What is Art Therapy and do I have to know how to draw?

Art therapy is a tool therapists use to help clients understand, express, and resolve their emotions and thoughts.  Clients work with an art therapist to explore their emotions, understand conflicts or feelings that are causing them distress, and use art to help them find solutions to those issues.

I often say to people it's not about the skill set – it doesn’t matter if you can only draw stick figures.  Just let yourself enjoy the space to be able to work through problems not easily spoken about.

Art helps you think outside the box and together we will find a project that will allow you to travel at your own pace and find your path. It may be painting an elaborate painting, or it may be choosing a new quilt for your bed.

Art can be the rocks you pick up on a beach walk allowing you to create a message of encouragement, a stick figure cartoon, a simple drawing, a colouring page, or a painting.

I find art to be a place to reflect, laugh and problem-solve through the challenges you are facing. To allow us to ask questions and see the world in a different light (or colour).

Do you have a favourite colour? Have you asked yourself why you like one colour more than another?  Do you often change the colour schemes in your home?  A colour that spoke to you in your 20s may not fit in your 40s.

Do you feel anxious in a yellow or orange room? Does the color blue or green make you feel calm and relaxed? Artists (and interior designers) believe that colour can dramatically affect moods, feelings, and emotions. "Colours, like features, follow the changes of the emotions," the artist Pablo Picasso once remarked.

Do you have a space in your home that is yours alone?  What does this space look like? Everyone’s creative spirit is different. Colours and creative projects are personal and are often a non-verbal voice for us. The colours we have in our home and in our clothes often speak for us.

Art therapy accepts that life shapes and influences us all differently.

Come and create your story.