GOLEM Expressive Arts

12/08/2025

“when you mindfully breathe you live. when you forget, you survive.”

This sentence came up in a somatic session last week and it stayed with me.

Most of the time we breathe without noticing. The body keeps going, but we don’t really feel here. The nervous system does what it knows: survival.

When we bring attention to the breath, even for a moment, something changes. We actually arrive in our body again.

Welcome back.

If this speaks to you, save it for later or share it.

11/03/2025

For many years I worked in two different worlds — clay and therapy.
One spoke through the hands, the other through the heart.
Lately, they started to meet.

Through touch, shape, and presence we can discover our inner world, connect with our parts, and listen to what lives quietly inside us.

Parts in Clay grew from this meeting of material and ethereal, where creativity becomes a path toward healing. It is a space for curiosity, vulnerability, and gentle awareness — a way of listening through the hands when words are not enough.

⸻

10/24/2025

It’s a rainy day in Vancouver. My clients rescheduled to online, so I took my dog for a walk. As a long-time mindfulness practitioner, my body just starts practicing on its own. I could really feel the rain — even when it was so hard it started to pe*****te my coat, my shirt getting wet. I just leaned into that sensation, feeling every step. There’s something about that—coming alive through the body, through now.

And also, battling the little fears. So what, I’m getting wet. No big deal. I’ll come home, change, make some tea. Lately I’ve been drinking London Fog with lavender I collected from my garden—just steeping it with earl grey and a bit of soy milk. Delicious.

It’s these small moments, savoring the step, the sensation, the feeling. A little shift we can practice—turning the uncomfortable into a full-body experience.

09/20/2025

So often, people come to therapy with me and say: “I’m not creative. I’m not artsy.”

I hear that a lot — and I understand. But to me, creativity isn’t about painting or sculpting. It’s about how we meet life: how we adapt, connect, and make meaning when words alone aren’t enough.

In therapy, creativity can be simple and quiet — noticing a feeling, trying something new, or giving voice to a part of yourself that’s been silent for years.

✨ Creativity already lives in you. Sometimes it just needs a safe place to come forward.

09/05/2025

08/27/2025

August is a threshold.
A time of half-finished tasks and fading sunlight.
A time of new planners and endless to-do lists.
A time of both needing more rest and lingering restlessness….

If you’re feeling stretched, stuck, scattered, or simply unsure, you’re not alone.

Here’s a creative practice I often offer clients (and use myself!) during those liminal times of transition:

Draw two vertical lines on your page, creating three sections:
• Left = where you’re coming from
• Right = where you’re heading
• Center = where you are now — the “in-between”

Staring with the left side, fill it with shapes, colors, textures, scribbles, moving freely and slowly. Then complete the right side. After that- turn your back to your artwork for a minute of so, and as you come back to it- fill in the center- where are you now.

And when you’re done, pause. Observe. Listen. Let the artwork speak to you. Try answering:

What do I notice?
what surprises me?
What was unexpected?
What feels heavy?
What feels light?
What needs to change?

Optional: write a short letter from your art to you. Start with:
“Here’s what I want you to know…”
You might be surprised what it says.

—

Share what you discover! 👇🏼

08/01/2025

It’s been a full month — of life, of work, of reflection.
A full month of art.

Not just the kind you frame or glaze or hang.
But the kind that lives in breath, in presence, in noticing.
The kind of creativity that isn’t loud — but steady.
The kind that doesn’t always look like art — but feels like truth.

This is what I keep returning to:
Art isn’t the goal. It’s the doorway.
To resilience. To remembering. To something deeper than words.

Sometimes it’s clay.
Sometimes it’s sitting in silence with a client.
Sometimes it’s just catching the moment before it passes.

Thank you for being here with me this July.
I’ll keep creating. Keep holding space.
And I hope — in your own way — you will too.

07/17/2025

I used to think that being playful meant being light, funny, not taking things too seriously.
But one day in supervision, after I laughed through a vulnerable moment, my supervisor gently said:
“Don’t laugh it off, Anna. You’re a serious person.”

That moment stayed with me.
Later, I even took a clowning course — expecting laughter and silliness — only to find it was one of the most serious things I’ve ever done.
Clowning teaches you to stay present, to stay with discomfort, to show up fully.

Now I know: play isn’t the opposite of serious.
It’s how I stay present. It’s how I move through hard things.
And I take my playtime seriously.

Tell me —
🌀 How do you stay connected to play, even when things feel hard?

07/11/2025

Hello folks — just popping in to share this one from my heart.

It’s been a week.
I had some long, deep therapy days with clients (with many of you♥️), and while it’s an honour to hold space, I’ll be honest — I’m exhausted.
And today I’m diving into a three-day intensive (part of my Level 1 training — we’re halfway through!).

So this is my check-in.
If you’re tired: thank you for showing up anyway.
If you’re in a good place: I’m celebrating that with you. thank you for showing up anyway.

Drop a comment and let me know how you’re doing.👇🏼

07/08/2025

Art Therapy vs. Expressive Arts Therapy: What’s the Difference — and Why I Offer Both

If you’ve ever wondered what the difference is between Art Therapy and Expressive Arts Therapy — and why I also offer talk-based counselling — here’s how I explain it.

Art Therapy often focuses on using visual art to explore, express, and process what’s happening internally. It can be insight-driven, structured, and supportive, using the art as a mirror or a doorway.

Expressive Arts Therapy (ExAT), on the other hand, uses a multi-modal, phenomenological approach. We move between art, writing, sound, or movement — following what wants to emerge in the moment. It’s process-based, low-skill, high-sensitivity work. Often, we end with a crystallization — a short poem or image that captures the experience.

Both are powerful, but they meet different needs.

Some of my clients never touch art at all — we work through counselling, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and mindfulness. Others begin with clay, movement, or a scribble on paper — and find their deepest insights there.

Here’s a glimpse:
Two men come in struggling with burnout and anxiety.
* One explores his stress through visual journaling, guided imagery, and clay. He eventually writes a short poem that captures a long-held fear he didn’t have words for — and finds release.
* The other prefers to explore through talk. We use IFS to unblend from the inner critic, map his internal system, and build a sense of grounded Self-leadership.

Both paths are valid.
Both lead to clarity, connection, and growth.

If you’re curious about which approach could support you — I’d love to connect.

07/01/2025

I will explore the theme of Art Therapy in July, and I look forward to welcoming you on this messy but amazing journey! 💙

06/27/2025

Resilience isn’t a trait.
It’s a practice.

This month, we explored what it means to move through life with resilience — not by pushing through, but by deepening our roots.

For me, it looked like learning to hold discomfort with gentleness, finding strength in slowness, and trusting that even when life gets messy, I can still stay connected to myself and others.

Sometimes resilience looks like doing the hard thing.
Sometimes, it looks like resting.
Sometimes, it looks like laughing at your awkward haircut phase.

Whatever it looked like for you this month — I hope you’re taking a moment to notice the strength you carry.

🌱 I’d love to hear — what did your resilience look like this month?