“This represents the innocents (especially children affected by war. I took the fore print with an analogue camera and then blended it with a famous World War 2 propaganda pic.). I sketched and was playing with the first painting off of the famous Pink Floyd scream and the forefront being that of Muas. Pretty dark, but not all art is light. Helps to stop the darkness from consuming myself, so the release/art therapy helps for me to speak in words that I can’t always digress o

“This peace was inspired by the idea of taking a break and doing something different. Instead of solely focusing on the environment and the emotions I was feeling, as with my main pieces. This one was instead inspired by a simple concept: catharsis. Thus creating this piece to display a mountain on the horizon with trees and open fields. The idea of the pier represents the connection to stability while also allowing for change (in the form of weather wear and tear). The fox a

“This is Frank (he/him) the blue dinosaur and Cozy (she/they) the orange bat. They are unlikely friends. This was the first time I used soft clay and it felt weirdly soft but slimy.“ This participant gave me consent to share #softclay #creativeandexperientialtherapies #creativetherapy #artishealing #artheals

I’m really excited to share that my artwork and poem Misgendering (2025) are being published in Art Therapy. This piece is deeply personal, exploring the experience of being misgendered through self-portraiture, collage and poetry, and it feels pretty special to see a piece of my own creative work finding a home in the art therapy literature. Snapshot of an email from the Production Editor. #arttherapy #taylorandfrancis #arttherapyjournal #arttherapypublication #creativeandex

“I don’t always know what I’m looking at when I begin. A feeling. A memory. A sensation. A fragment of a story. Creative and experiential therapy helps me stay with the uncertainty long enough for something meaningful to emerge. Not all at once. Just enough for the next step.” This participant gave me consent to share #creativeandexperientialtherapies #creativetherapy #healingthroughart #arthealing #artheals

“Dance with the waves, move with the sea. Let the rhythm of the water set your soul free.” - Mary Oliver This participant gave me permission to share #creativeandexperientialtherapies #bilateraldrawing #artwillsetyoufree #healingthroughart #artheals

“I made this because seeing the water fountains is one of my favourite memories. Another one of my favourite memories is meeting Rae.” This participant gave me permission to share #creativeandexperientialtherapies #childledtherapy #playtherapy #minecraftblocks #minecrafttherapy

“This was a delicate process. I did the first image and discovered the leaves afterwards. I also discovered unknown growth.“ This participant gave me permission to share #growththroughart #artheals #creativehealing #creativeandexperientialtherapies #artprogress

“Beyond the glorification, the reality isn’t what the propaganda wants us to think… What’s not ever really highlighted is the true struggles with trauma, each having our own to carry…In the end we only have ourselves and those we choose to let in, often with battle scars of their own. Each is trying to prop each other up, as the systems are purposely torn down to be broken, on those already too broken to stand up and fight back anymore…” AM gave me permission to share...

“Created during a first in-person session after a journey from Alice Springs, this painting found a second life as a puppet. After seeing the transformation, a dream about making colourful iceberg puppet ls was shared. Some creative threads seem to weave themselves together in unexpected ways. Before long, this colourful companion will be making the journey home.” This participant gave me consent to share #puppettherapy #creativeandexperientialtherapies #creativetherapy #pupp

QUESTIONS I OFTEN ASK IN A FIRST SESSION: “What previous therapy experiences have you had, and what was helpful and/or unhelpful for you?” “What are your intentions, hopes, and/or needs for our therapeutic journey together?” “What are you hoping to get out of creative and experiential approaches to therapy?” “What is your relationship to creativity, and how does it show up in your life?” “What feels most important for me to understand about you and your reasons for coming her

“Emotion Box The stains of paint are like scars left by trauma. This box tells the story of survival. The black box represents my body. Hidden inside are my emotions—some heavy, some hopeful. My heart is broken and cries quietly beneath the surface. Words of sadness, pain, disability, injustice, control and suicide sit beside hope, love, light, truth and equality. They all exist together, just as they do within me. The angels remind me that I am never completely alone. My cat

“This piece is about connection and all the distractions and dilemmas we face within ourselves in relationships and the growth we gain in ourselves and awareness.” Shared with permission from @dubse_art #healingthroughart #creativeandexperientialtherapies #artthatspeaks #explorationthroughart #reflectiveart

“After taking about intrusive thoughts with a car lighter. I had a visualization of a car lighter on the tongue. I made a template of the mouth and cut it out in cardboard. I layered the cardboard and paper mached the lips for dimension after hot gluing toilet paper. I also layered cardboard for the car lighter. I used soft air clay to form the tongue.“ This participant gave me consent to share #creativeandexperientialtherapies #intrusiveart #intrusivethoughtsart #intrusiveth

“We never know what we project outside of ourselves. Maybe we understand ourselves through the vector of our own selves. We understand each other through that same self knowledge. Sometimes the bits of ourselves that have hurt us in the past come back out of us as a way of healing.” This participation gave me permission to share #insideoutsidebox #creativeandexperientialtherapies #healingthroughart #artthatheals #artheals

“Amongst the chaos, where shapes collide and colours push against each other, there is always one small constant — my cat.” This participant gave me permission to share #amongstthechaos #mycat #creativetherapy #creativeandexperientialtherapies #arttherapy

“This artwork is of a new day, a new life. It is the 3rd painting in the series of unknown numbers, which highlights the progression over a period of time. It represents a change in life experiences; experiencing tumultuous relationships, developing as an individual person outside of relationships and discovering yourself again. Sometimes you just have to wake up and smell the flowers.“ This participant gave me consent to share #creativetherapy #creativeandexperientialtherapi

“You talk about how you wish to be taken apart by me Soft hands turn skin red and pant you beautiful hughes of blues To make you mine and do as I wish You communicate it as unaware of what power you hold over my hands and teeth To bite you would make me but a dog Untrained Broken and in need of restraint Did you mother not teach you not to feed strays as they will come back expecting more You give me access to flesh like I am not starved of it But like most mutts I don’t know

“During supervision, I created this Online Sand Tray to explore themes of safety, protection, emotional overwhelm, and hypervigilance. The wall and guarded figures represented the need to stay alert and protect vulnerable parts of myself from perceived threats or emotional harm. The contaminated water symbolised emotions or external stressors that felt unsafe or difficult to contain, while the castle represented something vulnerable and important that I was trying to protect.

“These little creations have been an exploration of emotions through my depression. Some emotions came out quickly like anger and guilt, and some took a little longer to explore such as the destigmatization of rest and gluttony. During previous therapy explorations I have always tried to cure my symptoms. They were unpleasant and ‘wrong’ and therefore had to go. This exploration through art has been teaching me of the value of sitting with emotions and symptoms, especially wh