In our sessions we can draw on a range of creative, systemic and body-based approaches, depending on what feels most helpful, meaningful and supportive for you.
You don’t need to decide in advance which approach is “right”. These ways of working can integrate well and we can discover together what feels useful as our work unfolds.
WELCOMING CREATIVITY: ART THERAPY
The first thing often said about art therapy is that you don’t need to be “good” at artmaking to engage in it. No artistic skills are required and there is no expectation to produce anything “beautiful” in a conventional sense.
What comes out through the artmaking is always welcomed as an expression of something that can help you process emotions and explore aspects of your conscious and unconscious life, experiences and relationships.
There is no obligation for you to make art in the sessions. The art materials can also be used for sensory regulation. A session would usually involve talking, artmaking and talking about the art made.
Art therapy brings ease to what feels stuck, gives space to what might be difficult to express with words, allows us to explore personal challenges by externalising them and making them less confined within ourselves as individuals, and can also bring in the pleasure of making, dreaming and desiring.
CONTEXT AND RELATIONSHIPS: SYSTEMIC THERAPY
Systemic therapy can help us consider the bigger picture with clarity, locating ourselves in our contexts and in relation to people around us.
A systemic approach can help us address not just the personal, but also collective and social dynamics, exploring alternatives to problems and difficulties by supporting our ability to relate to others.
Systemic therapy is usually practiced with couples and families, but it can also be used in one-to-one sessions, by inviting an exploration of your relationships with other people in your life, using tools like family maps and timelines, and always with a particular consideration for relational strengths.
Narrative therapy, more specifically, is a modality of systemic therapy that focuses on changing dominant and individualising narratives whilst giving value to “exceptions”, personal strengths and collective support.
BRINGING IN THE BODY: SOMATIC THERAPY
A somatic approach in therapy gives space to the body, its movements and the sensations we experience. It helps us with grounding and connecting with the environment as well.
In our sessions we could start by introducing grounding exercises. We can then track bodily sensations, work on interpersonal boundaries through our bodies, and engage in exercises to express anger and other emotions somatically.
More specifically, somatic trauma therapy can be used to gradually and gently release the effects of trauma held in our bodies whilst staying away from freeze, dissociation and overwhelm.
Giving space to the body in our sessions complements the other approaches described here and can help us nurture an everyday connection with our bodies.
ECO THERAPY AND OTHER FORMS OF LIFE
Eco therapy brings therapy outdoors, instead of using the four walls of a studio as a container. We share an open space with its inhabitants: trees, plants, animals, the elements and other people in transit.
What an environment such as a park might offer is the possibility of an engagement with other-than-human aspects that might resonate with our lived experiences.
There are different ways of having our sessions outdoors. We can walk and talk or we can find somewhere to sit; we can explore the place and gather materials for artmaking; we can engage with the surrounding environment as much as it feels useful.
Even if we simply have the session sitting on a bench, this might open up the possibility of a different resonance of what takes place.
If you are inclined and interested, we could also explore an engagement with earth-based spirituality.
It’s also important to say that all the other approaches described here can also be used outdoors.
OPENING SPACE AND WORKING WITH PARTS
You might be familiar with thoughts and feelings that sometimes make us say: “A part of me would like to do such and such, and another part would like to do something else…” In those moments we address ourselves not as unitary individuals, but as made of different parts.
Some therapists frame parts in terms of inner child / teenager / parent, or according to survival responses. I use a systemic approach, inspired by Internal Family Systems therapy, that understands parts as coming together in systems.
We are made by different parts and at the same time we all have the ability to connect, be compassionate, creative and curious, and to stay grounded, no matter how challenging our life experiences have been.
This ability, state, or energy is something that we might experience fully when we meditate and when we feel connected with trees, plants, animals and the outdoors.
When working with parts we learn to bring in some ease between ourselves as grounded people and our parts, so that our parts don’t have to take over with their work, which sometimes comes with overwhelming feelings and damaging behaviours.
Some of our parts might be in conflict with each other; some might take over in a worried attempt to protect us and manage our lives; some others, affected by traumatic experiences, get silenced and pushed away together with the emotional pain they carry.
