Kate Meadowcroft
INTEGRATIVE ARTS PSYCHOTHERAPIST & SUPERVISOR
Pg. Dip., MA, HCPC, UKCP, BAAT Member
Services
I’m a qualified Art Psychotherapist with more than a decade’s experience providing creative and arts-based therapy to adults. I offer an integrative and personalised therapy approach drawing on research into creativity, psychodynamic psychology, attachment patterns, trauma, developmental brain science and our relationship with environments.
Integrative Arts Psychotherapy
Integrative arts psychotherapy (IAP) centres on active and hands-on techniques using creative and sensory materials as a way to represent, process and make sense of emotions and inner experience that can’t be rationalised away or are difficult to communicate in words. This more ‘right brain’ or ‘felt sense’ knowing is an approach that can open up enlivening ways of seeing and relating to problems, strengthening inner resources and bringing new choices into focus.
As a therapist, I respect and enable each individual’s unique creative process to guide towards what is needed for awareness, agency and healing.
I have two practices in South London, where you will find a welcoming, confidential space well-equipped with a range of Arts & Craft materials. A warm, non-judgemental, and supportive atmosphere is, in my view, essential to being comfortable enough to express and explore emotional issues and life difficulties through simple creative methods.
Online Art Therapy
Individual art therapy works well online and is more suitable for some clients. Please contact me to find out more about how this works and receive details about the framework and conditions.
-
Do I have to be good at art to benefit?There is no need at all to be good at drawing things or have any art training to benefit from this approach. We all have the capacity to visualise and imagine, and this comes out in daily activities such as gardening, cooking, dancing, being innovative at work or making something we care about happen. We also all 'imagine' our dreams at night. In art therapy, doing something as simple as creating a collage from photos, choosing and arranging postcard images or natural objects, or crayoning a few marks on paper, can be both moving and validating where something meaningful to the maker has been expressed.
-
What is IAP good for?IAP is effective for psychological, emotional and life challenges of all kinds. In comparison with traditional ‘talk therapy’, some people find having the creative process as a focus in the room makes self-exploration safer, more visible, tangible and profound. Art therapy has been shown to be beneficial for those with a wide range of psychological, relationship and life difficulties, and focuses on different issues in targeted ways, for example: Stress and anxiety: Using drawing materials, paint or clay as a way to release stressful thoughts and feelings, drawing or ‘mapping’ areas of holding and tension in the body, so this can then move into the discovery of calming, regulating experiences or creating a friendly soothing object. Such creative moments can be remembered in the body and as more helpful self-talk, and in this way are used to strengthen personalised stress and anxiety regulation strategies in daily life. Depression and low mood: Depression can be linked to harsh self-talk and blocking off difficult underlying feelings and conflicts. Using art materials in a supportive environment can be safe way to uncover and give shape to blocked emotions and longings, and to view these with understanding and compassion. More self-acceptance makes it possible for wants and needs to be acted on in healing and creative ways.
-
How often and for how long do I need to attend?AP sessions are normally weekly to be effective, however sometimes fortnightly meetings is appropriate. This can be for a time-limited period (8 - 20 weekly sessions) or ongoing for a year or more depending on individual aims and context. The first step is to contact me by email or text to request a phone call. Once we have had a brief discussion, you can choose to arrange an introductory meeting and see what it would be like to work together. If you decide to go ahead, we will also agree the best framework to support your aims.
-
What creative methods are used?I work with a wide variety of creative methods and will suggest these to suit the needs and preferences of the individual. Methods you may be invited to explore: Doodling - Collage - Visualisation - Dreamwork – Creating with natural objects Painting & Drawing - Symbolic image & object making – Mandalas Creative writing – Role Play and gentle movement Guided Drawing & Sensorimotor trauma informed art therapy* registered technique
Art for Wellbeing Groups
I'm an experienced facilitator of Art for Wellbeing groups in the community, hospital and workplace settings.
Long-running programmes I've co-ordinated include:
Art for Stress Management as part of community wellbeing
Creative self-empowerment with Crisis UK
and assistive art making for people with neurological/physical disabilities in specialised rehabilitation.
Art for Wellbeing programmes may be delivered online for small groups when safe and appropriate.
Creative Supervision
I am a UKCP registered clinical supervisor trained at the London School of Psychodrama, and providing Creative Supervision to mental health and other care professions and trainees (individually or as small groups).
Creative Supervision focuses on the use of visual and action-based tools and methods to develop and strengthen professional resources, attend to self-care and support reflective thinking.
Supervision may take place at the South London venues where I work, or potentially other locations depending on availability.
Online Creative Supervision
Creative Supervision for individuals or small groups works well online within careful frameworks and conditions. Please contact me for further details about how this works.
