LEARN MORE

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Explaining how creative self-expression can enhance your mental and emotional health is a difficult task. That's why we created this guide with common questions and answers. Here, you'll learn more about the healing power of art and gain insight into what you can look forward to in our community classes. Let's dive deeper into the profound connection between creativity and mental wellness!

Is this an Art Therapy class?

Although many of the activities we will explore have been inspired by art therapy exercises, this is not an art therapy class. Art therapy sessions are conducted on an individual basis, providing a safe and supportive environment to address specific psychological challenges with an emphasis on using art as a powerful medium for expressing complex emotions and thoughts in a nonjudgmental manner. Our classes combine modern evidence-based practices with creative self-expression to help you reconnect with different aspects of your authentic self. This creative and intuitive process imparts new insights to you that have the potential to foster meaningful and lasting change.

Do I need to be able to draw or paint to attend?

Art-making experience is not necessary to benefit from creative self-discovery. Whether you end the session with a detailed masterpiece or a blank sheet of paper, the value is still the same. Both communicate something about how we are feeling and can help us in our wellness journey.

In fact, skilled artists often have difficulty separating their talent from intuitive creative processes. Their desire to create an aesthetic and original work of art can supersede the playful exploration of their inner dimensions. In this way, a lack of artistic skills is actually beneficial and makes creative self-exploration easier.

Will the classes help me improve my artistic skills?

These classes are designed with a different focus in mind. Rather than aiming to teach or refine artistic skills, they're centered around the profound journey of creative self-expression. You'll create works of art guided by your intuition and personal experiences. Unlike traditional art classes, these sessions won't emphasize formal techniques. Instead, they provide a space for you to tap into your innate creativity and let your inner voice express itself through colours, patterns, and shapes.

What are the health benefits of art-making and creative self-expression?

Extensive scientific research has consistently demonstrated a multitude of benefits associated with engaging in art-making. Creative expression has been shown to calm the nervous system, reduce blood pressure, focus the mind, and stimulate the release of chemicals in the brain that decrease depression and anxiety, improving our outlook, mood, and ability to cope in times of difficulty.

Do I have to share my experiences?

Absolutely not, sharing is always optional. However, we’ve discovered that participants who choose to share their experiences report accessing more breakthrough states. Oftentimes, the experiences of others can provide a powerful frame of reference through which to better understand our own.

Could these classes trigger unpleasant memories or experiences from my past?

It’s very unlikely. Our activities have been selected to delve more deeply into your personality, your strengths, values, and aspirations, not your past. If a painful memory or experience does arise, we will show you simple and effective ways to gently detach from it and shift your focus back to the present.

Can you explain the typical format of a class?

Each class lasts approximately 2 hours and comprises two parts. The first part is a creative warm-up session. It's all about stretching your creative muscles and having fun. Activities may include doodling, sculpting, collage-making, and interactive games. These activities are anything but boring and have been carefully designed to transition us into the class' main theme.

In the second part, you’ll be guided through an extended creative activity that will explore a topic in more detail. Sparking happiness, boosting self-esteem, finding inner calm, dealing with difficult emotions, and silencing your inner critic are just some of the themes we will explore through creative self-expression. Depending on the class topic, mindfulness and cognitive-based practices may be incorporated to provide you with a complete toolkit for change. We’ll then close with a brief discussion of the art-making process and our experiences.

"Art offers sanctuary to everyone willing to open their hearts as well as their eyes."

– Nikki Giovanni –

Allowing yourself the freedom to engage in self-expression can have a profound impact on your mental and emotional health. Creative expression is a fantastic addition to any self-care routine and can help you achieve a greater sense of personal wellbeing. The activities we will explore combine art-making and psychology, and have been created to develop greater self-awareness, cultivate emotional resilience, and promote insight and clarity. Here is a small selection of some of the activities you will have an opportunity to discover at our classes.

Do a Heart Check-In

When was the last time you connected with your heart? The heart is a unique part of us. It has so much to give, but it can just as easily close when it’s in pain or hurt. As the storehouse of your emotions, doing regular check-ins with your heart is vital to your emotional wellbeing. To begin, take a piece of paper and fold the edges of the paper towards the center. This will be the doorway to your heart. Now decorate the door to describe how the outside of your heart feels. Think about what is guarding it and draw any symbols and shapes that are present. Add colours to deepen the meaning behind the images you have drawn. Now, open up your paper. This represents the inside of your heart. Tune into what your heart feels like at its core. What kind of feelings are there? Ask yourself how do you want to share your love with the world? Add images and colours to represent what lies deep within your heart.

Design a Postcard You Will Never Send

Whether it’s a love note to someone you’re not ready to confess your feelings to, or an angry rant you know is better left unsaid, sometimes writing down how you truly feel can help relieve the issue at hand. While expressing your feelings can be therapeutic in its own right, designing a postcard gives even more value to the object and your felt experiences. It also allows you to activate different parts of your brain as the act of colouring has been shown to relax the mind and body. Once completed, tuck your completed postcard away in a drawer, toss it in the trash, or burn it, and you’ll likely find that its message has lost much of its power.

Create Your Own Memory Jug

Memory jugs originated with members of Central Africa’s Bakongo communities who believed the physical world was connected to the spirit world by water. They often decorated graves with water-themed items such as jugs to connect deceased spirits to the waterways that would lead them to the afterlife. The ritual was revived in the late 19th century as a way to display keepsakes in a form that could be easily passed along from one generation to the next. You can make your own with a vase, jug or pot, and an assortment of meaningful mementos. Adhere your chosen items with a strong epoxy glue to your container and decorate it with paint. It doesn’t matter whether the objects remind you of a specific person, recall a certain time in your life, or just bring a smile to your face.

Draw a Meaning Machine

For this activity, start with three large sheets of paper. On the first page, draw your current (usually unhelpful) perspective of a problem you're having. Take your time to process your view of the problem. Now, think of a whimsical machine that could fix it. If you need guidance, describe the tools you would need to get past the problem and your current negative view and draw a machine that could shift your thinking about the problem. Once you have finished your drawing, envision putting your problem into the machine. On the third page, draw what comes out. Once you're finished, explore what you have created. How has your perspective shifted, and how will your new frame better serve you?

Write Your Very Own Permission Slip

Think of the societal and self-imposed pressures you feel on a day-to-day basis, the personal traits you see as faults, and the natural slips you see as errors. Choose one of these things and give yourself, in ornamental detail, permission to do just that. Turning one simple defeat into an accomplishment can minimize feelings of self-hatred, allowing you to achieve more of your important goals.

SAMPLE CREATIVE ACTIVITIES

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

I really want to share how much art therapy has helped me with my emotional healing. I went through a really tough time losing someone I was incredibly close to and was curious how art could help me with my grief. At that time, I didn't understand how creativity could help me process my feelings so deeply. But Maya showed me how putting things on paper can bring out what's inside and this became a bridge to connect with my pain on a deeper level. This whole experience has been transformative. It's like learning a new language, except this language is the colours and strokes that somehow make sense of the chaos I was feeling.

- Jamie R. -