Lee Crawford

Art Therapy is a form of counselling and psychotherapy that utilizes the creative process of making of images to enhance the physical, cognitive, social and emotional wellbeing for individuals of all ages. The field of Art Therapy supports the belief that creative expression offers a new method to heal and understand our lived experiences through art making.  I offer Art Therapy for children, youth, adults, seniors and groups.

 

Art Therapy encourages us to trust that our visual language or art images can communicate, 

guide and support us to recover, grow, learn and heal. Art Therapy is effective and unique 

because sometimes there are no words to express challenging or deeply meaningful life 

experiences. Art that is made is permanent, offers objective insight and supports our memory 

in our counseling process.

 

 

Art therapy supports your experiences with:

 

• Your goals for counselling and issues you want to explore

• Recovery from trauma and PTS (post-traumatic Stress)

• Expression of grief and loss

• Developing skills for mindfulness practice

• Resolution of problems and conflicts

• Expression of instincts, impulses and emotions. 

• Exploring your mind-body connection

• Reduce Anxiety and Stress

• Cope with chronic pain and illness

• Increasing our self-awareness and self-esteem and self-confidence.

• Cultivating a vision for your life direction and goals

• Spiritual experiences, expressing hope and wellbeing

 

 

What happens in an Art Therapy Session?

 

In most art therapy sessions I weave together verbal counselling skills and counselling approaches together with art making. I provide mindfulness based art therapy to cope with stress and anxiety; I use art therapy with mind-body approaches and with EMDR.

 

A variety of art materials are available to choose from such as drawing materials, oil and chalk pastels, acrylic paint, modeling clay and magazine images for collage. A variety of papers, boards and canvases are also available. A personal portfolio is provided to store your drawings and paintings.

 

In each art therapy session there is time to make art and time for a discussion about the art products you created. The art you make belongs to you. It is suggested that art remain in the counselling office until therapy is completed because we will refer back to earlier images to support what you have accomplished. Your art is stored in a safe and confidential manner.

 

My role as an Art Therapist is to:

 

• Encourage your creative expression and provide suggestions for art making and techniques used in painting, drawing or clay work.

• Provide you with insight and meaning about how you made your art and the images in your art.

• To teach you how to trust what your art is communicating to you so that you can objectively see yourself in a new way.

 

“Images are like messengers of the psyche and the soul, expressing emotions and experiences, communicating, guiding, transforming and healing…” Shaun McNiff