About Sarah
My name is Sarah and I’ve been a registered art therapist for 15 years. My path to this work began when I became housebound with chronic illness at the age of 26. During those five challenging years, I focused deeply on my health and wellbeing.
Inspired by Frida Kahlo, I began sketching myself in my everyday life as a way to express some of the difficult feelings I was experiencing. I also started using relaxation techniques, exploring body scans and visualisations that helped to calm my fraught nervous system. At the same time, I began growing herbs on my windowsill, finding small but meaningful ways to reconnect with nature, which had felt so far away.
When my health improved, I knew I wanted to explore the therapeutic value of art more fully. I enrolled on an MA in Art Psychotherapy in Sheffield and graduated in 2011. I then spent 10 years working in schools, continuing to use the relaxation methods that had been so impactful for me. Over time, I began working with mental health professionals, facilitating experiential creative training groups.
It was through this work that I developed my online workshops, The Soothing Season. These workshops bring together three elements that have been deeply important in my own life: art, visualisation and nature. I love being part of the workshops I run, and I always leave feeling uplifted.
I now live in the North York Moors, with wild nature on my doorstep, and I embrace a slower way of living. I continue to make art that helps me stay connected to myself and to this beautiful place. My current project, which includes a writing practice, explores a sense of awe and the different ways we can cultivate this in everyday life.
I still use visualisations daily to reconnect with myself and with nature, and I spend as much time outdoors as possible, enjoying the soil beneath my fingers and the call of curlews overhead.
I am registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), a full member of the British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT), registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), and hold an active Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
Art therapy in the UK, often called art psychotherapy, is a form of mental health support that uses creative activities like drawing, painting, or sculpting to help people explore their thoughts and feelings. You don’t need to be ‘good at art’ to take part. The focus isn’t on the finished artwork, but on the process of making it and what we learn from it.
In the UK, Art Therapist or Art Psychotherapist is a protected title, which means only professionals registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) are legally allowed to use it. This helps ensure that anyone using the title has proper training and meets professional standards.
Art therapy is used in a wide range of settings, including the NHS, schools, community services, and private practice. It can support people with many of life’s challenges and can be especially helpful for those who find it hard to put their feelings into words.
At its core, art therapy offers a safe, supportive space to express yourself, reflect, and make sense of your experiences—sometimes in ways that talking alone can’t reach.
What is art therapy?
My workshops bring together three elements that have been deeply important in my own life: art, visualisation and nature.