Art as emotional process

Alongside painting and teaching, I’ve had a thriving psychotherapy practice for the past ten years. I’m trained and accredited in the UK and three days of my week are devoted to this fulfilling work. I really value the balance of my working life, with the sanctity of my psychotherapy days contrasting with the indulgence of time in my painting studio. Studio days are therapy for ME!

Of late I’ve found myself with increasing numbers of artists on my books, seeking to make sense of life in a way that supports and enriches their creative practice, or dealing with emotional patterns that can sabotage confidence and flow. I find it really helpful that as a painter myself, I have a particular empathy I can bring to this work, an understanding of the nuances and complexities of living an artistic life and a shared language about creativity.

What I offer is different from ‘art therapy’ or ‘art psychotherapy’, both of which use art-making as a tool for therapeutic exploration. (Both in any case are protected titles, aligned with a particular training which I don’t have.) I’m a conventional psychotherapist working through conversation and with what emerges in the relationship between us, just increasingly making artists aware that that I have a specialism in creativity. Sometimes we may talk about art, sometimes not at all. Sessions of course are yours to use as you wish. What is central to the work though is my belief that emotional maturity and wellbeing leads to the most exciting, profound and original forms of creativity and that’s been borne out in the work I’ve witnessed made by artists I’ve been working with. Emotional growth really is transformational!