Reflection
How can we encourage practitioners to reflect on their own experiences within the therapy room as a source of research?
The work of Julie Raworth
Julie Raworth calls herself a creative and a psychologist and believes that they are both intrinsically linked. Whilst she initially started out her life as an artist and musician, creativity manifested into photography, numerous craft projects, and a general way of being. As a Counselling psychologist she see's creativity as fundamental to its identity, not as an artist, but as a way to think about clients through a creative lense, to not be stuck in our left brains but work intuitively, relationally and creatively to help our clients create flow and change.
Her art has changed over the years as she has learnt from her clients how to be more vulnerable and open through her art, therefore enhancing her ability as a Counselling Psychologist.
Personal therapy
This series of artworks manifested from my own post qualification therapy. I came to recognise a deep anger in me that I had been denying and was blocking clients from bringing their anger into the therapy room. Theoretical foundations, reflected in the deep blue outlines, facilitated a framework for me to understand and express these internal processes.
Inner child (2015)
From the purity of a baby our external environment constructs our way of relating.
My tantrums, my voice, was shut down, becoming inward and repressed, imprisoned in an oubliette. In finding my voice I found a glimpse of myself.
View the full-size "Inner Child" image
Pain of anger (2015)
Embracing the repressed anger and the pain it was causing me through repression and depression.
View the full-size "Pain of anger" image
Shadow self (2016)
My anger and repression was caused partly by my dad, who always had to be happy and positive, there was no space for difficulties, of negative views.
I came to see beyond his happy front and see the shadow self that he was denying to himself and now helping him to show to us safely.
View the full-size "Shadow self" image
The pain of life is broken (2016)
A creative media collage of poetry, spoken voice, art and photography that takes you into my experience of learning to using mindfulness to help master anxiety and the internal draw towards dissociation.
EMBED VIDEO
Interactive art (2013)
EMBED VIDEO
The concept of this piece is to actively play out the relational qualities of art and therapy. My art continues an ongoing process as the viewer/client interacts with it.
Whilst, as the artist, I have influenced its initial choice of colours, shapes and movement, the audience gets to interact with it, with me, to express something of themselves in relation to it.
They may select the pieces to form the most fluid and whole of the images, but may also want to express a more, fragmented, disconnected experience of self. Through the process of moving the pieces they can viscerally reflect on and work through a changing state of being that lies beyond words.
Picasso and the Cubists inspired me both as an artist and a Psychologist as they challenged the idea of viewing the person from one moment and view at a time in their art.
As individuals we are never one whole state of being at any given moment and so, whilst there is a combination that has the most harmonious flow, there are still elements that are disconnected, flow away, have different colours, weights an patterns etc, to echo the human state.