ARTiculate Therapy

Becoming unstuck

Lots of firsts this summer, some awe inspiring and some more difficult, requiring some bravery and acceptance. One of the wonderful reminders is that a change of environment can spark a sense of newness and possibilities. From riding a bike along the coast to manning a jet ski, these experiences can give a sense of freedom, confidence in our own abilities, and a realisation that we can do many things we choose to when in the routine of our every day familiar lives. We can break from patterns not serving us and change our circumstances. Some adjustment of the nervous system doesn’t always require therapy - it can be done with having to use fresh eyes and using our bodies in new ways.

My youngest enjoying ice cream whilst taking a break from Tik Tok making (nothing new there 😄) on the beach.

Whatever it is you are doing this summer, I hope it gives new perspective for any changes you want to make.

💛

The highly sensitive tend to be philosophical or spiritual in their orientation, rather than materialistic or hedonistic. They dislike small talk. They often describe themselves as creative or intuitive. They dream vividly, and can often recall their dreams the next day. They love music, nature, art, physical beauty. They feel exceptionally strong emotions--sometimes acute bouts of joy, but also sorrow, melancholy, and fear.
Highly sensitive people also process information about their environments--both physical and emotional--unusually deeply. They tend to notice subtleties that others miss--another person's shift in mood, say, or a lightbulb burning a touch too brightly. ~Susan Cain

(Book: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking https://amzn.to/3xLmij9 [ad])

(Art: Photograph by Louis Fleckenstein)

A multi sensory experience at Jamie Holmans current exhibition at Blackburn museum. Always intelligent, conscious and well researched with layered messages. The warm, yet balanced socialist and humanitarian always felt in his work, whether intended or not. Had the joy of collecting a stunning print he reserved, that I look forward to framing.

Happy Summer Solstice ☀️
An opportunity to recharge, shine, blossom or whatever it is you choose to harness from the sun on this longest day.

Baloo absorbing the elements and enjoying the view. 💛

Best Of Trauma Super Conference 2024 | Conscious Life Join the BEST OF Trauma Super Conference where we'll explore the impacts of trauma, share tools and strategies to help support healing, and much more!

Creativity with flowers today; 🌸
natural fabric dying, drying and arranging.

An immersive, sensory experience, igniting restorative conversation and connection. 🌸

Mindfulness. 🌸

Hot off the lathe - Benchmark end grain chopping boards are back in stock!

❤️We love this project with Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS that supports recovery through engaging in creative woodwork processes as well as providing training and work-related opportunities to people experiencing complex and enduring mental health issues.

These chopping boards are always popular in the Gallery Shop! Each handmade board is made from reclaimed hardwood timber derived from various sources such as discarded furniture, construction waste and most importantly fallen trees.

Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust

Epigenetic’s

Last year this quote spoke to a lot of people. Maybe you need it today.

🌿 Luke + Lauren

quote: Stephi Wagner 🤍
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Having found the time and circumstance for plein air painting recently, and seeing pink blossom grace us with it’s beautiful presence, I am put in mind of a few pre raphealite paintings.

I find a blossom tree in full splendour, stunning; especially when a soft breeze gives it a gentle bounce, making it look like an inviting pink cloud. 😊

Just as beautiful to watch, are the petals dancing away in the wind, a few short weeks later. There is a melancholy to the process and a lesson about having to let go, even of something so wonderful. Letting go of something not so wonderful can be difficult too.

Nature holds metaphors for us to relate to, if we’re present enough to see them. 🌸

John William Waterhouse

Therapy doesn’t always feel serious. Once a therapeutic alliance is established, we often have moments of fun and laughter when appropriate. It can be an important part of the relationship between client and therapist. On that note, here is my St Bernard taking the driving seat today to observe me in the butchers.
He has been known to feature on zoom sessions. Bookings on request 😄

Sending wishes of contentment, laughter or whatever it is you feel you need this weekend.💛

It was a pleasure to discover this artist today. I don’t have a therapeutic relationship with her - I do have an appreciation of her work as a fellow art maker and ex teacher. Gina uses multiple mediums to express her interest in home, body dysmorphia and memories. I personally enjoyed the ambiguity in her work which evoked a tribal sense for me. What do you think when you look at her monoprints?

