnout inclined society, slowing down and focusing is half the recipe to finding good mental health.

What sets City Solace Psychotherapy apart is its flexible and creative methods that aim to connect with clients on a deeper level and empower them through the healing process.

City Solace Psychotherapy provides a safe and supportive environment for clients to explore and address a variety of mental health issues, with the option of using both Art Therapy and Talking Therapy, to address depression, anxiety, attachment, grief and loss and the impact of early life experiences on development and emotional resilience.

One of the key strengths of City Solace Psychotherapy lies in its dedication to helping individuals build emotional resilience by empowering clients to strengthen their sense of self and their emotional well-being. This provides a foundation to begin to identify what they may need and want and what changes they desire to bring to their life.

So whether you're struggling with past traumas, relationship issues, or simply looking to improve your emotional well-being, City Solace Psychotherapy offers a unique and personalised approach to therapy that can help you on your journey to healing and good mental health. This may involve Art Therapy alongside talking Therapy, or just the spoken element, it is really what you feel most comfortable with.

If you are either based in, or near, Rotherhithe, South East London,—or even further afield and open to online sessions—and you're looking for mental health support that goes beyond traditional talking therapy, consider the creative and transformative approach of Art Therapy. City Solace Psychotherapy offers a unique path to healing and emotional well-being through the power of creative expression. Your journey to healing and emotional well-being starts here.