heal your mind, body & soul
What is a Professional Art Therapist and What Do They Do?
A professional art therapist works in the areas of mental health field. He or she is dedicated to helping both adults and children of all ages with their mental, physical, and emotional health by incorporating art making into the patient’s counselling sessions. Art therapy is used to treat stress, depression, low self-esteem, behavioural problems and to resolve conflict.
Problems that can be treated with Art Therapy
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Substance abuse and addiction
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Family and relationship problems
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Mental illness
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Domestic violence and sexual abuse
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Disability and illness related to emotional and social difficulties
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Trauma
What is Art Therapy?
Art therapy uses creative processes, including art making, drama, and movement to improve and enhance physical, mental and emotional well-being. Art therapy works by accessing imagination and creativity, to develop a more integrated sense of self, with increased self awareness and acceptance.
Art Therapy can help us to find and create our life story, find meaning, purpose and direction in our life. The process can help us to heal ourselves and others and reach our full potential.
What is Transpersonal Art Therapy?
"Transpersonal work provides people in crises with an alternative to symptom suppression. It helps them to creatively adapt to their crisis, using the experience to grow and truly heal. The experience is transformed into a breakthrough rather than breakdown."
- Phoenix Institute of Australia
Transpersonal means looking past the “Persona” or mask that we all wear, to the core of our soul; and so connecting to the spiritual.
Transpersonal Art Therapy uses a psycho-spiritual approach to counselling, recognises a spectrum of consciousness, including altered states, dreams, intuition and a collective consciousness, and accesses creativity to work through problems and issues.
Transpersonal Art Therapy encourages self awareness which leads to authenticity and personal empowerment, is client centred and based on the Shamanic Model, encourages holistic healing by considering mind, body, spirit and environment.
How can I benefit from Art Therapy?
Some benefits you may experience through the therapeutic journey include:
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Experiencing a safe and supportive environment to explore aspects you may normally keep hidden
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Clarifying concerns or challenges
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Working through and healing personal issues and traumas
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Developing strategies to better cope with anxiety, depression, fear, grief, or loss.
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Gaining support through life transitions
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Self expression when you may not be able to describe how you are feeling with words alone
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Acceptance of all parts of self and assisting to become whole
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Renewed understanding of personal meaning and discovery of inner resources
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Reconnecting with creativity
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Increasing self esteem, self worth and confidence
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Developing healthy coping skills
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Self empowerment, strength and an understanding of personal values when making life decisions.
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Opens doors for feelings too difficult to talk about
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Increases self-esteem and confidence
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Provides relaxation and balance
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Taps into one's creative side
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Helps you break through rather than break down
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Provides tools to navigate transitions in life
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Assists personal growth and insight
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“You just feel better inside”
Why not go to a counsellor, isn't it the same?
Art Therapy reaches where words fail or are not enough. By using the art as a vehicle, one taps into the creative and intuitive sides of the self, encouraging a holistic and integrative healing process.
The opportunity to partake in art activities is often one's first exposure to such creativity since childhood. The emotional response to memory stimulus from childhood can be a powerful tool in the therapeutic process.
What makes Inner Place unique is that we are also able to offer Counselling to clients who wish to avail of the service.
I can't draw or paint. I couldn't do Art Therapy could I?
Art Therapy is not about the final product or producing works of art. It is about the process. No experience of art is needed, you can't make a mistake.