Is the winter season making you feel less vibrant and bright as usual? Is your sunny disposition missing the saturation and depth it had when the days were warmer? If so, then the Wellness Centre would like to invite you to get creative and embrace your emotions through art therapy on March 6 and 14.
Hosted by art therapist Pamela Fry, this two-part event is meant to help participants process complex feelings and emotions that some may find difficult to express.
“Art therapy is a form of therapy that uses creative expression to help people get in touch with things that they might not always be able to express in words,” Fry said. “What art therapy does is it places an act of creativity in the middle between the therapist and the client… so that the focus doesn’t have to be directly on the client. It’s not the same as just colouring for relaxation. It’s therapy because there’s a therapist there who is ready to step in if something comes up that’s difficult [and is] ready to guide you towards meeting your goals.”
According to Fry, an overwhelming amount of previous clients and participants said that art therapy helped them and that this form of self expression allowed them to explore new parts of themselves that they hadn’t before.
“People have said that it’s relaxing, that it creates a moment in their week or their month [where] they can step away from all the other worries … that happen in [their] lives,” Fry said. “I have really positive responses from my clients.”
Fry said that art therapy in a group setting takes a different form than traditional one-on-one therapy.
“One of the things that’s different with group therapy is that because I don’t know these students, we haven’t developed a relationship of trust yet,” Fry said. “It’s important that the workshops are a bit of ‘therapy-lite.’ We’re not going to be doing any Freudian psychodynamic investigations or anything like that. We’re just trying to demonstrate how you can use art materials to learn more about yourself.”
During the first half of the event on March 6, Fry will guide participants through topics related to self-expression and self-development as they create unique collage art designs. This session will be held in AE 268 from 12:30-2:30 p.m.
The second half of the event takes place on March 14, during which participants will shape polymer clay while Fry conducts a conversation addressing the barriers that impede authentic expression and interpersonal connection. This session will be held in HOL 402 from 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Although both sessions are free of charge, space is limited, so participants are encouraged to sign up promptly.
Information on the event and registration can be found here for series one and here for series two.