“The parent-child connection is the most powerful mental health intervention known to mankind.” Bessel van der Kolk.

Mother and Child. Norah Neilson.

MAKE THE ORDINARY
COME ALIVE

"Do not ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives.
Such striving may seem admirable, but it is the way of foolishness.
Help them instead to find the wonder and the marvel of an ordinary life.
Show them the joy of tasting tomatoes, apples and pears.
Show them how to cry when pets and people die.
Show them the infinite pleasure in the touch of a hand.
And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself.”

-William Martin

Artists are vessels for society, and often shared experiences. Whilst it is helpful to highlight the feel good factors of engaging with art, it is also useful to acknowledge the identifications we can make, with what can be unfortunate and traumatic events. I see first hand, how people no longer feel isolated in their circumstances, when they see an image reminding them of a situation they have been in, or are in. Art can be triggering but the beauty of that is it’s ability to add dimensions to our stories - the path to revelations for healing. That being said, art can be fun, and fun alone, in a safe space with the right people, is medicine!

The culture cure: how art can be a powerful healing experience Humans often find catharsis through creating art, while looking at paintings and sculptures can light up the pleasure centre in the brain and release dopamine

Even more fascinating to read the second time around. I first read this book when studying fine art, as suggested by my course leader, when he identified I had an orientation towards surrealism. It became more intriguing to hear the same man feel certain of my Scandinavian (maternal ancestory) heritage through my use of paint. Now as an art therapist it becomes ever more prevalent in the work I do; with people who have a sense of wanting to unearth aspects of their experiences, and how it has influenced their mental and emotional make up. This sense, often with suffering, is what brings a person to therapy.

Jung was an interesting influence in the early findings of psychoanalysis, whose focus was predominantly on the unconscious. I believe his interest in anthropology is integral to his significance as a thinker in this area.
Art making and the end product can contain revelation after revelation about a person should they want to observe. This in turn can indicate issues in the collective consciousness or personal unconscious, created by society and cultural nuances at large. This can be important work in identifying how other people and environments in your life have been affected, giving a deeper understanding of theirs and your own circumstances. It is from there, you can begin to shed unwanted thoughts and feelings, and regulate the nervous system - caused by trauma for instance. Just one aspect and method employed by an art therapist where appropriate.

For anyone who needs to see this today.
On the path of self-acceptance,

The illusion of being unlovable:
For inside your true self is enough love to fill an ocean, whatever you have endured.

The illusion of unworthiness:
For you are always deserving of love and success.

The illusion of being weird:
For there is no such thing as normal.

The illusion of needing external validation:
For your worth is never dependent on another's approval.

The illusion of being insignificant:
For your presence and the ripple effect you have, impacts all of humanity.

The illusion of being powerless:
For within you lies the strength to shape your destiny and influence the world, from wherever you are in your life.

The illusion of not being good enough:
For enough is to be present with where you’re at and give only what your limits are at this time.

The illusion of being unsuccessful:
For success is subjective, and your path is uniquely yours.

A powerful webinar that explores the emptiness and lack of sense of belonging that many of us can experience in today's world. Francis Weller shares how western culture has failed to give us what it is that we need to feel contented and refers to the structures that we live in as being almost designed to keep us chronically discontent, contributing to a rise in mental health issues, an increase in addictions and providing fuel for capitalism.

The webinar discusses how our separation from earth and nature, the rise in individualism (who am I? rather than, who am I in relationship to the world and others?) and a decline in communities as contributing factors. It touches on the persistent hunger that cannot be mitigated with secondary satisfactions such as rank, wealth, materialism, yet we have made these secondary satisfactions the primary values of western culture.

Healing is referred to as restorative and something that needs to take place in and as part of the wider community.

At the Heart of All Our Sorrows - SAND A live online conversation facilitated by Zaya & Maurizio Benazzo