Creative Therapies

I will often invite people to experiment with using different mediums as a response to anxiety or low self-esteem. 

For example,drawing, giving a shape or colour or form to some of the voices in our heads can help us get to know them better, to be able to hear what they want, what they are concerned about and to find out more about their history and their role in our lives. Drawing a time line to identify the various experiences in our lives and their relationship to each other can help us to identify themes and patterns, reasons for our anxiety or depression,  or our inability to make decision.

Sand Tray and Story Tower Therapy

The sand tray and the story tower offer different ways of expressing ideas and feelings, illustrating our history, stories about our lives and aspects of ourselves.  I have a story tower and sand tray in my room and a whole selections of shells, stones, models, toys, symbols which you can place in the sand or the tower.

Some people love the feeling of sand and being able to draw patterns mould shapes. For others the three dimensions of the tower are more interesting, offering a way of looking at several different layers or parts of ourselves at one time.  You can use them to illustrate where you are now, the various aspects of yourself that you are (more or less) aware of, where you might like to be, the  inconsistencies and differences you experience internally or your response to a challenging situation.

The tray or tower is then snapshot of what you are feeling now and this can be developed over time.

The theoretical basis for this work stems from Jung and his work on archetypes and as developed by a Swiss therapist called Dora Kalff. The tray and the tower are designed to fit within our field of vision.  Using the forms and symbols,  and the images and experiences created with the tray or the tower  we can become more aware of blocks to our development, of the impact of the different aspects or parts of ourselves and of the meaning of some of the stories of our lives.

Get in touch...

For more information on my services and how I can help you why not get in touch for an informal chat.

07590 107455