Art therapy is psychodynamic. This means it uses your unconscious memories, and brings them into consciousness helping you to process difficult emotions, life experiences and behaviours. Through being creative we can express what is often stuck in our limbic system, bringing it to the frontal cortex for processing. This is a natural way that our body works to protect ourselves from difficult things. Sometimes we don’t understand why we do certain things, but often art has the answers.

Group art therapy can be useful for people of any age and ability. Each group usually has a common identity. It can be used in schools, hospitals, care homes, almost anywhere. It can be helpful for those with additional needs, behavioural difficulties, dissociative disorders, poor mental health, and those who have suffered trauma, medical traumas and other medical diagnoses. We can come to art therapy for various reasons but the process is still the same. Group sessions are usually for up to 8 people for 6 weeks for 1 hour 30 minutes at the same time each week. They can have a theme or sometimes it is free choice. At the end of the session, the group takes time to share and consider each others’ work.

Before the sessions start your therapist will make an assessment to establish your needs and to check that the therapist thinks group art therapy will be good for you. This assessment includes gaining your consent (or your parents if you are younger) and explaining that group sessions are confidential. You can talk about anything knowing this should not be shared outside of the group. Your therapist will only share information when necessary if it is for your own safety or the safeguarding of others.

If group sessions are following, the original group will be asked first if they want to continue with the next set of sessions before new members are added.