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Art therapy | Integrative Psychotherapy | 12step Counselling
Integrative Psychotherapy
This type of talking therapy can be beneficial for various personal, relational and existential troubles. It involves a collaborative process in which listening and working through what emerges may create a deeply healing experience. The process of becoming more conscious of one’s inner world and one’s impact on others may enable significant change in one’s sense of self and outlook on life. An integrative approach draws from different schools of psychotherapy to best address the client’s unique needs. I am mainly influenced by psychodynamic and attachment schools of thinking and practice in a humanistic stance to understand affective, cognitive, behavioural, physical and spiritual systems within a person.
12 Step Counselling
This form of counselling uses a structured framework based on 12 step recovery programs originally adopted by Alcoholics Anonymous. It is suggested for people who experience cravings, (food, alcohol, sex, ect…), mental obsessions and are struggling with compulsive behaviour. This therapeutic process can provide additional support to people who are working through the steps with their sponsors. Clients have found this approach very useful in helping them explore and work through underlying traumas that had fuelled their addictive cycles.
Clients seeking this form of therapy will be asked to attend 12 step meetings and to do some work in between sessions to achieve and maintain recovery.
Art Therapy
Art therapy is a powerful psychotherapeutic approach that reaches parts that other therapies don’t reach. It can take diverse forms depending on the client’s expressive preference (drawing, writing, painting, collage work, clay sculpting or sand-play). Art therapy is not about being a skilled or trained artist but more about expression of one’s inner world (mental images, thoughts, feelings, conflicts…) that may not get much attention.
This type of therapy is recommended for clients who feel stuck and feel limited in their ability to see solutions for their challenges and thereby developing and growing the creative mind can be seen as an objective in art therapy. Engaging with art materials can be powerful on a sensory level and can be used to communicate emotions at a verbal and non-verbal level, hence promoting awareness of sensations, feeling, thinking and new brain connections.
This process can facilitate reflection and allow ambiguity to exist from which new possibilities may emerge from images made within the therapeutic space. It can be effective for enhancing self-esteem, working through relational conflicts, anxieties, trauma, memory issues, depression and stress.
About Me
I am a registered therapist qualified in 12 Step Counselling, Integrative Psychotherapy and Art Therapy. I became interested in understanding relationships early on in life and encountered the healing aspects of creativity when I became an interiors consultant and jewellery designer. My journey continued as I was moved to working with people combining talking therapy with creativity. I obtained qualifications in Counselling, a Diploma in the Therapeutic Application of the Arts, and a Masters degree in Integrative Art Psychotherapy from the Institute for the Arts in Therapy and Education.
I have worked in community settings, charities and NHS services with issues related to addiction, trauma, sexual abuse and mood disorders. I currently work for an NHS Women’s Service for survivors of sexual abuse and also see clients with a wide range of presentations in private practice for limited sessions and for long-term therapy.
I aim to provide a safe, creative space and a genuine presence to build a good therapeutic alliance. I perceive successful therapy to be one that offers support but also challenges enough to empower the individual.
Orientation
My integrative training means that I have studied various approaches and have since developed my own orientation based on theoretical knowledge, my work with patients and personal life experiences. I therefore offer a wide range of interventions within a framework that prioritises the relationship between the client and the therapist.
My theoretical orientation draws from neuroscience, attachment, psychodynamic, existential and transpersonal schools of thought, always adopting a tailored approach to suit clients’ specific needs. The focus of my work involves being responsive to the person in the moment whilst holding in mind their history in order to facilitate new awareness, insight and change.
Philosophy
My working philosophy is rooted in the belief that we are social and relational beings and need others to grow as individuals. Our early experiences impact who we are, how we see the world and make meaning of life. I see psychotherapy as a dynamic endeavour that embraces paradoxes such as the need to feel safe and the need to take risks or the need for structure and the need to feel free. In the symbolic therapeutic space of existence, fixed knowing becomes suspended whilst communication, exploration and imagination are cultivated from which may emerge the creation of connections and new meaning.
Experience
I have experience working in NHS, community based services and in private practice with clients presenting with a range of issues such as sexual abuse, eating disorders and borderline personality disorders, and have offered short-term therapy for anxiety and bereavement.
Areas of special interest
My special interests include psychoneuroimmunology, attachment trauma and the psychology of wellbeing and resilience. I am also interested in providing early psycho-educational interventions in schools for young teens.
Accreditation
I am registered with the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) and a member of the British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT).
For more information or to make an enquiry contact Diane today!!
Service Categories
Counselling, Life Coaching, Psychotherapy
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