Life after a year of arts therapy training

I feel like I need to introduce myself to you all over again as it’s been a year since I last posted on this blog!!
I do have something of an excuse in that I was immersing myself from head to toe in the world of arts therapy (completing the Post-graduate Diploma of Arts Therapy through Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design). Alongside full-time work, there was almost literally not a moment left to do much else. And, if truth be told, it’s taken me the three months since the end of the course to actually get back to a sense of normality!
Yes, it was incredibly rigorous and damn hard work but, without doubt, it was one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself. I gained so much experiential and academic knowledge, made life-long friends with some amazing people, and witnessed/ experienced first hand the healing capacity of art.
How can I summarise everything I got from last year into one blog post? It’s impossible of course. But, if I could suggest some of the most significant things I took away, they would include:

While I’m yet to return to my art practice after completing the course, something I have been working on over the past couple of months, is developing online and local courses that combine painting with arts therapy techniques and activities. I feel there is so much to share with people, particularly those who want desperately to be creative but who are too scared (or scarred) to start. I’ll keep you updated on that too.
Meanwhile, if you’re interested in applying for the Whitecliffe arts therapy course and have any questions about the experience, do feel free to contact me. Until next time…

“HEALING ART IS BEING BORN AS WE SPEAK. THE CONCEPT IS CATCHING FIRE, IS AWAKENING IN PEOPLE’S SPIRITS…ARTISTS, MUSICIANS AND DANCERS ARE REALIZING THEIR IMAGERY HAS MEANING….THAT THEIR IMAGERY HEALS THEM, OTHERS, THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD, OR THE EARTH.”
MICHAEL SAMUELS