Beverley A'Court

my qualifications

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Art Therapy Diploma, Hertfordshire College of Art & Design/University of Hatfield, 1981.

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Philosophy & Psychology, BScSocSci, Joint Hons, University of Bristol, 1974.

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Registered with the UK  Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC)

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Member of the British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT)

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Member of the Russian Art Therapy Association (RATA)

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about me

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I grew up witnessing my parents’ liberated use of art as medium of playful self expression and am forever grateful to them for their inspiration and example.

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I am an artist and a therapist, working with embodiment and integration with the natural world, an Ecological approach I see as an extension of Psychodynamic Therapy.

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I have developed ways of working that I call Ecological Art Therapy - also called Holistic, Nature-Assisted or Earth-Based Art Therapy:  Integrating art therapy with embodiment, nature and ritual practices, such as walking practices, from meditations to pilgrimages, drawing on art therapy's roots in archaic human activities and the wisdom-traditions of earth-connected cultures. 

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I have over 30 years experience adapting Art Therapy approaches for a wide range of clients and purposes, including; Adult Education, Ecological and Sustainability Education, Community Arts, Health, Education and Social Services. I teach on several post-graduate and professional art therapy training courses, in the UK and internationally.

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You can find an interview about my work here:

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http://www.learningtofly.today/index.php/2018/07/16/beverley-living-as-an-artist/

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how I work  

I work psychodynamically and holistically, combining traditional Art Psychotherapeutic and other approaches, to help you access authentic feeling, memory, and your imaginative, creative resources.

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This work is informed by research in mindfulness, dance-movement, systemic eco-psychology and neuroscience, to help you stay connected to your bodily (somatic) experience, and become more receptively attuned to ‘field’ effects around you.

I aim to work transparently, democratically and creatively to facilitate you to discover your own innovative solutions. I trust your mind-body system's innate capacity for self-regulation, self-healing and self-liberation but do not claim to be any kind of medical expert.

I have specialised in developing art therapy practices which acknowledge bodily experience in creativity and have distilled these into courses for therapists, artists, psychiatrists, teachers, and anyone looking for more authentic self expression. My trainings integrate this embodiment with sensitivity to field effects, direct use of the natural environment, and acknowledgement of the impact of collective and global phenomena.

In collaboration with colleagues from many countries, I am continuously developing holistic approaches to art therapy, and developing transcultural training courses focusing on core skills, such as Therapeutic Presence, Ecological Awareness and Cultural Resources in Art Therapy.

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This work is most effectively practiced outdoors, in nature, where we directly witness the interplay of person and wild nature and the powerfully transformative presence of nature as co-therapist.

holistic art therapy

Art Therapy is a natural medium for exploring and integrating experience, thought and feeling, using imagination and art-making within a supportive, therapeutic relationship.

Holistic Art Therapy is a systemic approach, reflecting the interconnectedness of all life, grounded in the Paradigm of Inter-being found in ancient spiritual traditions and quantum science, integrating mind, body and world. It is a healing art for transforming suffering. 

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We are Nature, in intimate relationship with Nature. We can turn towards natural living beings and forces: plants, trees, animals, birds, the weather and the elements of earth, air, water, light to mirror our own processes:

• to inform, guide and inspire our creative-therapeutic activities

• to return us to balance and systemic harmony 

• to re-awaken positive life processes of mind, body & community. 

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Nature-based therapies aim to provide responses to suffering that restore mutually beneficial reciprocal relationships between humans and the rest of nature, to create conditions for all life to thrive.

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Art Therapy can be used as a primary treatment, and used alongside other therapies or medical care. For example, for non-verbal processing, symptom and pain relief, or to monitor progress subjectively or for pre- and post-surgery support.

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Our stories, our painful and shocking experiences can become like inner ‘demons’.  Art can help us to face these creatively and to tell our story in gestural marks, symbols and patterns, in 3D installations, sand play, graphic story-board narratives and many other ways.

Art-making allows us to meet ourselves as a dynamic process, rather than a fixed object or identity and supports us to witness ourselves with compassion and respect, catalysing healing.

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For more general information, visit  wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_therapy 

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