I’m the founder and lead art psychotherapist of Flourish Foundation.

Born in New Zealand, I moved to the UK to study fashion design at Central Saint Martins in 2008. After graduating, I was working in fashion design in London at the time major earthquakes happened in my hometown in New Zealand. I remember I was on my way to work unable to contact family and friends to see if they were safe. When I arrived at work that day, there was a huge fuss made over a zip not matching the colour of a dress for a celebrity. It was at this moment I walked out and reassessed my purpose in life.

Art therapy had always fascinated me, so I decided to put my creative talents to use in a more meaningful way and began studying an MA in Art Psychotherapy at Roehampton University.

During my studies I formed Flourish Foundation, to provide therapy in areas of the world for people that would not be able to access mental health support services, which is where it is often needed the most.

For me it’s an honour to meet such incredible, resilient people and to witness such positive changes after everything they have been through.

I am a qualified art psychotherapist (BAAT and HCPC registered) specialising in mental health and trauma care.

With a background in philosophy, I’m able to provide the opportunity to explore and work with an existential approach. I have worked in a variety of different contexts across Scotland and Greece including a low secure psychiatric clinic, an organisation for children most acutely affected by adverse circumstances due to drug and alcohol abuse within their home environment, a day centre offering support to young Syrian refugees and a palliative care project.

In providing art psychotherapy across these different settings, I have come to recognise the importance of fostering compassion and hope to help individuals express and explore their thoughts and feelings in a safe and non-judgmental environment. Creating art, I feel that it is a great means of expression when words fail to portray emotions

I am an art psychotherapist (EAP registered) and I have also studied Theatre specialising in stage design.

I have worked for many years with children and adolescents providing art and theatre workshops. During my clinical practice I worked with a variety of people, such as psychiatric patients, patients with personality disorders, elderly people, patients with multiple sclerosis, inmates with drug abuse issues and more.

I have also worked in a shelter hosting women and children refugees and in a shelter for unaccompanied minors. I have a keen interest in the intercultural facet of art psychotherapy and its application to people with multicultural backgrounds. I believe that art offers unlimited possibilities. Based on my experience, I consider that art can help people to express thoughts and feelings that they are unable to express using words. It also helps them to detect their strengths and feel safe.

Katie is an artist and registered art psychotherapist who has directed her art making towards collaborative projects and participatory art workshops. Katie has worked as a community artist with hard to reach youth in London, Brighton, and Latin America. In her final year of training as an art psychotherapist, she spent her time between London and Calais facilitating art workshops for children and unaccompanied young people in the ‘Jungle’ refugee camp in Calais and those seeking asylum in the UK. Katie is fascinated by the potential of art to transcend the confines of language. Her personal and professional experience has shown her that through art, people can escape isolation and find that others can relate to their experience of the world.

Emily is a registered Art Psychotherapist specialising in working with people who have been displaced. She has extensive experience of facilitating art therapy informed psychosocial groups with children, young people and adults. She is interested in empowering the individual to acknowledge their resilience and abilities by using art making alongside an Art Therapist in a safe and culturally respectful way. She is also an author and visiting lecturer on the foundation art therapy course at Roehampton University.

Having trained as a textile designer, most of my professional life has been spent as the owner and designer of a fashion label. I was based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, which I loved. After 7 years I wanted to do something different, all I knew was that I wanted to work with children. I returned to the UK and through various jobs teaching art and textiles in different schools and charities across London, I discovered Art Therapy and immediately knew that was for me. I then trained at Roehampton in art psychotherapy, MA. Using creativity as a way to support and communicate with the most vulnerable, in a safe and non judgmental way, made and continues to make totally sense to me. It is the language that children speak, where ever they come from. I am incredibly lucky to love and be humbled by what I do.