MY BELIEF IN THE POWER OF FOCUSING-ORIENTED ART THERAPY
It Began in Childhood
My introduction to the
therapeutic benefits of art began when I was a toddler. I nestled with crayons and paper in my
father’s lap as he read the newspaper.
He guided and accompanied me in art making only when I asked. My
scribbles became cats and dogs, weather and people, and stories about my
day. Both my parents took the time to
tune into what my art work and I had to say.
At the age of five something
too young in me screamed my lack of readiness to separate from home to enter elementary
school. My parents decided school entry could wait a year, and that a different
sort of preparation was needed as no kindergarten existed in our area. With a
sheath of my art work in hand, my parents convinced the Vancouver School of Art
to enroll me under-aged in weekend classes. I was ready for the elementary
classroom by the time I turned six and continued those Saturday morning art
classes until the age of 12 when the Vancouver School of Art shut down.
Throughout childhood I often used
art to connect with my friends and with myself. Sometimes my parents would peek
around a corner to watch me draw out, work through, and resolve inner conflicts
before I headed back out to play. Art
making with others brought a soothing, relaxing resonance. It calmed us, opened
us up to chat, and helped us sort through events of our lives. Perhaps this is where my call to work in the
helping professions began.
A PASSION FOR FACILITATING
EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING
As an Educator
My training in service to
others started as a Teacher with a B.Ed. from UBC and a Professional
Concentration in Psychology. After four years in the classroom I knew I wanted
to do more to help children who were struggling to learn. This led me back to UBC for a Master’s Degree
then forward to work as a Reading Clinician for nine school districts in South
Central Manitoba. My work with teachers and with children with learning disabilities
was widely recognized and commended by the International Reading
Association. I moved next into the
position of Learning Specialist and Consultant for the Child Care and
Development Branch of the Manitoba Government. While working in this role with
children affected by learning and emotional struggles, gifted Child
Psychologist, Jerry Jonsson, introduced me to the application of Art Therapy
with children. This inspired me to train
as an Art Therapist.
As an Art Therapist
I completed Master’s level training
in Art Psychotherapy at Goldsmith’s, University of London, in 1995. While in
England, I qualified as a Registered Art Therapist (BAAT-British Art Therapy
Association), set up a successful post as an Art Therapist in a Residential
School for children with severe emotional and behavioral struggles, and worked
with a subgroup of BAAT to further integrate Art Therapy into Britain’s
education system.
In 1995, I returned to Canada
to the education field as a high school Special Education Support Teacher, while concurrently working as an Art Therapist. In
2007 I became a Registered Art Therapist with the British Columbia Art Therapy
Association (BCATR). In 2016 I applied for and achieved Registered Clinical
Counsellor (RCC) status with the British Columbia Association of Clinical
Counsellors.
As a Focusing Oriented Therapist
In 2012 I took my first
course in Focusing Oriented Therapy (FOT).
This client-centered experiential approach was discovered and developed by Eugene Gendlin based on his observations of clients who had successful courses of therapy. He discovered they used a natural process of listening to their body's sense of an issue to guide themselves forward into action steps for handling life's challenges. I felt I had found the missing piece in my
training. Knowing I could integrate
Focusing into my work whether that be in the classroom or in the art room, I undertook
five years of study, and completed my Certification in Focusing Oriented
Therapy (CFOT) in 2017.
Inspired by the work of Laury Rappaport, who pioneered and developed Focusing Oriented Art Therapy, I too have found that
the integration of Focusing with Art Therapy allows for deeper mind-body-spirit connections.
It allows
for artistic expression of the body’s felt sense of a situation,
hearing what the body wants to say, sensing for its emotional quality,
then seeing what this inner landscape wants and needs, and which action steps to take into life and living.
It is from zig-zagging back and forth between mind and body, from right brain processing to left brain processing-- within the triangular relationship between therapist, client and artwork--that fresh insights come-- and shifts forward in self-healing and transformation can occur.
Using Other Colours on My Palette
The needs and goals of my
clients help me to determine which other client-centered approaches to integrate
when working together. Attachment theory informs my work, as do current
neuroscientific research findings. Dream Therapy, so akin to processes used with
art work during Focusing Oriented Art Therapy, fascinates me and provides me and clients with another therapeutic avenue. My years of experience and training as a Learning Specialist and Special Education Support Teacher adds depth and dimension to my assessments and observations of the 'change processes' within clients. When fitting, I help augment their ‘change process’ with
Narrative or Motivational or Solutions Oriented Brief Therapy and Psycho-educational
approaches. This enables clients to further
their knowledge and to construct concrete action steps to use outside of the
therapy room that feel right for them.
My intent is always for the
client to be in the driver’s seat and for me to take their lead. My job is to
journey alongside-- to be an active listener, to respect the client’s wishes, process
and readiness, to shine a light in areas already in view within their inner
landscape--so they can listen to themselves to where they want
to go. I feel privileged to accompany those children, adolescents and adults
who choose to work with me.
***
To get a sense of the process
I use when working with children visit the Children page.
To hear how children,
adolescents and adults have benefitted from my work, visit the Testimonials page.
To book a Focusing Oriented
Art Therapy workshop for a group of students, staff or friends, visit the Workshops page.
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