Julia Smith
Counsellor
I specialise in:
About me
I'm Julia, an Art Psychotherapist and artist based in London. I am available for work with children, young people and adults. My recent work has been with adults and in education with children and adolescents, specialising in work with young people on the autism spectrum and with related conditions. I have previously worked as a therapist with young children in primary schools, adolescents in an alternative education provision, and with older adults in a care home.
I can help with all sorts of challenges you may face, including anxiety, depression, identity, cultural difficulties, loss, personal development, LGBTQI+ issues, self-esteem or stress. I work flexibly in my approach to meet your individual needs and can offer short and long term therapy.
I have worked in a range of mental health roles in America and the UK with children and vulnerable adults over the last many years. This includes work in care homes, community outreach and low-income housing services. Through these roles, I often used art making to connect and communicate with clients who might find it difficult to do so otherwise. This drew me to pursue an MA in Art Psychotherapy. I am a registered member of the Health and Care Professions Council and the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.
I speak:
Location:
Approach
As a Psychodynamically oriented therapist, art materials are used in combination with talking in order to express unconscious thoughts and emotions. I aim to help you discover meaning of current distress or patterns of behaviour which you may be finding difficult through the artwork you create and its association to past relationships and experiences.
The use of artwork in therapy may help bring to light feelings and memories which are hard to reach because they are difficult to verbalise. The nonverbal nature of art therapy makes it accessible to those with difficulty expressing their emotions or who would like a different way of looking at things.
Art psychotherapy does not require any skill or previous use of art materials. Instead, you may choose to use art materials to express what is on your mind in order to develop self-awareness. You may use any materials you feel interested in, such as, paints, pen, clay, etc.
