Do I need to be artistic to benefit from expressive arts therapy?

Not at all. Expressive Arts Therapy isn't about making beautiful art or having artistic talent. It's simply another way of exploring experiences that can be difficult to put into words — sometimes that might look like drawing, writing, collage, movement, storytelling, or simply imagining an image or metaphor together. Everything is offered as an invitation, never an expectation.

What if I don't know where to begin?

You don't have to. Many people come to therapy knowing only that something isn't working anymore, or that they're carrying something they can't quite name. Our first conversations are simply about getting to know one another and understanding what brings you here.

Will you tell me what to do?

Rather than giving advice, therapy is a collaborative process — asking questions, offering reflections, and sometimes gently challenging patterns that may no longer be serving you, so the choices you make feel aligned with your own values.

Therapy isn't about fixing people, because people aren't fundamentally broken. Most of us have developed remarkable ways of adapting to life's challenges. Therapy is an opportunity to understand those patterns with compassion and discover new ways of relating to yourself and the world.

How long will therapy take?

There isn't one answer that fits everyone. Some people come for support through a particular life transition; others choose longer-term therapy as part of an ongoing commitment to personal growth. Progress is regularly checked in on together to make sure therapy continues to meet your needs.

What happens in the first session?

The first session is an opportunity to begin building a relationship — talking about what brings you to therapy, what's happening in your life right now, and what you're hoping for. There's no pressure to tell your entire story in one meeting.

Do you work with dreams?

Yes, if dreams are meaningful to you. Dreams are approached as one of many ways our inner lives communicate with us, explored with curiosity rather than a fixed interpretive system. Dreamwork is always optional and guided by your interest.

Suffering + Self-Compassion

Somatic Awareness

Aug 6

Written By Libra Kaplan

Sometimes we find ourselves doing that thing again. Traversing that old familiar pattern, because it scratches that itch for a moment or a month and then we remember why we stopped doing it. “That thing” comes in many forms. It could be sleeping with an ex, saying yes when we mean no, ignoring our bodies, not speaking up, staying so busy that we don’t have to pay attention to stuff that hurts.

The patterns that run the deepest need the most love, and I think of them as our soul wounds. In Jungian psychology they can be called our Shadow—all the parts of ourselves that we’ve disowned and rejected. They are usually connected to our childhood and these wounds resulted in behaviors of adaptation and survival. Our soul wounds are woven from our trauma. One of my teachers, Linda Thai taught me that trauma is not only what happened to you, it is also what you needed and didn’t receive.

If you find yourself feeling angry and ashamed because you’re back doing that thing, I offer you this wonderful audio practice on self-compassion, from the work of Dr. Kristen Neff.

https://self-compassion.org/practices/general-self-compassion-break-2/

Because healing happens in a spiral. And this being human thing is hard work.

Libra

Curious about therapy? Send me a message