Clare Holt

Hello, my name is Clare and I am a qualified art psychotherapist offering counselling, psychotherapy and art therapy, with experience in a broad range of settings from the NHS to private practice.  I have a special interest in working with trauma, but I also have experience working with loss, violence, childhood abuse, depression, addiction, anxiety,  disability, gender dysphoria, self-harm, lgbtq+, psychosis and dissociation.  I am also a qualified social worker with many years’ experience working with children and families.

My approach is trauma-informed, which means our therapeutic relationship is an important base on which to build safety, emotional regulation, and a space to explore the things affecting your life and relationships.  This way of working doesn’t have to expose or confront early wounds but explores how trauma is stored in the body and how this affects thoughts, feelings, behaviours and relationships.  Awareness, understanding, and compassion can allow you to heal and make positive changes in your life.   

Art therapy is a useful tool to describe complex thoughts and feelings, and access emotions and patterns that feel beyond the reach of words.  It is  also helpful with regulating the body when it feels overwhelmed or out of control.

I offer face-to-face and online therapy in an empathic, non-judgemental and validating space.  Work can either be short term and focussed on a particular aspect or it can be long term to allow for deeper reflections and longer lasting changes.