Therapeutic Approach
I am a UK qualified Dramatherapist, registered and regulated with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and The British Association of Dramatherapists (BADth). Dramatherapists are masters-level mental health professionals who work with the unconscious by supporting their clients to safely explore their possibilities and potential. Dramatherapy allows for creative expression of thoughts and feelings which can sometimes be difficult to understand or articulate.
My work is client-led, meaning that what happens in a session depends on the specific issues each individual brings and we will work together to find the most appropriate approach. A combination of my theoretical psychological understanding along with my experience in healing through creative-arts, forms an integrative therapy-style. At the heart of my practice is an awareness that the therapeutic relationship is paramount to aid healing and change.
Dramatherapy is a unique form of psychotherapy in which creativity, play, movement, voice, storytelling, dramatisation, improvisation and the performance arts have a central position within the therapeutic relationship
Health and Care Professions Council
Who is Creative Psychotherapy for?
The short answer is anyone! I have worked as a Dramatherapist with both children and adults, providing sessions in schools, the community, psychiatric wards, and online. You do not have to consider yourself โcreativeโ to be able to benefit from the process of dramatherapy as it can help a wide range of people with differing needs, from children with emotional, behavioural or learning difficulties to adults with acute mental illness, personality disorders or dementia. And every issue in between including life challenges, family difficulties, body image, LGBTQ+ issues, processing trauma and struggling with stress and anxiety. It is also useful for people wanting a deeper level of self-enquiry, gaining insight into their behaviours, experiences and attitudes in order to discover meaning and direction.
It is in playing and only in playing that the individual child or adult is able to be creative and to use the whole personality, and it is only in being creative the individual discovers the self
Donald Winnicott
Why Creativity?
Engaging in creative arts has been proven to help reduce stress, anxiety and depression. The very act of creating or doing something calms the mind, helps bring our focus into the present and boosts our self confidence. Being creative activates the right side of our brains which lets us consider different possibilities and explore alternative perspectives. Through being creative we can begin to shift our perception, process feelings, adapt to challenges, tolerate uncertainty and gain awareness and acceptance of who we really are.
Want to know more?
Book a FREE 20 minute online consultation to discuss how we can work together.
Email [email protected] or message +351 912 041021
Sessions available online or in person at Little Yoga Space, Baixa, Lisbon