Therapeutic Art: Open Session

Join our supportive, confidential, online therapeutic art session to explore your own creative process. You are also invited to bring your own concerns to encourage group exploration towards wellbeing. Art making will be followed by gentle discussion and reflection together.

All UAL students are welcome at this session, whether or not you have attended any previous therapeutic art sessions. It is also an opportunity for the participants of the themed therapeutic art sessions, running fortnightly this term, to access further support or more time to explore the feelings or thoughts that came up for them during the previously attended themed session.

There is no expectation for you to either show or talk about your artwork, if you prefer not to. However, participants are strongly encouraged to turn on their web-cameras during the session to enhance the feeling of togetherness.

What to Expect

All levels of artistic ability are welcome - your artwork will not be judged or evaluated during the session, instead, we will invite you to use your artwork as a tool to support self-exploration. As we’re working online, you’ll need to supply your own materials e.g. pen, pencil, chalk, paints, pastels, felt tips, paper, glue, leaves, twigs, string, digital media etc (anything you have!).

Participants can choose to use this space in a variety of ways depending on what is important to them, for example, a space to meet new people, to speak freely, to talk about emotional, relational, or psychological concerns, to talk about the day to day, to listen and learn from others.

Our intention is to help you feel warmly welcomed and accepted as you are. Alongside this, it is natural that the ‘feel’ of each session may vary depending on what each participant brings, for example, it may feel lighthearted and playful, deeply reflective, or maybe sombre at times - all feelings, positive or negative, are welcome. The atmosphere will likely evolve and change as the session progresses.

Important info before you sign up:

• Please ensure that you have read through all of the information on this page to make sure that you would like to be part of this online group experience.

• Once signed up, if you’re unable to attend please remember to cancel your place so that another student can attend instead.

• Attendees are asked to arrive at the session start time and to stay for the session duration, where possible, as taking part in the whole 24 hour experience is an important aspect of the group. There will be a short break during the session.

• This session is part of a series of ‘open’ therapeutic art sessions taking place fortnightly on Wednesday evenings, 5 - 7pm throughout this term (‘open’, in this context, means that the group membership will change from week to week, depending on who has signed up). You’re welcome to attend as many as you like but you’ll need to sign-up separately to each evening that you would like to attend.

• Sessions are held on Microsoft Teams. Participants are strongly encouraged to turn on their web cameras during the session to enhance the feeling of togetherness. We understand however that wifi bandwidth issues may prevent some participants from turning on their cameras

• To help ensure that the therapeutic art sessions are private online spaces, where group members can feel comfortable to talk and share, we ask all participants to agree to follow a set of guidelines. After you sign-up here you will receive an email directing you to complete a short online consent form which sets out the session guidelines - please look out for this (the guidelines can be previewed here).

• Lastly, there will be a paragraph in the consent form to ensure that you are happy for us to take a group screen shot of all artwork, also individual artwork that will be held securely and will not be published (unless your permission is given).

Facilitated by Louise Higgs and Lisa Gibson 

HCPC* registered Art Psychotherapists 

*Health and Care Professions Council 

Full members of the British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT)