My Journey to Art Therapy and Healing

I’m Julia, an emerging Art Therapist, and Artist based in Melbourne, Australia.

The past 6 years have taken me on a journey of discovery through different continents, but also into an exploration of my internal architecture of mind.

After the unexpected loss of a sibling, it was as if someone had turned down the saturation of my life. Anxiety and panic became regular and unwelcome visitors, as I tried to navigate my grief through distractions.

It was an extended trip abroad that opened my senses to the world again. I was finally catching glimpses of what it meant to come home to my body. Over the following years, I delved deep into mind and body healing modalities.

I expressed myself with visual arts and movement, like dance and yin yoga. I deepened my meditation practice and connected to a supportive community of friends. I explored altered states of consciousness through breathwork, nature immersion, and ceremony. I spent 1.5 years in weekly psychotherapy and art therapy sessions, exploring my mind and building a stable baseline to operate from.

All of this has allowed me to reconnect back to my sense of self.

It was around 2019 that I came across art therapy for the first time. Psychotherapy that incorporates creative expression, whether it’s through artmaking, movement, or music. I instantly felt at home.

Although the term “Art Therapy” was new to me, I had been practicing it for as long as I can remember.

When I had emotions or experiences to process, I would take out my notepad and write songs about what I was feeling. When I was angry, I moved through my emotions in improvised dance. When I was confused, I painted and collaged until everything made more sense.

Discovering art therapy felt as if everything in my life had been leading up to this point, coming full circle.

Over the last few years, I have immersed myself in learning. I have been training in art psychotherapy, somatic embodiment, regulation, rites of passage facilitation, and meditation.

☀️ If you’re curious about the magic of art therapy & would like to learn more, you can book a free 30-min discovery call with me here.