Joey Art • Therapy

01/03/2026

Taking off my therapist's hat and speaking about a psychotherapy session. From the client chair, in my pyjamas.🍵

08/02/2026

As Valentine’s Day approaches, there’s often a lot of focus on how we show love to others. It can also be a quiet invitation to turn some of that care towards ourselves.

Self-care isn’t always about doing more, fixing ourselves, or feeling better straight away. Sometimes it’s about noticing what’s already here and responding with a little kindness rather than judgement.

Whatever you’re feeling is allowed 🌼

17/01/2026

January can feel like a lot.
Two weeks in, forgot my lines. Felt about right.

29/12/2025

Turns out Art Therapy isn't what a lot of people think it is, so I made some art and busted a few myths while I was at it.

No art skills required,
no mind reading involved,
and definitely no having-it-all-together.

11/12/2025

Festive seasons aren’t necessarily jolly for everyone. As Christmas approaches, it can bring up mixed feelings for many of us. Grief, family or social pressures, financial worries, loneliness, or the exhaustion of reaching the end of the year can all make this time feel heavier than expected.

If you’ve been feeling tense, overwhelmed, or not quite yourself, it doesn’t mean anything is wrong with you. These feelings often have reasons, and they deserve care rather than judgment.

Wishing you moments of ease and comfort wherever you can find them. 🎄

28/11/2025

Recently, there was a tragic fire in Hong Kong, my hometown.
Being so far away has brought up a mix of feelings, and this post comes from my own reflections as someone who is part of the community yet watching everything unfold from a distance.

If you’re in the UK and feeling unsettled, guilty, numb, or heavier than you expected, I hope these words offer a bit of grounding and companionship. You’re not alone in this.

呢幾日，英國嘅香港人好多都覺得心情沈重、內疚、矛盾、或者好亂。想同你講一聲：你嘅反應並唔奇怪，亦唔誇張。

如果你覺得唔舒服、心煩、或者連做返平時嘅事都覺得有罪惡感，請畀自己少少空間呼吸下、抖一抖。你唔需要成日浸喺新聞入面，可以唔洗跟得咁貼㗎！

照顧好自己，先照顧到身邊嘅人。

共勉之。

17/11/2025

No one told me art therapy groups sometimes come with…..no people 🥲
Still, showing up matters, even when it’s just me, some pastels, and a quiet room.

10/11/2025

November is Men’s Mental Health Month 🖤

Behind the statistics are real people - sons, partners, fathers, friends. Many carry their struggles quietly.

Art can be one way to pause, check in, and express what words cannot.

Let’s keep normalising these conversations.
It’s okay to not be okay.

03/11/2025

I still remember being in the client’s chair, feeling seen for the first time, being held without judgement. My therapist’s presence was exactly what I needed. Of course, they got it wrong sometimes, but they always held space for me to say so.

It made me wonder how it would feel to sit in their chair.

Training wasn’t easy. I met parts of myself I didn’t expect, learnt to sit with what got stirred up, to untangle it, so I could be with others more fully.

Sometimes clients mistake me for an art teacher. But I know in my heart that I’m not here to teach, but to learn, to share, to witness.

Now, sitting in the therapist’s chair, I see how many parallels there are. I feel what my clients feel, the uncertainty, the pain, the courage, the hope. Of course, I get it wrong sometimes, but I will always hold space for them to say so.

And when a client says, “You’re wrong,” I am grateful.
It means they feel safe enough to tell me so.

- A small reflection from the other side of the room. 🤍

27/10/2025

🎨 What is Art Therapy?

Art Therapy is a recognised form of psychotherapy, offered by qualified Art Therapists. It brings together creative expression and emotional support to promote wellbeing in a gentle and meaningful way.

You do not need to be good at art to take part. The focus is on expression, not on making something perfect.

As described by the British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT), Art Therapy uses art materials as a way to communicate and explore feelings. It can help people understand emotions, build confidence, and support mental health.

✨ What a session with me might look like:
We might draw, paint, make a collage, use clay, or simply notice what happens when we create. Sometimes you may not feel like making art at all, and that’s completely okay. We can sit together, talk, or simply be. The space is here for whatever you need that day.

💛 For older adults and carers, Art Therapy can help you to:
• Make sense of life changes such as ageing, illness, retirement, or bereavement
• Express emotions that may be hard to put into words
• Ease stress, anxiety, and feelings of loneliness
• Strengthen a sense of identity, purpose, and connection
• Support memory, focus, and emotional wellbeing
• Find moments of comfort, joy, and lightness in everyday life

Whether you are adjusting to change or living with ongoing challenges, Art Therapy offers a gentle space to reflect, create, and connect, in your own way and at your own pace. 🌿

13/10/2025

Art therapy offers a calm and creative space to explore your feelings, at your own pace and in your own way. It combines art making with gentle conversation to support emotional, psychological and social wellbeing. You do not need to be good at art. The focus is on expression and reflection.

🎨For individuals
One to one sessions can help with life changes such as dementia, illness, retirement or bereavement. They can also support stress, anxiety or feelings of isolation, and strengthen a sense of identity, purpose and connection. Sessions take place within Creative Arts Therapies Space CIC in Leith and are available in English, Cantonese or Mandarin.

🎨For organisations
I also offer art therapy and creative wellbeing sessions for care homes, charities and community groups across Edinburgh and the Lothians. These sessions can support people living with dementia or long term illness, carers experiencing stress or isolation, and older adults adjusting to change, loss or transition. Each session is shaped around the needs of your setting, reflective or activity based, always gentle and inclusive.

Art therapy can help people connect, express and find moments of comfort and meaning through creativity.

13/10/2025