Arts Psychotherapy
What is Arts Therapy?
Art therapy has been used for centuries, but in modern Australian society it was only fully recognized as a therapeutic practice about 30 years ago. It is well known that art and other creative activities have beneficial effects such as stress release, self-soothing, transformation of troubling emotions, as well as giving pleasure and joy. Painting, drawing, sculpting, as well as dancing, movement and music, have been used as expressive means since the beginning of human culture, often replacing verbal communication.
This is what distinguishes the expressive therapies from mere verbal counselling - the above creative modalities can help to express what cannot be easily communicated in words, and they often also act as a medium to enhanced self-understanding and to the revelation of solutions that one has not thought of before.
Your Arts Therapy Session
In your session, we will start with a verbal exploration of your circumstances and discuss your therapy goals. We might then add expressive modalities like drawing, painting, collage, clay, sand-play, movement, as well as mindfulness to gain insight into possible causes and to find new approaches for you. Following this, we can look further into how those new approaches could be implemented into your life to create successful change. In general, a cycle of at least 5 sessions is recommended, but this will vary for each individual case.
Arts therapy and psychotherapy services are available in-person at our Billinudgel practice, servicing clients in Byron Bay, Ocean Shores, Brunswick Heads, and surrounding Byron Shire areas, as well as online for those who cannot attend in person.
