Creative Connections Cumbria
Person-Centred Expressive
Arts Therapy
The playful way to awaken personal growth and creativity
We offer friendly, stimulating workshops and trainings in North West England to release innate creativity for personal insight and to promote continuing professional development (CPD) for counsellors, psychotherapists and those in helping professions who may want to integrate the approach into their practice.
Our workshops are also suitable for anyone with a genuine interest in pursuing deeper personal awareness, self-empowerment and growth.
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OUR APPROACH
Our approach is based mainly on Natalie Rogers’ person centred expressive arts model, which she named the Creative Connection. I am intrigued by what I call the creative connection, the enhancing interplay among movement, art, writing, and sound (Natalie Rogers). The emphasis is on the expressive process rather than the aesthetic outcome and rests on the deep belief that we are all artists at heart, that to release our creativity is a stimulant to greater wellbeing and vitality.
Sandra and Joan trained with Dinah Brown, an accredited person centred counsellor trainer and a graduate from the late 1980s of Natalie Rogers’ Person Centred Expressive Arts Therapy Institute (PCETI). Dinah helped to pioneer Natalie’s Person Centred Expressive Arts Therapy model (PCEAT) in the UK, where over the past 30 years, she has shared this approach with countless professionals, who have attended her courses. Retiring in 2018, Dinah entrusted the continuation of her PCEAT Cumbrian trainings and workshops to Joan and Sandra.
Person Centred Values
As facilitators, we aspire to embody the core values of the person centred approach. We believe in
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each person’s uniqueness
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the necessity of creating a safe environment if participants are going to expose vulnerable parts of themselves, which are newly emerging through their creative expressions
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the importance of offering each person and their art expressions our sensitivity, empathy and respect
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the importance of refraining from interpreting the meaning of participants’ art expressions
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trusting each participant’s innate wisdom to best steer their way to personal understanding and resolution
We feel comfortable integrating elements from Carl Jung’s theory and practice i.e. working with archetypes and shadow aspects of the psyche to enhance our workshop designs and themes.
ABOUT US
The facilitators
Sandra Lynch (Diploma in Counselling, BACP registered accredited Counsellor, Certificate in Creative Supervision)
Hello, I am a BACP accredited counsellor and certified supervisor in creative supervision. I have many years of counselling and supervisory experience, having worked in NHS primary care settings since 2007. I have also worked as a counsellor in young people’s services and secondary schools in the past, and previously enjoyed delivering stress management courses to adults as part of my counselling role. I have a small private practice in my home town just outside Rochdale, Lancashire where I offer counselling and supervision using expressive arts therapy approaches if desired.
I began my PCEAT journey in 2015 first as a participant on one of Dinah Brown's introductory training weekends, after which I became entranced with this way of working. I continued to attend the follow up weekends every year where I gained invaluable experience initially in the supportive role of intern on the PCEAT workshops before joining the facilitation team. I received further training from Dinah in course design and group facilitation skills before joining Joan as co-facilitator in 2019.
I am committed to continuing professional development and was an active member of a person centred process group in Manchester for many years until competing priorities led me to leave this year. I am a member of The Person Centred Association, BACP and Psychology Today. Other interests are yoga and meditation, walking and the outdoors.
Joan Elliot (B.A Hons. Person Centred Counselling, BACP registered accredited counsellor, Adv. Cert. PC group facilitation in PCEAT).
Joan has immersed herself in the culture of PCEAT since 2006 and played an integral role in recent years as co-facilitator following Dinah's retirement in 2018. She has now now opted to step down from the role as she is reducing her workload and becoming semi-retired herself. I am grateful to have worked with her over the last few years and wish her well with a more relaxed lifestyle. Joan may join us again on occasion to help support the ongoing delivery of the courses if required. She enjoys the company of good friends and loves walking, creative expression, yoga and travelling.
Assistants and Interns
I am grateful to have the support of Amy Williams and Marett Troostwyk assisting me with the course delivery this year, and delighted to have Jane and Becky continue in their role as interns, supporting the smooth running of the weekends. All are past participants with a wealth of experience behind them, and enthusiastic champions of the approach. They are more than happy to offer guidance and support to course participants.
WORKSHOPS
All our workshops are experiential, offering an abundance of materials and creative processes.
We aim to offer a safe, respectful, empathic group context where you can find your courage to try out new creative approaches as a way of deepening and quickening your personal growth and to gain insight into possible professional applications.
No artistic expertise required, just an open mind, a willingness to play with a mix of creative media (including gentle movement) and a respect and acceptance of your own and others emotions.
Our workshops are not designed to cater for those in very fragile states or with complex issues, who would benefit from seeking in-depth therapy.
All workshops are held at Endmoor Village Hall, Endmoor, near Kendal, Cumbria, LA8 0HH
Workshops run from 10.00am to 4.30pm
INTRODUCTION
2nd - 3rd July 2022
or
17th - 18th September 2022
£150 for each weekend
Introductions to expressive arts therapy (one weekend workshops)
Playful, fun, but powerful introductions to our expressive arts model.
* All newcomers need to attend one of these introductory workshops before attending a follow up workshop.
LEVEL 1 Certificate Course
1) Building Community
22nd - 23rd October 2022:
A range of creative processes will help you relax within the group and co-create a safe and supportive environment from which to begin the deeper exploratory work. We will use a rich selection of natural materials as well as expressive arts media to help facilitate our explorations.
2) Personal Power
26th -27th November 2022:
We'll build on the previous workshop as we explore the concept of personal power. To complement the usual stock of arts materials and creative processes, we will also be using movement to help deepen our work.
3) Weaving Our Stories
18th - 19th March 2023:
We'll develop the use of creative writing and story-telling as we bring the course to an end. As well as a mix of expressive arts processes, we shall be creating a primitive loom from which to weave and track our personal journeys through the course.
£450 for three weekends
This experiential training offers you a thorough grounding in the diverse elements of the Person Centred Expressive Therapy model (PCEAT)
Full attendance will be validated with a Level 1 PCEAT certificate.
Individual week-ends can be attended by those who have already completed a past Level 1.
PCEAT SKILLS
21st -22nd May 2022
29th - 30th April 2023
£150 for the weekend
Open to all who have attended our level 1 workshops to help integrate PCEAT into clinical practice.
BOOKING
To book a place on one of our courses, we require you to fill in a booking form with your
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email address
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mobile number
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brief information about your professional and personal background Our workshops
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your reasons for wanting to attend the training
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a non-returnable deposit of £75 to secure your place
Please note our workshops are not designed to cater for those in very fragile states or with complex issues, who would benefit from seeking in-depth therapy..
Bookings for the all courses are dealt with by Sandra Lynch.
BACS payment account details are:-
Sandra Lynch. Sort code: 07-08-06 Account number: 15166492
Balances
We require you to pay the balance on all our courses (£75 for the Introduction and £375 for the Level 1) two weeks before the start of each course (the first of the month for each respective course).
Instalments can be negotiated if circumstances necessitate - please don't hesitate to get in touch about this.
Follow up instructions
On receipt of your booking form plus deposit we will send you follow up information about the workshop and payment of balances, with directions to the venue at Endmoor Village Hall.
We respect your privacy and will store your personal information securely. This will only be shared amongst the team of facilitators and kept for the duration of the course. Your contact details will be kept to inform you of further courses unless you advise otherwise.
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CONTACT US
Sandra Lynch
Venue Address (not for Correspondence)
Endmoor Village Hall
Endmoor
Nr Kendal
Cumbria
LA8 0HH