Creative Arts Psychotherapy
Here to support you or your children so that you can live a little more freely and connect more lovingly.
Therapeutic support for
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A safe and confidential space to express your concerns. I offer you firstly and most importantly, an opportunity to be seen and heard. We then journey together through talking or using imagination based techniques to find ways for you to unburden and love your whole self more fully.
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As a dramatherapist I help children and adolescents, for whom verbal methods alone may be insufficient, to safely explore issues and painful feelings, be it for example anger, frustration, or refusing to talk. By expressing their hurt indirectly through play or creativity, and having it witnessed, often behavioural problems will ease.
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I teach therapy skills that can be practiced daily to boost love and safety in the primary carer & child relationship. Once this relationship is given more attention, the child's difficult behaviours soften and their basic need to feel connected to their caregiver is met. They feel better about themselves, more confident, relaxed and joyful. This support can be accessed on its own or parallel to an intervention with your child.
A little more about my story
I'm Katie, and as well as a therapist, I am a mother, a mover, a nature lover and an avid explorer of all things mind. Since I was young I’ve always been curious about exploring who we are and why we do the things we do through poetry, story and dreams.
During my personal journey of twenty years of being a therapist, supervisor, mother and gardener, I have moved more towards the heart and away from the head. I am passionate now about finding my way into ‘being here now’ or ‘embodied presence’, which feels like a balm from my moving mind and I practice returning to it and exploring what images and stories emerge regularly through meditation and working with plants. I really appreciate how mindfulness can help create space and bring more kindness into everyday life and I am passionate about offering ways to practice coming back in and down to ourselves within my work with others.
I believe that everyone has a right to not feel alone in their pain. Emotional pain can often be hidden in the ways we behave or can make us feel small, tight or limited which can feel intolerable at times. I offer a safe place to let pain be seen, tended to and understood. By helping you or your child to express your inner worlds, the healing process can begin.
I’m inspired by those with whom I have worked, each turning towards their thoughts and feelings, moving closer to their suffering in their own time, which, with my accompaniment, helps to ease their pain.
FAQ’s
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When you first contact me we will arrange a time to meet. I will send you directions and a contract to look over so you know a little more of what to expect from the therapy process before we meet. If you are enquiring for a child I offer a free half an hour intake call to help decide how to proceed, for example if I work 1-1 with your child or parent and child together.
When you come to see a therapist for the first time, you may feel anxious or awkward and that’s quite normal. In our initial session, I ask you some questions to get to know what's going on for you and I answer questions you have about my approach and how I could work with you. After you have decided you want to work with me (when deciding on a therapist it is quite ok to meet a couple of people to see who feels most comfortable to work with) I ask you to sign my contract and we will schedule the same time’s session weekly or fortnightly.
Where do you work?Sessions are held in my office just outside Alves, Morayshire. I can also offer online sessions to those over 15 years old.
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I have twenty years clinical experience working in schools, residential homes, NHS and private practice. My most recent learning has been parenthood, where I am constantly brought into the realm of relationship with my children and my self and have seen first hand how valuable strong relationships or healthy attachments are for good health.
I am HCPC registered, fully insured, Badth registered
Central School of Speech and Drama, 2001-2003 PPGDip & MA: Sesame Drama and Movement therapy
Central School of Speech and Drama, London 2006-2008 Creative Arts Supervision Course (CAST)
Samye Ling, 2014-2015 Mindfulness Practitioner Certificate Course
Continued professional development (CPD) from 2020 onwards:
Internal Family Systems Therapy
Gozen online programs for helping kids with anxiety
Neuro Dramatic Play, Sue Jennings
Soul Transformation Therapy, Blue Marsden
Ongoing:
Authentic Movement Practice, Fran Lavendel
Embodied Awareness practice, Martin Aylward
Regular online meditation practice with Tara Brach and Sam Harris
Member organisations
BADth and HCPC
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£60 for an hour. Cash or electronic payments to be paid immediately after the session if possible. Concessions are available for block bookings.
Cancellation policy
If you have any difficulties making an appointment, please notify me as soon as possible. No charge will be made for appointments cancelled with 24 hours’ notice. Appointments cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice will incur a fee of £25. There is sometimes the opportunity to reschedule the session in that same week or move it online. The full standard fee will apply if you fail to attend an appointment without notice.
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No! If you choose to use creative arts tools to express yourself in sessions, there is no right or wrong way to do this. For example you could describe your stress through choosing an image for it or a feeling statement it might speak.
Whatever comes will be right for you. You may imagine a mental image of a time in the past and embody it in the room using fabric and objects. The creative arts tools are especially helpful for children who often feel more comfortable expressing themselves through creating rather than talking.
We can work together by the session or by the block. We can find out what feels right for you.
Six session block
Usually I work with people over a block of time for a minimum of six sessions.
For the healing process, regular meetings are needed to experience an emotional bond of trust, caring and respect. We agree on goals you’d like to achieve and work together on the treatment. I offer a block of sessions to focus on a particular issue; or we can work by the session where we will build in a review to see if you would like to continue. With children I work in six week blocks, where I do an assessment block, intervention blocks and an ending block.
Contact me to learn more
Self expression tools
Art materials, story cards, images, sand tray work, opportunities to practice body awareness through movement or sitting in stillness.
Using creative arts tools or the imagination can be a safe and insightful way to express what may be difficult to say directly in words. And if you choose to “just” talk that’s fine too. My approach is inclusive and kindness based: I aim to welcome all parts, feelings or thoughts so that once things are made conscious you have more choice of how to respond. Contact me for a free chat
Contact me for a chat, no obligation.
Maybe you’d like to be more confident, feel less stressed, or become more brave. Maybe you’d like to explore your spirituality or be more creative. Maybe your child has been through something traumatic and you’ve noticed behavioural changes. Or maybe you have a particular relationship issue you’d like to work through. Common areas I work with include trauma, life crisis, bereavement, anxiety disorders, depression, family difficulties and psycho-education for parents and teens.
"Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it." -Mary Oliver
What I love about my work is that I’m always learning. These blogs are another place for you to meet me and follow and share in what I’m learning.
