Use code EARLYBIRD for $25 off until January 20!

5 Week Online Art Therapy Group: Sessions are held weekly on Saturdays from January 30 - February 27, 1:00 - 2:30 pm PST.

Every year when February rolls around, the world collectively focuses outward, on our relationships with others. But what about our relationship with ourselves? Your relationship with yourself is the most important relationship that you have - the relationship that is always present and affects all outward relationships.

Join us during love month for the opportunity to turn your focus inward as we explore fostering inner self-love through artful reflection on the five love languages.

As we focus on nurturing our relationship with ourselves, we begin to connect with our own needs and cultivate more self-love.

Online art therapy offers an accessible option to connect with community and experience the therapeutic benefits of group art-making. Utilizing the principles of positive psychology and self-compassion, guided therapeutic art activities focus on connecting with our innermost selves through the five love languages. We also explore group topics through the practices of mindful breathing, meditative visualization, guided art activities, journalling and group discussion.

Therapeutic art-making provides the unique opportunity to explore and communicate these themes through the use of symbol, image and metaphor. The creative process can facilitate stress reduction and open up a deep personal dialogue with images and feelings that instinctively present the needs of the soul.

Please Note:

• All sessions are online, on Zoom

• The group is limited to 8 participants to allow for deeper processing and group cohesion. We want to ensure that every participant has an opportunity to share.
• The group needs a minimum of 3 participants to run. You will receive a full refund if the group is cancelled.
• Registration is open to adults only.
• There is no art experience needed to participate in the group.
• Art materials are not included. Please see the materials section for an idea of what you might need.

Your facilitators are:

Bethany MacGillivray, Clinical Counsellor and Professional Art Therapist of Soul Flow Therapy. With more than a decade of yoga teaching experience, meditation, and holistic wellness, Bethany works from a body-centred, positive psychology and mindfulness approach.

Elspeth Robertson, Clinical Counsellor and Professional Art Therapist of Intrinsic Therapy. Elspeth specializes in working with anxiety, stress and burnout, aiming to reconnect clients with their natural healing processes through creativity, compassion and calm.

Yu-Wen (Tiffany) Yao, Masters of Counselling Art Therapy Student at Adler University. Tiffany uses strength-based and compassion-focused art therapy approaches to help clients build resilience and self-esteem. She is joining us as a student art therapist and is excited to be able to share this experience with everyone.

Understanding the ways that we give and receive love allows for a deeper understanding of ourselves. The book The Five Love Languages, written by Gary Chapman (1995), highlights that each person has one primary and one secondary love language. These “love languages” are ways to express and experience love, and people often tend to naturally give love in the way that they prefer to receive. The five love languages are:

1. Quality time,
2. Receiving gifts,
3. Physical touch,
4. Words of affirmation, and
5. Acts of service (devotion)

Knowledge of these languages can help us to communicate our needs and experience love in all forms. While Chapman's book focuses on outward relationships, we have developed our group with the self in mind. Each week, we will explore a different love language through artmaking and meditation.

On https://self-compassion.org/, Researcher Kristen Neff writes: "With self-compassion, we give ourselves the same kindness and care we’d give to a good friend." Kind-hearted care is not limited to friendships and partnerships - an intentional self care practice can refuel and nourish us. In stressful times, self-care is necessary to cope with fear and uncertainty. Creating a self-care practice promotes balance, something that is necessary as we move forward through the pandemic.

Allow this group to be an opportunity to show up for yourself. Embrace intentional moments of inner nourishment and connection.

Simple materials are all that are needed for this group. You might even already have materials at home!

You will need:

• Blank white copy paper
• Pencil and eraser

We encourage you to explore colour and texture with other materials of your choosing. These materials might include:

• Coloured paper, cardstock, construction paper, mixed media paper
• Coloured pencils, felt tip markers, wax crayons, oil pastels, chalk pastels
• Watercolour paint, acrylic paint, gouache
• Magazine cut-outs, scissors, glue
• Glitter, stickers, string, thread
• Anything else that you would like to add to your artist's toolbox!

We love facilitating art therapy groups and workshops and forming connections with our group members.

Here's what people have said about our groups:

"This was a transformative process for me" - Self Exploration through Art participant

"This group came together in an intimate and joyful way. I found that it was supportive and that it encouraged me to explore" - Self Exploration through Art participant

What to expect from your facilitators:

"Tiffany's joy is contagious as is her earnest, sweet and thoughtful nature and her empathy" - Self Exploration through Art participant

"Elspeth is an engaging, energetic leader with a wealth of knowledge about art therapy, and an obvious passion for sharing it with others" - Creativity in Counselling participant

"Bethany's gentle approach helps me to feel confident to try new things and expand past any fears that are holding me back" - Self Care Saturday participant