My therapeutic approach is grounded in supporting people to better understand themselves and their relationships with others.

 

In Art Psychotherapy, people have the opportunity to work on personal and relational challenges or barriers, including deeply-held matters that may arise through having the space, time, tools, and materials to share how they see and feel in the world.   This can be an informative,  enriching, and rewarding experience.

“I had never worked with a therapist of any kind before embarking on my work with Jess… Jess was immediately so reassuring and offered such a warm, open, and unconditional invitation to encounter and work with the materials of my choice. The combination of Jess’ gentle, supportive enquiry and the grounding, connecting touch of the wet clay that I chose laid the foundations for a series of sessions during which I was able to meet myself with similar care and tenderness and allow myself, finally, to peel off layers of hurt that were no longer serving their once-vital function.  I would recommend both art psychotherapy and, specifically, Jess as your art psychotherapist whole-heartedly and enthusiastically.”
Client

 

How? 

My therapeutic practice is underpinned and framed by psychodynamic psychotherapy, which essentially regards people’s past experiences as influencing their present sense of self and their relationships to others.

People are not required to have prior experience of art-making or psychotherapy.  (The notion of making art might seem daunting at first, but it may also be comforting to remind yourself that self-expression and creativity are a regular feature of life; it’s in the way you make a cup of tea, take a walk, daydream, choose to wear your clothes, or how you write an email.)

Everyone’s life stories are unique to them and so people bring their individual experiences into Art Psychotherapy.  However, it might be helpful to know that I have worked with people who face challenges around:

  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Illness and health-related issues
  • Bereavement & loss
  • Identity, intersectionality and culture (e.g. racial, ethnic, religious, spiritual, social, political, gender, and sexual experiences)
  • Work (e.g. stress, vicarious trauma, professional relationships)
  • Perinatal period (e.g. fears around pregnancy and child birth, pregnancy and birth trauma, attachment and bonding, grief and loss, and fertility)
  • Growing up (e.g. children and young people struggling with identity, relational, emotional, social, and behavioural issues)
  • Being in a family (e.g. parenting, intergenerational relationships and trauma)
  • Learning Disabilities
  • Neurodiversity
  • Relationships, sex and intimacy (e.g. relationship breakdowns, infidelity, shame, couples and other forms of consensual relationships, desire, dysfunction)
  • Functional Neurological Disorder (FND)
  • Experiences of organised religion (e.g. cult survivors, marrying ‘out’)
  • Psychosis and hearing voices
  • Childhood trauma, including abuse and neglect  
  • Domestic and sexual violence
  • The body and shame (e.g. disordered eating and self-harm)
  • Displacement and asylum-seeking experiences

 

Initially, we will have a free 15-minute phone consultation to discuss your reasons for seeking Art Psychotherapy and for you to ask any questions you may have.  After this, we would meet in person (or online) for an initial session to further explore what you would like to gain from therapy and for us to decide if I am the right therapist for you.

If you’d like to find out more about Art Psychotherapy or working with me, please do get in touch.