Michael Cousin
Counsellor
I specialise in:
About me
My experience is broad, and I am happy to work with clients at any stage of life. An art psychotherapists’ training is extensive and intensive over a three-year period, and it provides us with a framework that can be used to support a client with any mental health struggle up to the most complex issues. At this point in my career the focus of my practice has tended towards working with those who have experienced multiple traumatic events or have diagnosed disorders. I work with clients who have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Schizoaffective Disorder and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). I also have wide ranging experience of clients with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD).
I am registered and licensed by the Health and Care Professions Council to legally practice under the title Art Psychotherapist. I am a registered member of the British Association of Art Therapists and adhere to their guidelines and ethics. I also have an enhanced DBS check and specialist professional liability insurance.
Prior to my training I was a contemporary artist and curator with over 20 years of experience of national and international exhibitions. I have both a BA (Hons) and Master’s Degree in Fine Art and a Master’s Degree in Art Psychotherapy (2016).
I speak:
Location:
Approach
The act of creation is about transformation. You take any material and rearrange its form to create a new one. Art Psychotherapy is an approach that uses acts of creation to transform you. It can be a powerful act of healing.
Being creative can mean many things in these sessions; it can include the use of traditional art materials to draw, paint or sculpt, through writing and poetry or music. But it can also mean being creative through play, being creative with words, ideas, memories, and dreams. Some clients are understandably nervous about this, maybe thinking that they must be ‘good at drawing’ for instance, but this isn’t the case. It can also be as simple as the act of talking.
The creative process can help release long held feelings or allow you to see a new way to be, it can help distract you and calm you, energise you or give you new ideas.
I won’t direct you by saying what I think you should use or do; I can help guide you to rediscover what you already possess within yourself. I do this by asking questions and making observations. I will try to see all that you are, not just the reason you have come to see me, there is always more to you than that reason. My role as a therapist is to hear and see you as you are now, then to guide you and support you in the discovery of who you might want to be.
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