Finding Healing Through Art: My Journey to Becoming an Art Therapist

Hello, I’m an art therapist, a mother of two, and a proud dog owner. Creativity has always been at the heart of my life, but my path into art therapy was shaped by something much deeper — loss, healing, and the power of expression.

When I was 21, I lost my mum. It was a turning point that changed everything. Grief and anxiety became part of my story, but so did resilience and a desire to understand how creativity could help us make sense of pain. Art became more than something I did — it became a language for healing.

Coming from a creative family, art has always felt like home. I studied art at GCSE, A Level, and degree level, exploring every colour, texture, and possibility along the way. After finishing my studies, I set out to travel and experience the wider world — meeting people, seeing new places, and learning how art connects us across cultures and emotions.

Later in life, when I experienced periods of extreme anxiety, I turned once again to art and creativity as my lifeline. Through painting, drawing, and making, I found calm, focus, and a way to release what words couldn’t express. Art became my therapy long before I trained professionally — it helped me recover, rebuild, and reconnect with myself.

When I became a parent, my perspective changed again. My daughter has ADHD, and my journey to understand how best to support her led me to explore deeply how art and visual tools can educate, empower, and calm the nervous system. I discovered that creativity is not just a tool for healing — it’s also a powerful way to learn and connect.

As a parent searching for resources that didn’t seem to exist, I completed an Executive Function Coaching course to better understand how to support her needs. This work beautifully complemented my art therapy training and gave me new insight into how self-awareness, emotional regulation, and creativity intertwine.

Now, I run workshops for parents that focus on understanding themselves so they can better support their children. These sessions combine art therapy principles, neuroscience, and gentle self-reflection — helping families build resilience, empathy, and connection.

Professionally, I specialise in working with long-term illness, particularly cancer, end-of-life support, and bereavement. I work both in a cancer support charity and in private practice, offering creative, compassionate spaces for processing grief, fear, and change. Alongside this, I’m extending my support to families and children, especially those experiencing anxiety and neurodivergence, to help them express, regulate, and grow through creativity.

Art has been the constant thread through every chapter of my life — from grief and anxiety to motherhood and beyond. It continues to teach me that healing and learning are not separate journeys, but parts of the same creative process. Helping others discover that truth is my greatest privilege.