Creative Counselling
Julie Cunningham
A R T G R O U P S
Expressive, Creative, and Reflective Processes.
Participating in groups offers social interaction, and a shared exploration of themes, issues and creative processes. In facilitating "Art Medicine" groups I draw from training in counselling, my knowledge of art, my own art practice, my training in art therapy and my teaching experience in the visual arts.
For Adults
A group can form to engage with a specific focus. I invite, encourage and guide self expression, reflection and exploration through creative processes. Through art, unconscious feelings or unhelpful stories can be uncovered and given form in order to a facilitate reflective process. Emotional pressures on our body/minds can be relieved, so our dials can swing to a happier setting. Through insight and enjoyment the mind and emotions benefit.
Adults with disabilities
As with all adult groups, working with and facilitating Adults with disabilities is a process that requires shaping activities to fit the needs, abilities and wishes of the group.
Activities could range from craft/art processes, to painting, scultpure, story-making and possibly video production.
For Teenagers
For teenagers art provides a way to give shape and form to hard to express feelings. This is beneficial in itself but can also provide a point of focus to springboard communication about something. Art as a channel for creative self reflection is empowering, non judgemental and fun. It's about drawing out the person's own answers so for teenagers who are wrestling with identity or other impassioned feelings about themselves and the world, creativity for wellbeing can be very effective.
Through art we can also focus on what to us, is life affirming. It can draw a person into a highly focused zone where stress level drops and imagination is unleashed to explore and play.
Children 5 -12
This is a time to expand and hold onto the powers of imagination, engage with techniques and have fun. In children imagination is not only a kind of muscle for fun, but aids in making discoveries, solving problems and is the basis of growing a capacity for creative thinking, a vital aspect of living well.