Creative/Expressive Psychotherapy involves diverse ways of working with clients of all ages, using sand, objects, images, writing, poetry, music, clay etc. which assist psychological healing and growth. Creative therapy works at very deep levels, and uses some non-verbal expression as a means to communicate our inner world.

Finding clarity in your thoughts can often be difficult using words alone, so creative therapy can help you to understand and communicate your inner experience and what you're feeling in other ways.

With creative therapies, there is no “right” and “wrong”. Whatever emerges is welcome and a great way to explore and reflect on your life. It works from the bottom up, i.e. from the unconscious up to the conscious, so there is no pressure on you to find the words. It is extremely helpful in finding meaning, in a safe and contained way. It also helps to build trust in yourself and in the world.

There is no need to bring anything into the creative therapy sessions, just yourself and your willingness to be there with the therapist. The therapist will provide whatever is required and you will not have to “make” or “do” anything that doesn’t come about spontaneously to you.

Sometimes clients might say they haven’t a creative bone in their body – we say just trust us and give it a chance. The creative therapy winds in and out throughout the sessions, and includes what is generally termed “talk-therapy”.

Sometimes there is a lot of talk, other times it is more just letting the process work. It is a fluid and flexible way of working which can bring about deep insight and processing of developmental and complex trauma.

We find that creative therapy is often where the client lands after having had short term counselling and CBT, where the improvements have not been sustained, indicating that deeper work might be worthwhile.

Oftentimes clients think creative therapy is like “Arts & Crafts”; it isn’t — and there is no producing a product at the end, this is all about the process.