Art Therapy with Meike

Download Art Therapy Brochure

What is Art Therapy?

Making sense of your inner world through creative self expression

Meike is an Occupational Therapist and Creative Arts Therapist working with adults & children, individually & in groups, to facilitate change through creative self reflection & expression. One off workshops are also available for team building, self-care etc. Meike uses a diverse range of creative tools including drawing, clay, sand, painting, movement & writing, to inspire the journey of self awareness.

Creative arts therapy is a wholistic form of counselling that goes beyond words. It is a way of promoting personal growth and healing.

• Creative arts therapy can be used with a wide variety of conditions such as depression and anxiety, as well as with those who simply wish to gain a deeper understanding of themselves. It provides an opportunity to deal with trauma, grief & stress in a meaningful way – and complements many other forms of treatment/intervention.

• There is no need to be artistic because it’s more about the process than the product!

Personal development groups are held at the Kalari Healing Centre. 8 week courses for 2 hours per week on Mon mornings or Thurs evenings. Enquiries please phone 9553 7053.

“Art therapy has been time shared with a wonderful group of caring women. We listen & we talk, we laugh & we cry. For me it has been a journey of discovery & rediscovery. The discovery of the person I have become, the rediscovery of my former self & the dreams/hopes of the person that I aspire to become. Some parts of the journey were tough and confronting but all parts were enlightening & have awoken my sleeping spirit.”

Meike Zielinski
B App Sc OT, Grad Dip MIECAT, Member ACATA
Ph: 9553 7053 / 0400 638 626
Email: meike67@hotmail.com

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WHAT IS ART THERAPY?

You know the expression ‘A picture paints a thousand words’? Well sometimes that’s true. In my former career people always asked me ‘What is Occupational Therapy?’ Now they ask me “What is Art Therapy?’ Neither profession is easy to explain in words – having an experience of it is the best way to understand. The next best thing, I believe, is to hear someone’s else’s personal
description so here is a little bit of ‘Tracey’s’ story… I’ve had the privilege of working with Tracey for well over a year now. She is a 21 year old single mother of two who has encountered many difficult issues in her life – art therapy has been one way she has dealt with them. This is what she has said about it in her own words:
‘When I was referred to you I hadn’t met you before so as an ice breaker you had a tray of sand that I could do anything I liked with. The sand tray (and the objects I chose in it) represented some of the significant things in my life and how they’re perceived. Everything had meaning – the lines in the sand represented serenity and some of the objects represented people. In other sessions we made a mask. The outside of the mask represented how I & others perceived myself on the outside, while the inside represented how I would like to feel & be. The outside was bright & confusing with different emotions smashing into each other like violent waves. It was a toxic, cracking multisensory landscape darkened with different senses, polkadotting emotions. The inside remained peaceful, the figures pasted on it are strong & confident, able to change things for themselves without hurting others. They are empowering, allowing hope for a better life. Art therapy has been a gentle way of confronting issues with minimal need for using words - like
sculpting clay to reshape your future.’
One of Tracey’s many gifts is her ability to create fantastical creatures and landscapes from collage. She developed a mermaid theme to represent an idealised version of pregnancy & mother hood (see picture with this article) which was very different from her own reality. I find the creative process is very nurturing & transformative for myself as well as my clients. It can be a truly remarkable journey together.
For inquiries about individual arts-based counselling or group workshops & courses please
contact Meike Zielinski at KHC on 9553 7053 / 0400 638 626 or by email meike67@hotmail.com

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