A Visual Meditation: The Higher Consciousness

One of the core tools in my practice is a visualisation exercise I learnt in the nineteen seventies from Jungian analyst Phyllis Krystal (Krystal 1995). It is a visual prayer that can communicate a profound sense of safety flowing from a spiritual core that remains undefined or as you like to imagine it. I apply the exercise consistently as a visual aide to picture the client-therapist relationship and how both relate to what she called the ‘Higher Consciousness’. I introduce it to almost all groups I facilitate, and frequently meditate like this on my own.

ANZACATA Guidelines for Art Therapists during COVID-19

e good hygiene practices, washing your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds especially before and after each client.
Ask clients to do likewise and use the sign provided by Australian Physiotherapists on entry to your practice. Some members are emailing clients before visits to remind them of hygiene practices (and to make a new appointment if unwell).
Practice ‘social distancing’, but perhaps explain the need for it and/or call it ‘physical distance’ (1.5 metres)….

The Primary Shapes in Guided Drawing: The Lemniscate

Lemniscate is the term for a horizontal figure eight. Of all the primary shapes this is the least threatening. It is without exception experienced as positive rhythmic flow without any threat of overwhelm.

The Primary Shapes in Guided Drawing: The Spiral

The spiral pattern of growth is found throughout nature as rolled-in fern, in shells on the beach, in the shape of an ear, in a fingerprint, the umbilical cord and how an embryo is curled up in the womb.

“Both the winding forms of the intestines and the brain have been depicted in religious and symbolic art as the labyrinth of spiral path, which creates, protects, and lays the foundation of the new town or centre”. (Purce 1992)

The Primary Shapes in Guided Drawing Series: The Bowl

The largest bowl we experience in our body is the pelvis, and while there are other places in the body that can be drawn as a bowl such as the diaphragm or the back of the head, the most common association with this shape is the pelvic floor. The pelvic bowl is the space in which we settle down to relax or which we dissociate, when we are ‘upset’. It is where our spine is anchored

The Primary Shapes in Guided Drawing Series: The Arch

Over the next few months, I will share insights about a couple of the main shapes that characterize this approach but for now we shall take a more in-depth insights of the Arch. The structure of Guided Drawing is based on a number of primary shapes, which all have a universal, archetypal quality.

The Bottom-up Approach

Implicit memory is stored in the brainstem, which is the seat of our ancient survival system. This is the part of our brain that deals with trauma, however, it does this in a predominantly body-based way. The brainstem is strongly influenced by attraction and repulsion. It is being informed through repeated action patterns, such as learning to walk, to ride a bike, or to put a spoon into our mouth. Once we have mastered an action pattern, it becomes part of our implicit memory system and we do not ever think about it, unless someone pushes us into a pool of water when we never had learnt to swim, or an accident no longer allows us to move a limb. In the same way we do not think about breathing, making our heart beat or our muscles to contract and relax.

The Significance of Colour

There are many different ways to approach the subject of the meaning and significance of colour. In art therapy sessions I encourage clients to honour colour in so far as to choose it according to the felt sense.

The Importance of Art Materials

My recent experience at the International Art Therapy Practice/Research Inaugural Conference in London has highlighted how instrumental good quality art materials are for the outcomes of our work. When working with a focus on the body, Sensorimotor Art Therapy requires tables and chairs. Even the height of the table is important, ideally at or approximately 5 cm below the navel of the client. Chairs should be high enough that the knees are slightly lower than the pelvis, and the feet touch the ground. It is important that one sits comfortably upright while drawing, as it is an exercise of body awareness. A starting position that allows a relaxed upright body posture is important, which is not possible when crouched on the floor.

Masterclass: Work at the Clay Field® Workshop

In February 2019 Prof Heinz Deuser came to Australia to offer a Masterclass on his Work at the Clay Field® at Claerwen Retreat. For over 20 years Prof Deuser was the course coordinator of the first BA in Art Therapy at the Kunsthochschule in Nürtingen, Germany. Today he is the director of the Institut für Gestaltbildung in Hinterzarten, Germany. Work at the Clay Field is a unique Sensorimotor Art Therapy modality Prof Deuser has developed over the past five decades.

Stabilizing Clients at the Clay Field

Pierre Janet, a pioneering French psychologist who lived over 100 years ago, developed a simple structure for trauma therapy that is still valid today. He defined three treatment phases: stabilization, trauma exploration and integration. If we look at Work at the Clay Field, stabilization is crucial at the beginning of every session in order to create a safe environment for the client.

Soul Cards: An Intuitive SoulCollage® Process

SoulCollage® is a process for accessing your intuition and creating an incredible deck of cards with deep personal meaning that will help you with life's questions and transitions.

Blog & Essays