Totally Psyched is excited to share that we have expanded our team and are now offering another service - Creative Arts Therapy!

By Dr Sarah Watson | 08/22/2023

Image from Totally Psyched is excited to share that we have expanded our team and are now offering another service - Creative Arts Therapy! by Dr Sarah Watson.

Dear Parents, Guardians, Caregivers, and Awesome Youth,

Totally Psyched is excited to share that we have expanded our team and are now offering another service - Creative Arts Therapy.

Arts therapy is an integrative mental health and human services profession that enriches the lives of individuals, groups and communities through active art-making, creative process, applied psychological theory, and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship. Skill areas that may be addressed in this setting include: Dealing with Anger; Depression; Anxiety; Grief; Loss or Sadness; Existential Crisis, Neurodivergence, Learning Self-Control; Friendship and Social Skills; Leadership Skills; and Making Responsible Choices.

Our newest addition to the team – Hannah Eriksen-Gowing, has had an extensive background working with children, teenagers, and adults in the mental health field. After studying psychology for several years, Hannah saw a link between improved psychological wellbeing and expression using the creative arts modalities. She went on to pursue her Postgraduate Diploma and then her Masters in Clinical Creative Arts Therapy, which lead her into working in a diverse range of settings. Her background includes working in a high-school, working with children and teenagers with physical disabilities, neurodivergence and other learning difficulties, working in a dementia care unit and running groups in a hospice. She has also developed group workshops, which she delivers in high-schools, focusing on helping teenagers develop self/social-confidence, learn tools and strategies for coping with mental health issues such as depression, PTSD, and anxiety and find joy and expression through the use of creative modalities.

“I am passionate about helping youth access deeper levels of self-awareness and self-compassion. As our tamariki are faced with an ever-evolving landscape of technological change, as well as being exposed to widespread uncertainty in the socio-economic, political and environmental terrains, I see an increasing need to help our youth to re-ignite their own creative sparks and support the unfurling of growth, discovery and empowerment that may emerge through the arts.

Through my own practice, I have experienced how different modalities, such as art-making, movement, dance, writing, drama, and nature-connection, can help individuals and communities reconnect with their creative spirit, accessing inner-resources that can open up alternative narratives, perspectives and pathways. Art has the profound ability to help us to build resilience, healthy connections, access, and work through trauma, and find ways to express our inner worlds and emotions through a range of diverse modalities.”

If you think that you, or anyone that you know may benefit from this service, please give us a call on 3203086 to discuss this exciting opportunity further!