Annie is an Art Therapist who has many years’ experience working with children and families in both residential and day services. Her experience covers a range of difficulties including trauma, addiction, mental illness and autism.
She is delighted to be working at The Family Place as a member of their specialist team. She is most happy engaging with the making process and can be found with her sleeves rolled up and paint on her hands.
Annie believes that if we can give ourselves permission to engage with what we may feel are childish / indulgent/ time wasting activities as adults it can help us regain some vitality, joy and humour and to connect with people. This is especially important in a child/adult relationship. The creative process lends itself to a less intense way of being together.
After gaining a BA in Fine Art, Annie made the decision to train as an art therapist while working at a residential rehabilitation centre for chemically-dependant women and children. The experience of working in such a holding environment had a profound effect on her in terms of believing that parents need to be supported and helped to recover themselves in order to be as good parents as possible to their children and have a sense of what they might like to achieve in their lives.
Annie has remained committed to working with families to achieve the best possible outcome for them and enjoys working with the team at The Family Place. Since graduating from Goldsmiths, University of London, Annie has been a member of the British Association of Art Therapists and is HCPC registered.
The postgraduate Art Therapy course is underpinned by the principles and practices of psychodynamic psychotherapy, with attention placed on the importance of relationships and attachment supported by the theories of John Bowlby and Donald Winnicott. Annie has continued to work since qualifying with different client groups and has undertaken further training including group work, supervision, empathic attachment/affect regulation, mentalization and dynamic approaches to arts psychotherapies, neuroscience, attachment and creativity.
She is also trained in Therapeutic Treasure Box: Facilitating Resilience and Affect Regulation in Children with Developmental Trauma, as well as Parent and Child Art Psychotherapy training. She has also successfully completed Theraplay Level 1 and DDP Level One and Two.
Children are tested and graded from such an early age that the joy of just doing, whether it be painting, drawing or playing music as a way of exploring the world can be lost and, as complex beings, we all need a creative outlet.
