About Anna
I am a qualified Art Psychotherapist with experience working in schools, inpatient mental health services, and private practice. In my private practice, I work with children, adolescents, and adults.
In therapy, I prioritise creating trusting and genuine relationships. I believe in helping clients access their intuition and rediscover their ability to play. I am supportive and non-judgmental, while also gently challenging you where it feels helpful in order to encourage new avenues of thinking and overall well-being. I provide a warm, welcoming, and safe space where together we can think about what may be feeling difficult in the present and how you would like your inner world and relationships to feel moving forward. My approach is grounded in psychodynamic theory, thinking about the ways our past experiences continue to shape us.
I work with a wide variety of mental health concerns. My experience includes supporting those affected by anxiety, depression, bereavement, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, relationship difficulties, societal oppression, and a background of childhood trauma and/or neglect, among others.
I received a Master’s degree in Art Therapy from Queen Margaret University. Before training as an art therapist, I worked for 10 years in non-profit organisations in Greece and Scotland, and I remain passionate about human rights and social justice. I am registered with the Health and Care Professions Council, the British Association of Art Therapists, and the European Federation of Art Therapy.
What is Art Therapy
Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that combines traditional talking therapy and creative expression. The creative process is used to explore emotions and deepen self-understanding in order to facilitate well-being, offering a gentle and often non-verbal way to explore thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
You do not need to be artistic or have any previous experience with art to benefit from art therapy. The focus is not on creating “good” art, but on using materials and image-making as a way to communicate, reflect, and process what may feel difficult to put into words.
Art therapy draws on psychoanalytic and relational approaches, recognising that creative expression can help bring unconscious thoughts, emotions, and experiences into awareness. Since emerging as a therapeutic discipline in the 1950s, it has become an established form of psychological support used across a wide range of settings, including schools, hospitals, community services, and private practice.
Art therapists are professionally trained clinicians who have completed postgraduate clinical training, including supervised placements. They are registered with a recognised professional body and work within established ethical and professional standards to provide safe, confidential, and compassionate care.
Art therapy can be a particularly helpful approach when working with children as it offers a way to communicate experiences that may be difficult to put into words. Through play and creative expression, the child’s inner world can be gently explored and understood, helping them to make sense of complex or overwhelming experiences with the therapist’s support.
While sessions with children are one-to-one and confidential, meaningful work often involves collaboration with parents and caregivers. This may include regular parent or caregiver meetings to reflect on the child’s needs and to support the therapeutic process at home. At times, this can also involve exploring the parents’ own experiences and dynamics, while always keeping the child’s wellbeing at the centre of the work.