Lizzie Cummings

Sometimes it is hard to find the words to express how we feel.  You might feel stuck but don’t know why.  Something vital about yourself may seem to be missing, but you don’t know what.  Perhaps you want to make some changes in your work or in your relationships but you don’t know where to begin.  Communication has become difficult or broken down. Or you may find your mind drawn to past experiences or recent events that have caused you pain but the thought of speaking about them feels too overwhelming.  Sometimes we need help to find the right words to express how we feel.

Alongside talking therapy I offer a creative arts psychotherapy which works gently yet deeply with imagination, using story, movement, art and sand play. When words become lost to us, creative therapy can help us to find new ways of expressing and exploring how we think and feel.  When we look at a painting, listen to music, watch a film or read a book we often find that, through them, our own feelings, thoughts, dreams, hurts, wishes, fears and hopes are reflected back to us.  Stories, art and music can help us to understand who we are and why we do what we do.  Creative therapy invites you to actively engage with the arts, allowing for difficult-to-say-words to come through at your own pace. If you are drawn to this way of working, I will help you to use these tools in your own unique way, whether it is for personal self development or for the exploration of complicated feelings bound up in past or present experiences.

There is no right or wrong way as to how to use the arts and no obligation to engage with them in any session.  They are simply there to be used if and when it feels useful to you. Nor are these therapies about performing or producing something 'good' but rather an invitation to bring you back in touch with the creative capacity with which you were born and from there discover your hidden or forgotten strengths. From this stronger standpoint it is possible to face your problems with more courage and confidence.  The words for which you search may then emerge from a place within you that feels true.

Movement therapy – this can be used as part of a session or as a separate therapy
The mind and the body are connected.  However, that which feels too painful to think about often gets cut off from the mind and gets stored in the body.  In other words, emotional disturbance and trauma can manifest itself through physical symptoms such as IBS, back pain, fibromyalgia, fatigue and anxiety, for instance.  Movement therapy can work subtly with body awareness, gently renewing the connection between body and mind, gradually restoring a person to a more healthy, balanced and expressive self.

Individuals: I charge £80for each 50 minute session. Concessionary rates are between £55-£75

If you are interested in group work, please contact me directly either via my website or by phone.