There might be parts like inner critics, parts attacking others because they are perceived as threatening, or parts using addiction to keep us emotionally numbed.
In any case, there are no “bad” parts. Parts are often trying to protect us even if the consequences can be damaging.
When working with parts we build a relationship with them from our grounded state of connection, curiosity and compassion, giving them some space and listening to what they might communicate through thoughts, feelings and sensations.
In such a way we learn to familiarise ourselves with parts, we support them in letting go of the burdens that come with trauma, and this work can also help us lift shame and blame whilst bringing clarity to our sometimes contradictory thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
Working with parts integrates well with the other modalities described here. For example, artmaking can be used to map different parts; somatic practice and connecting with other living beings outdoors can help us access our grounded energy.
THERAPY WITH COUPLES AND POLYCULES
I work with couples and also with polycules, and overall I like to support people in sensing relationships beyond monogamy, as well as gender beyond binaries and sexuality beyond straight / gay categories.
When working with couples I use the modalities described above.
Artmaking can be useful for couples to find new and different ways to communicate what is not always available to express through words.
A systemic approach ensures that different positions and perspectives within relationships are given space, together with the different contexts that shape our experiences.
A somatic approach opens the possibility for mutual witnessing within couples, of how bodies might communicate through sensations.
Taking sessions outdoors can offer a different framework of engagement than that of the four walls of a studio or home.
When working with parts in couples therapy we consider how some of the parts of one person engage, sometimes through conflicts and tensions, with parts of the other person, and we do that whilst maintaining a connected, curious and compassionate position towards each other.
THERAPY WITH CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE AND FAMILIES
Art therapy can be an especially useful modality with children and young people, and also in dyadic and family work if other members of the family are open to engage with artmaking as a medium for communication.
The playfulness in the use of art materials can allow children to communicate through a complexity that would not be available through words alone.
Tools coming from systemic therapy, somatic therapy and working with parts can be used visually and creatively and they can be integrated in art therapy sessions in ways that can help strengthen relationships, opening up to a different understanding of others’ perspectives, familiarising ourselves with bodily sensations and difficult feelings, and externalising parts and the challenging emotions they bring with them.
TESTIMONIES
“Paolo is a very open minded and supportive person, who offered helpful insights into the day to day struggles I have experienced. He has helped me foster a closer and more meaningful connection with my family, helped me understand what family means to me, and reminded me of what is important to me spiritually.
I found art therapy to be a peaceful and deeply emotional outlet for my thoughts and feelings. I have been able to articulate more complex experiences in my life in a simpler way through making art.
The somatic trauma therapy has been a great tool for me to break intense negative thoughts and feelings that come up for me throughout the day, so I can pull my mind into the present. It has also been helpful in releasing trauma stored within the body, and I can feel a difference in my body both during and after the sessions.”
“I was looking for a therapist to open up about my childhood traumas which included sexual abuse and neglect. Paolo has been very approachable and compassionate.
Whilst talking about specific episodes with Paolo, the roots of my fears became evident and that has been really helpful for me to identify the emotions when they do come up and navigate through them in my relationships.
My weekly therapy sessions with Paolo have made a huge difference to my self-awareness, mood and confidence.”
“I had a wonderful experience working with Paolo. It was lovely to use a range of creative materials, and to be introduced to useful somatic practices. Their calm, friendly, and insightful manner made it easy to show up to do the work of therapy.”
“I cannot thank you enough for the changes I have seen in my child and he also knows he is benefitting from them. His anxiety episodes have reduced significantly. He is able to fall asleep without complaining about a ‘funny’ tummy. Friends and family have commented on how much more relaxed he has become. His eating has improved and he is putting on weight. You have been an absolute blessing to my family.”
“I wanted to thank you for all the hard work you put in the therapy. It has not gone unnoticed. You have been a great support to my son, and he has enjoyed the sessions very much and has gained so much from them. He is able to filter through his emotions, e.g. fighting through fears and having tools to push the fears back and not let it take over whatever he is doing. I am so proud of his achievements and I am so fortunate to have been blessed with a wonderful and patient and kind therapist.”
