Many great works of art give us insight into how universal it is to find there are times in life when we feel lost, when we come up against things we cannot deal with in our usual ways.

Working creatively with what causes us pain, or blocks us, or leaves us feeling overwhelmed, could simply involve talking about difficult experiences in a setting that means the client will be heard with compassion and understanding.

My integrative approach means I also offer opportunities to work explicitly with the imagination and creativity. Clients can find it helpful to do guided visualisation work, free-drawing and free-writing exercises and other forms of creative self-expression.

Some people respond well to being able to explore aspects of using their voice, of their breathing and movement in sessions. Others want to have plenty of stillness and space.

I have described the ways that I work in both my books. I have also written in a number of journals and blogs about how therapeutic and valuable and healing it can be to access the imagination. One example is the article I wrote on the connection between poetry and therapy for “Therapy Today” which can be accessed below.