Deborah Aita

Imagine your life as a journey.  Where are you now?  Maybe you’re at a crossroads trying to decide which road to take; or you’re on a runaway train that has no driver!  Maybe you feel like you’re slowly slipping down the side of a cliff; or there's a dark fog around you making it too dangerous to move.  You may simply feel you are lost and in need of a map.  These are all creative metaphors that can open up your understanding of a problem, help you see it through a different lens.  A picture paints a thousand words.

Thinking creatively about your issues, finding metaphors to help you understand yourself, will help you make the kinds of connections that can be so inspirational when you feel stuck and unable to make changes.   I can support your creativity by providing activities such as drawing, use of image cards and objects, claywork and stories, to find those connections.  These will bring clarity to your confusion and calm to your anxiety, helping you find your way through depression, stress, bereavement, mental illness or any of the many other issues that might bring you to therapy.  There are common difficulties and symptoms that bring people to therapy but it is how these are experienced by you, as someone with a unique mind, body and spirit, that is key to how you can recover from them.  You may have been given a diagnosis but it is your lived experience that is important to understand so as to work towards change.  

There is a great deal of research evidence to show that arts psychotherapies are effective in treating the full range of psychological issues and symptoms.  Dramatherapy in particular is indicated for trauma.   All traumatic experiences have a story but these can be difficult to remember or piece together, especially if they happened a long time ago.  Some experiences may feel too painful to even acknowledge so we hide the stories of them, not only from other people but from ourselves too.  This can result in us not being aware of how they control us and impact on our relationships and behaviour.  We may feel powerless to change. 

Working safely and confidentially I can support you to explore what matters to you in order to release it from your unconscious.  Arts psychotherapy is effective for this because it comes sideways at a problem, utilising the ‘limbic’ parts of the brain and what is sometimes called implicit memory.  With ongoing developments in neuroscience we now know how important it is to access these parts of the brain in order to ensure long lasting healing and change.  I offer evidence based practice and safe structures to support you to live your life more fully.

Please contact me to arrange a free initial phone consultation to begin your journey.  I see clients for both online and in-person sessions.