It has been a varied and eventful life journey that has lead me to this point in my life.

From an early age I had an interest in what made people tick. Friends found me approachable and asked me for advise far beyond the scope of my limited experience at that time. Intuitively I seemed to be able to provide the empathy, emotional support and advise that my friends seemed to need and desire.

Expressive Arts Therapy is a form of therapy that utilizes and embraces the energy of the arts in many of its forms which can be tapped into to open up communication between client and therapist whether it be with individuals or groups and can facilitate understanding and healing.

Expressive Arts Therapy, though decidedly not the norm in terms of therapeutic practices, is finding a toehold in formal, traditional hospital settings and clinical environments. More and more medical professionals are beginning to incorporate the arts as part of a holistic treatment plan for their patients because they see the benefits and know that treating the heart and soul of a person improves their wellbeing and overall mental health.

Trauma memories are sensory memories, meaning that people feel them in their bodies and react to them with their bodies. These experiences and memories get encoded in the body as sensations and imagery and are more easily accessed through non-verbal means. Expressive arts therapy allows victims to deal with trauma in the same deeply emotional way that they experience it, which in turn prepares them to address it more fully.

Some populations in our society have little or no availability to art-making activities. They may be struggling with living day to day on the streets or in prison. Some may be struggling with addictions, the effects of trauma or criminality. This life rarely affords them to escape to or engage in art-making endeavours. These very people would benefit greatly if they were able to diffuse their stresses and learn ways of coping through the non-threatening process of expressive arts.