Creative Counselling
Julie Cunningham
Seven process keys:
Explore, play, express, create, reflect, discover, direct.
Explore.
In therapeutic conversation we can explore what is going on in your life or perhaps, what is not going on, but you wish it was.
In A focus will arise that needs greater attention, and I invite you to engage with an art process to explore it further through colour, shapes, patterns, or images.
Then, through gentle questions about what you have created, more is revealed.
Play
Visual exploring can involve playing with images, stories, maps, patterns, shapes, collages, masks, clay or other objects or materials. Play leads to discovery and in itself has therapeutic affects!
Express
In guided processes you get to express what is needing to be expressed, and at times what comes up may surprise you.
If something has hurt or affected you but remains unspoken this expressive release can be vital to your wellbeing. Being supported and "held" in the process lowers your stress level and will often unhinge an internal blocks.
Create
Creativity is in our DNA and we have created tools, imagined
decorated, sung and danced since culture began.
Beyond creating being enjoyable in itself you create so there are forms to reflect upon.
Reflect
Through open questions I encourage you to reflect on what you have created, to locate associations, emotions and stories expressed within. These can reflect you r life and what is happening, has happened, or you would like to happen.
Reflecting is vital to how the processes work whether in groups or with individuals, but you are always free to share or hold back what you are feeling or thinking.
Reflection turns up discoveries.
Discover
Through the processes outlined above you may discover what has been hidden in a situation from your more conscious self, or find levels of self understanding that were obscured before. You may also discover you have capabilities and desires you were unaware of.
You can choose to affect or work further with what has arisen or been revealed in a session and direct yourself towards an inner or outer goal via other creative processes.
Direct
In directing yourself towards an internal and/or external goal you might make an image, collage or sculpture ...which while you are making it and when you see it will work on not only your conscious self but also your unconscious self, a very powerful part of the mind. When you feed you mind with this input you help to direct yourself to opening up and developing that greater possibility for yourself and your life.